Lizzie Dental, Feeding & #'s Question

[Jacquie & Lizzie]

Lizzie went in yesterday for her dental. She has cervical line disease and lost 6 teeth. She has had a number of teeth break off & the roots had to be removed also. This morning her blood sugar was 269. I gave her 3 units of Lantus this morning. She didn't eat much yesterday, I only gave her small amounts so she wouldn't puke. She ate with her shot & at +4 was up to 379. What the heck is going on with that????

Ok so my question is: Is it "normal" for their numbers to go up after the shot? She's had this happen a couple of times now & it just doesn't seem right. Is it from the food? I've cut out the dry food and am feeding Fancy Feast Classics. 1/2 can in the morning with her shot, the other half around 4 pm for dinner. During the day, she comes up & is starving so I give her some tuna or chicken as a snack. What is the typical feeding amount & schedule for wet food? Should I be feeding her less food, more often (1 can split 4x a day) or 2 cans of food a day, split up? II can feed in the morning, at lunch, after work (around 4) & before bed, that ends up being about every 4-5 hours or so. What about in the middle of the night, how much do I leave out & will it dry out?

Our vet really wants to see her up to 4 units to drop her numbers quickly. She's agreed to go up in small amounts but I just don't know...I almost feel like her dose it too high & is causing her numbers to stay on the high side. That doesn't make much sense when I say it, but then again her numbers are on the high side & don't drop enough to even get close to where we want them. Why would it raise so much 4 hours after her shot though? I'm testing her as often as I can. I go back to work next week so I' won't be able to test as much during the day. I'm tired of stressing about it. I'm overthinking it & have myself confused.

Our vet also really wants me to feed her Purina d/m but after looking at a bunch of info about food, I don't really think it's necessary. Has anyone fed the d/m & switched to another kind with good results? Is there something special in d/m that would drop her numbers as opposed to fancy feast? From what I can find, FF is higher in protein & lower in carbs than dm.

 

[rhiannon and shadow (GA)]

Hi Jacquie and Lizzie,

I think you have a lot of different possibilities in play.
You had some good answers yesterday in the lantus forum. You might want to post these questions over there where all the
experienced eyes are, especially since you are asking about dosing.

I don't think I 'd want to increase the dose unless the lantus forum tells you to. They have more experience than most vets
and will keep following up with you hour to hour. You have enough variables in the equation as it is.
I'd be nervous about increasing that much too without the tr forums input, everything needs time to settle .

I wouldn't use any of the prescription foods either, I've only heard of one being a good thing and it was for other medical conditions.
Vets don't think about whats in the food and aren't spending time to find out.
the best reasons for avoiding prescription foods are from Dr. Lisa Pierson at http://www.catinfo.org/.
If you haven't read it yet, you should. It really lays it all out. The section I am referring to is called
"Prescription diets and marketing labels "
And as much information as you get in the early weeks, it doesn't hurt to go back and read her entire article again.

You are already using the fancy feasts. Are you tracking which ones by their carb%?
I just discovered one in my collection that I actually don't know the carb % on.
If you have a variety and one is 3% and one is 7%, that would have an influence.

Many who use the feeders are freezing the food for later in the day so that it's getting it's own refrigeration for a few hours.
I just ordered the 2 meal feeder to get my cat used to the noise. ( apparently they are)
You can also lengthen it's time by stirring in some water to the nighttime feeding. (my cat eats it all so I don't know how many
hours it takes to dry out )
I have been freefeeding (4-6 meals) and it was suggested to me... to set a better schedule.
feed at each shot, feed closely to the nadir (+6) and try not to feed again until the second shot of the day. And since I"m up
for a while at night, I'm giving her the 4th serving approximately after the pm +3 or +4 because that's when I've been going to bed.
So the times to try to keep the feeding to a minimum or none or between the +6 and the shots. ( if I give an extra little meal, it's between the +2 and the +5) I also test often enough that my cat is getting no carb treats for getting poked.

They've been quite slow over in the lantus forum today so it may take a little time to get responses.
I think everyone had to work today except me.
Be sure and put a question mark in your subject so it will catch their eyes.

 

[BJM]

Particularly read the Tight Regulation post on this board - after 3 days with nadir tests above 200 or 300, there is guidance for dose adjustment. You should hold at least the 3 days before adjusting the dose.

Be very consistent about what time(s) you feed and shoot - Some folks do several mini meals in the first half of the cycle to spread out the calorie influx and allow it to keep a closer pace with the insulin useage, for example Sienne does this and has had good success with it.

And be very consistent with the % calories from carbohydrates. Some cats are extremely sensitive to slight changes in this.