Mickey Myers, Domestic Shorthair Gray Tabby

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wjamyers

wjamyers

Member Since 2022
Hi Everyone. Will Myers here.

Mickey is 12 years old, his ideal weight should be around 11 to 13 lbs. He's around 10 now and too skinny.

Yes we're using Alphatrak, and that's what we're stuck with today and don't see why we shouldn't use a meter designed for cats to track our cat's BG.

Based on our observations of the clinical presentation (how normal is the cat acting)
And the Vetsulin curve documented here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Fe3njfgwvHoU7vWS6EOF_l8RKc-mqMIsf9tZyr2pIrg/edit?usp=sharing

It looked like the Vetsulin was just too short-acting in our cat so we switched to Lantus 5 days ago, today we are doing his first Lantus curve.

He's still urinating a lot but his behavior is much more normal, he's back to fighting and wandering around the house, chasing toys and jumping on the sink and bed, etc. So we already believe the Lantus is more appropriate but...

Based on today's preshot number (421, 40 higher than with Vetsulin!) I'm thinking we already know we'll need to increase the dose. Obviously that will depend on nadir, and I notice that SLGS doesn't even mention a 1 Unit increase at all, as though that's not a thing, but also doesn't say never do it. I understand that large changes can backfire so IF .5 is the max recommended increase then that's what we'll go with. Our needles are only calibrated to 1 unit, so the .5 precision may be a little shaky.
My wife and I don't like pricking our cat, so we're going to do it every two hours, even though I took the first post reading at 1 hour. So next update will be at noon (3 hours out).

I'm guessing we'll need to increase to 1.5 units or 2 units tonight.

Vet says they'd prefer us to stick to the 1.5, as 2 would be the max dose for his size.

Feel free to tell me what i'm getting wrong.

Thanks.

Will
 
Welcome again. Thanks for posting here. Lantus takes 5-7 days for the depot to build. The starting dose would be your Vetsulin dose which was 1.0 and what you shot today so you will hold the dose for a week since I think you said you will follow SLGS.

There’s nothing wrong with using a pet meter. Plenty here do. Most prefer human meters because the test strips are do much less expensive in the US. It seems to vary in other parts if the world though and also if using pet insurance.

I supplied sone links for you to read when you posted on the LLB forum. The depot one us there too. Please read it and you will understand why you don’t want to increase now or by so much.

What is his current diet and has it recently since diagnosis?

Fo not increase tonight please. We increase in .25 increments and even if following our more aggressive method TR you would edit 5-7 days fir the depot to build before deciding on an increase. Under 90 BG earns a decrease with SLGS.

For most thus using a marathon and not a race. You can’t rush the process. Too much insulin can act like yo little in terms of BG readings. Cats often bounce after reaching a BG that’s a lot lower that normal for them.
Was your cat in DKA or did he gave ketones when diagnosed? Any other health issues? Taking any medications?
Sorry about all the questions but all this will effect his BG and suggestions made.
Keep asking questions.
 
Mickey has been on Lantus for 6 days today.

They've been on low carb diet for a couple of months now, since the diagnosis. Before, they were on Science Diet, mostly dry, some wet, but we got rid of that months ago.

Here is the low carb food spreadsheet we're using:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1M6vp5HoefB8U24cOa0ztjBgrk5Q4jd9ltoCy0p45Fhg/edit?usp=sharing

Right now they're mainly eating:
Merrick Purrfect Bistro Grain-Free Chicken Pate
Weruva Classic Cat Pate Meal or No Deal!
Tiki Cat After Dark Pate Duck & Chicken Liver Recipe Grain-Free
Weruva Classic Cat Pate Press Your Lunch
Weruva Classic Cat Pate Tic Tac Whoa!

and we're thinking about adding the Merrick Duck which has almost the exact same numbers at the Chicken, so don't think will count as a diet modification.

"Was your cat in DKA or did he gave ketones when diagnosed?" Vet didn't say anything about that. As far as we know everything else is good.

No medications.

Mickey has been on Lantus for 6 days today. We want to get him out of the 400s.
 
Thank you for that information. It is very helpful. Any reason why you don’t want to give TR a try, at least until his bg comes down a bit? With TR you could give a .50 increase and increase every 6 cycles if needed. . With SLGS it would be .25 and weekly increases. It’s all explained on the methods sticky on the LLB forum. Since on an all canned diet you can choose either method.
 
I guess we'll go with TR, then!

5 hours out from his morning dose he was only down to 359.

We'll do the .5 tonight and give him another curve on Sunday.

We really appreciate your advice!
 
Those two bg tests are the same. Meter variance is 20%. I don’t think you will see a much lower bg today so if you want to save some strips wait until pmps. If you do go with TR you could increase to 1.0 tomorrow unless you see a bg under 300 tonight. If you do see a bg under 300 then increase would be .25. You can increase every 6 cycles (3days) if over 200. Once you start to see progress you hold the dose 7-10 cycles. Here’s the link to how TR guide.

https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/thr...-low-go-slow-slgs-tight-regulation-tr.210110/
 
Here is our food chart to take a look at
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-pierson-new-food-chart.174147/

You might want to set your signature up and link your spreadsheet to it
To set up your signature which you will see is at the end of everyone's post in gray, click on your name up top and then tap on the word signature and add this information
  • Add info we need to help you:
    • Caregiver & kitty's name
    • DX: Date
    • Name of Insulin (do not include dose or frequency)
    • Name of your meter
    • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
    • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
    • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
    • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
    • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
    • Please do not put any information about your location in the signature for security reasons. If you wish to add your country location, please add it to your profile.
Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.

Take a look at mine
 
tiffmaxee said:
Those two bg tests are the same. Meter variance is 20%. I don’t think you will see a much lower bg today so if you want to save some strips wait until pmps. If you do go with TR you could increase to 1.0 tomorrow unless you see a bg under 300 tonight. If you do see a bg under 300 then increase would be .25. You can increase every 6 cycles (3days) if over 200. Once you start to see progress you hold the dose 7-10 cycles. Here’s the link to how TR guide.

https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/thr...-low-go-slow-slgs-tight-regulation-tr.210110/
Click to expand...

We took it:
+8 = 358, looks like you're right, this is the Nadir. Ah! I see on the spreadsheet, the "pmps" is end of day shot.
 
Last edited:
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
Here is our food chart to take a look at
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-pierson-new-food-chart.174147/

You might want to set your signature up and link your spreadsheet to it
To set up your signature which you will see is at the end of everyone's post in gray, click on your name up top and then tap on the word signature and add this information
  • Add info we need to help you:
    • Caregiver & kitty's name
    • DX: Date
    • Name of Insulin (do not include dose or frequency)
    • Name of your meter
    • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
    • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
    • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
    • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
    • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
    • Please do not put any information about your location in the signature for security reasons. If you wish to add your country location, please add it to your profile.
Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.

Take a look at mine
Click to expand...

Done. Copied yours and updated in Sig to mine, will continue to update as I learn more.

THANK YOU.
 
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