Need Advise

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Sissy

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I have a cat that has recently been diagnosed with diabetes. Her sugar was over 500.

We started her out on 2 units of Lantus in morning and two in evening.

She did ok for the first few days. Then she started drinking and peeing huge amounts. I had her retested - her sugar level was 468.

We then started her on 4 units in morning and 4 units in evening.

She is not doing any better.

Any suggestions
 
ok, the first thing i'll say is you gotta do some more reading :-D

lantus should be started at 1 unit twice a day, and then increased in very small increments like 1/2 a unit at a time based on data that is collected thru testing glucose levels at home. so in all honesty, the dose has been wrong since day one it sounds like and changed waaaaaaay too much.

numbers obtained at the vet's aren't always the most accurate because of stress factoring in and such so you can't rely on them for dosing decisions completely.

do you know about hometesting? if not, i'd recommend you look into that.

and then, some reading about lantus and how it works in kitties :)
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Cindy is right. Most likely your starting dose was too high. It is better to start at 1 unit twice a day and gradually increase it by 1/2 unit per increase. What I mean by gradually is that you need to give each new dose at least 1 - 2 weeks before you can determine if that dose is working. The best way to determine if the dose is working correctly is to learn to hometest. As Cindy said the numbers at the vet are not accurate. Stress raises the blood glucose (BG) levels and most cats are stressed when going to the vet. Stress can raise the BG levels as much as +200.

By hometesting and testing before every shot, you will be able to determine if the dose is working or if you need to consider increasing it.

I suspect that your cat is rebounding. This means too much insulin is given. In order to protect itself from becoming hypoglycemic, the body will react with high BG levels when too much insulin is given.

Also, diet can also affect BG levels. Can you tell us what you are feeding your cat?
 
Welcome to FDMB SIssy. What's your cat's name?

I agree with all that has been said.

Start insulin low and go slow with increases.
Hometesting blood glucose levels is your first, best tool.
Feed high protein, low carbohydrate wet food (unless there is another health issue that requires a special diet).

I will add

Check urine for ketones when blood sugar numbers are high, using ketodiastix.
 
Welcome

Cindy has given good links.

Reason Lantus seemed to work initially is that it often does that, hence why you should wait for the initial dose over 5-7 days. Then as you found you may need to increase. Insulin is powerful stuff and should only increase in either .25u or.5u increments and do this roughly every 3-5 days until get dose that works for kitty.

This is where hometesting is so important.
Cats bg level can go up by over 100 points at the vets so not the best guide.

4u twice a day is a very high dose (unless your cat has a condition suchas acromegaly.This isn't usually obvious straight away so you wouldn't worry about it initially. Basically means kitty needs largeammounts of insulin but isn't massively common)

Venita has just mentioned changing to low carb wet food. Need to do this carefully especially with a high dose of insulin. On low carb food, not need as much insulin. Please consider reducing dosefirst. As long as no other health issues?
Good luck :mrgreen:
 
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