Maguai - Glucose Curve on 12/4

[MaguaisMom]

Hi! I decided to do the glucose curve on my Maguai before our vet appointment on 12/08. He is on Lantus @ 1 unit twice a day. I'm still very new at this and question myself sometime is giving shots and pricking his ear is the right thing to do but my dh gives me encouragement to keep moving forward for at least a while to see if Maguai's diabetes will go away (most likely induced by a steroid injection about a month agao - 3rd one in his life - for "rat" tumors). So, sorry for the long windedness... my question is, do any of you think that the vet will increase the dose by more than 1 unit? nailbite_smile

Thank you for all that all of you do! :RAHCAT

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

I'm glad you got some test data. FWIW, you don't need to test hourly for a curve. Test every 2 hours is just fine

There's no way to predict what a vet will suggest. A great deal depends on how knowledgeable the vet is with regard to feline diabetes AND treatment with Lantus. From what I've seen, most vets are not terribly familiar with Lantus and base their dosing recommendations on pre-shot levels vs. the nadir. If you've looked at the links in the tight regulation protocols sticky, you'll see that Lantus and Levemir dosing is based on the nadir. That said, the vet can make whatever recommendation he or she wants. You're the one holding the syringe twice a day.

What I would encourage you to do, though, is to test more regularly. The bare minimum of tests you should be getting are pre-shot tests and at least one spot check per cycle. The pre-shot tests at both AM and PM will tell you if it's safe to give a shot. The spot checks will tell you whether Maguai has earned a dose reduction, if numbers are dropping into a less safe zone, etc. Since Lantus dosing is based on the lowest point of the cycle, you need to have some idea of what's happening. Tests after the PM shot are particularly important since many cats have lower numbers at night.

From your SS, it looks like dry food is still in the picture. I hope you are in the process of transitioning Maguai over to low carb canned food. Even the lower carb dry foods seem to unduly raise BG levels.

 

[Libby and Lucy]

welcome to Lantus Land! You're doing a good job, keep up the testing every day and you'll start to get a clearer picture of what is going on. Obviously you don't have to test every hour every day, but whatever tests you can grab are helpful.

It's hard to say what a vet will recommend for dosing, but I wouldn't recommend increasing by a full unit at this time, and even more so if you are making a food change now. Maybe you can print out the links on our Tight Regulation Protocols sticky to discuss with your vet. The second link on this page goes to a version of the protocol that was published by Dr. Rand at University of Queensland. Sometimes vets take protocols more seriously when they are written by other vets instead of by laypeople. This sticky lists the general guidelines we use here on this forum.