lantus

[sammy34]

hi i have a cat named sam she has been on lantus for 2 mouths. she is 8 years old, she does not get hard food. she is on raw and evo wet. the question i have is she started out at 1 unit and every 7 days we have raised it by .25 or .5 and she seems to respond to it the first 3 days or so then she starts having high numbers again. so we raise again and it happens again getting lower numbers the first couple of days like preshot 300 and peak around 216 or 200. then after that it starts to raise again anywhere's from 420 to 350 for preshot and peaks from 300 to 250. any ideas? she is now on 3.75 unit. twice a day.

 

[MaryB & Chester]

If you go further down the main board index to Insulin Support Groups You'll find a couple of groups for people using Lantus. The people there are very knowledgeable and can probably help you figure out what's up. There are also a number of informational sticky posts in each board that could be useful as well.

 

[Wendy&Tiggy(GA)]

Hi there, I dont think this is an emergency (although it is important) so please remove the 911 icon.

To help you, it would help us if you can provide us more information...

1. Do you have a spreadsheet of her numbers? I would like to see both preshot and nadir (lowest numbers) by time. And feeding times marked on too which would help - i think you said preshots tend to be 300 and her lowest level 216 or 200? But still would help to see it over time (see my signature spreadsheet SS for what I mean) I would like to see her numbers for the last few days - with all the tests you did, I am looking to see if there is a chance she is dropping low and then bouncing up and you may be missing the low. The numbers will tell us SO much!

2. What meter are you using? Some of the meters you can get are inaccurate at high levels.

3. Are you aware of any medical conditions or infections? Could there be a urinary tract infection? Teeth problems? That can keep blood glucose high. When was she last at the vet? Did he do bloodwork and see any other issues? Is she on any medications?

4. What is her weight - or even better her ideal weight if she is over or under weight.

5. There is no chance she is getting contraband high carb food from anywhere? treats? milk?

thanks!
Wendy

 

[Larry and Kitties]

Same thing happened to my Tonis. I first tried Lantus and ten switched to Levemir but got esentually the same results. I then tried a little R insulin and got a good response when added to the Levemir. I then started using some N instead of R. I could keep him below about 150 with 8 units Levemir and and 5 units of N.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Lantus (and Levemir) are both long-acting, depot-type of insulin. This means that every time to change a dose, it takes a few days for the depot to "catch-up" with the change in dose. So, it's possible that this is what you're seeing. The other, more likely explanation is that your cat is not yet getting enough insulin. As long as you are systematic in your increases, you should be fine.

You may want to take a look at the information on the Tight Regulation Protocol for Lantus.