lantis

[robert & spade]

I have a problem.......... my cat spade has been on lantus for 3 years,is long lasting, which is great.....now my cat spade blood sugar is getting very high. i have increased the insulin.... doesn t do much.... he is staying high . Spade was usually at 6 units of lantus his blood was 5.0 for many years. i test him once every week or 2.....it may sound alot of time between tests, he was like clock work. 5.0 to 5.9 at his highest. with in the last 2 weeks ,i have incensed his insulin alot... his blood reading are in the high teens to low 20.. ive given him as much as 9.5 units ............. doesn t seem to work, to lower his blood sugar. if anyone has any ideas to help my buddy please help us. spade was at the vet 2 weeks ago, they gave his a shot in case there was a infection. nothing has changed still very high readings,way to high.......... we are from canada.... our scale up here might be differant than the states..

 

[julie & punkin (ga)]

hi robert,

a lot of the people who are the most expert are in the central and eastern time zones, so might not be on again tonight. i suspect someone will be able to help you by tomorrow. it would probably help if you have any more numbers - do you test at home at all? I'm just in this a couple of months, but there are a couple of things that i know can affect blood sugar.

did your vet check spade for any kind of infection, including in his mouth? if a cat has any kind of infection it can make their blood sugar rise. have his teeth been cleaned recently?

Is your lantus less than a month old? or is there any possibility you have a "bad" vial - have all of his higher numbers been while you were using the same vial or pen of Lantus?

hang on in the meantime, and i know someone else will check in with you and offer some help!

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

To convert your numbers to the system we use here, multiply by 18.

It would be helpful to have more information. When you were increasing Spade's insulin, how were you increasing the dose -- in what kind of increment and how often? Giving a large dose of Lantus will probably not work to lower blood glucose levels. Lantus is what's called a "basal" insulin. You need a base dose that allows for a steady level. If you were giving a large dose with the hope of lowering glucose levels, you are attempting to use Lantus as a "bolus" insulin. The pharmacology of Lantus is such that it doesn't work that way. You need to methodically work the dose up.

While your vet may have given Spade an antibiotic shot, were any other tests or problems ruled out. Does Spade need to have a dental procedure done? (When was the last time he had his teeth cleaned?) Was a complete blood panel run? Is there any possibility that Spade is hyperthyroid?

 

[Amanda]

Something that you will notice about FDMB is that we like data. Testing every week or two leaves a lot of gaps in what the insulin is actually doing for your cat. The first thing that I would do is a curve - IE testing Spade's blood sugar once every 2 hours or so through a 12 hour cycle.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

It will help us enormously if you can spend a bit of time on the Health board to get acclimated to FDMB. We are strong advocates for not only home testing but keeping records of that data. The folks on Health can help you if you don't already know how to home test (it sounds like you do know how to do this) and getting a spreadsheet set up.