New at this…Please help

[my Casey bear]

Recap:
I just started giving Casey her injections yesterday evening. The vet dx Lantus 1u b.i.d. (she weighs about 12.5lbs). I was not comfortable starting her at the full dose but could not decide I wanted to give her .5u or .75u. I wound up giving her .5u that night, since it would be harder to keep an eye on her through the night. This morning I was questioning if I started her too low so I gave her .75u. I did my best to track her through the night and was only able to go home from work to test her over my lunch time; but I do have my SS Casey’s BG Chart up to date.

There are a few things I am not sure of and hope that I could get some advice from some experienced members. Based on the info on Casey’s BG Chart could someone advice me:

-For now, should maintain the .5u or the .75u injections? (or other suggestions)
-And possibly in conjunction with the previous question, should I keep trying to change her eating habits, or let that slide for now? I was thinking that the less quantity of food eaten because she did not graze could have been the cause of the drop. And if that could have been the reason and if she should just eat at the one sitting (hence eating less); from what I have learned I should give her the lesser amount, right?
-And lastly, why would her BG stay about the same from the AMPS and +6, yet there was a drop after her pm shot last night? Might I have given her a fur shot or could it just be that the shed is still filling? (I did not feel any moister on her fur, but I was quite tire too)

Roberta
and Casey

 

[Amy&TrixieCat]

Re: New at this…Please advice

Hi Roberta-

I'm primarily bumping you for more experienced eyes.

But if Casey were my kitty, I would probably go with the 1U, given the numbers I see on her SS. However, since you're more comfortable shooting a lower dose for now, my main suggestion would be to decide which you feel safest with and stick with it for a while. Lantus does like consistency, so bouncing around will cause even greater fluctuations.

What food is Casey eating right now? If you feel she's getting stressed over food issues, it's probably best to transition her slowly to any new feeding plans. A lot of people do free-feed, or feed several mini-meals throughout the day. With that said, though, it's best to try and have her not eat anything after +10, so food won't influence her pre-shot numbers.

As for your last question...unfortunately the best answer for variations in numbers like that is because she's a cat. Yep, they are unpredictable in any and all ways. I know, that was a big help, wasn't it :lol: ?

Welcome to Lantus Land! I'm sure one of the folks who really know the dosing stuff will be along with more specific answers for you there.

Amy

 

[Marje and Gracie]

Hi Roberta...I think Amy is on target in that you probably could have started her at 1u but since you.didn't, I would follow the protocol on dosing and take her up. 25u at a time until you find her fitting dose. You need to hold the dose 3-5 days (5 is better as you are starting out so you can fill the shed). Until the shed is full, you prolly won't really see much going on. On her dropping after PMPS...Amy is right..she is a cat...no predicting why sometimes.

 

[my Casey bear]

Hi Amy,

I figured I would respond to your questions/comments in sections:

What food is Casey eating right now? If you feel she's getting stressed over food issues, it's probably best to transition her slowly to any new feeding plans. A lot of people do free-feed, or feed several mini-meals throughout the day.

I have been feeding her Friskie, Sophiticat, and/or FF can food(7% carb or less) since 7/12. I started to test her while looking for a new vet and those #'s were in the mid 200's. My cats (2 of them) have always been grazers, but the new vet told my that they should be on a twice/day feeding schedule (to leave the food out for only 1/2 hour). As I started to implamenting it, her BG #'s started to rise. In addition, as I began to do test her more frequently, the more he hates getting tested and gets stressed out. (to my suprise, she takes the shots like I wasn't doing a thing...wish the testing would be as smooth). I also think, last night when I would try to test her, she was having "no food out" anxiety. This morning I decided to leave the food out, but no later than her +6. The question is if that what I should do...

With that said, though, it's best to try and have her not eat anything after +10, so food won't influence her pre-shot numbers.

So I could leave her food out until her +10? I think she wuld like that better!!

Lantus does like consistency, so bouncing around will cause even greater fluctuations.

I have tried to stay consistant, with the difficulties we have recently developed testing her (to fit the: test, feed, then shoot) it has been a struggle to be precise with the time. And as for the amount, that was why I tried to find out which dose was better before he PM shot; but since I did not hear advice prior to that time...I went w/.75 and will stick w/the that unless adviced otherwise.

Thank you,

Roberta

 

[my Casey bear]

you both are right about predictability... :lol: An example of one the of the few certainties is that she will always want my attention when I am on the phone. :roll:

 

[Amy&TrixieCat]

It might be an interesting experiment to try letting her graze until +10. In an ideal world, she shouldn't have food after +6ish as you are doing (we try very hard to not give anything after +4 here), but sometimes we have to tweak things to keep them in balance - keeping the "whole cat" in mind, not just the numbers. Maybe you'll find she gives you better numbers if she's not worried about her next meal. And, if you're seeing upward trends in numbers, you can always change her food plan. Every cat is different. We don't free-feed here, though, so hopefully someone who does free-feed will come along with better, more accurate information for you!

Hopefully she'll get easier with the testing once she settles into this new routine. MauiGuppy's Junior is legendary with hating his testing, but with a lot of work and patience, he is slowly improving. She actually made a video that's on YouTube of how she tests him. Unfortunately I don't have the link handy, but she posted it here in LantusLand just a few weeks ago and the condo title contains something along the lines of "Video for cats who hate being tested". If you can find it, it may be of some help to you.

.75U sounds good...you'll want to stick with that for 6-10 cycles, then reevaluate.

Have a great evening!

Amy

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Roberta,
This is only Casey's 3rd shot...patience at this time. And .75 sounds good but I don't think you want to change doses too much these first few days.
Best of luck to you Roberta, thinking of you and Casey!
Lori

 

[my Casey bear]

It might be an interesting experiment to try letting her graze until +10. In an ideal world, she shouldn't have food after +6ish as you are doing (we try very hard to not give anything after +4 here), but sometimes we have to tweak things to keep them in balance - keeping the "whole cat" in mind, not just the numbers. Maybe you'll find she gives you better numbers if she's not worried about her next meal. And, if you're seeing upward trends in numbers, you can always change her food plan. Every cat is different. We don't free-feed here, though, so hopefully someone who does free-feed will come along with better, more accurate information for you!

Having boundaries and target feeding time is w great help. I can now start from the outer boundary of +10 and gradually work our way towards the goal of nothing after +4. (Which sounds more friendly than only allowing them to eat for 1/2 hr twice a day.)

Hopefully she'll get easier with the testing once she settles into this new routine. MauiGuppy's Junior is legendary with hating his testing, but with a lot of work and patience, he is slowly improving. She actually made a video that's on YouTube of how she tests him. Unfortunately I don't have the link handy, but she posted it here in LantusLand just a few weeks ago and the condo title contains something along the lines of "Video for cats who hate being tested". If you can find it, it may be of some help to you.

I am sure I will be able to find it.

.75U sounds good...you'll want to stick with that for 6-10 cycles, then reevaluate.

Have a great evening!

Amy

Thanks again,

Roberta

 

[Marje and Gracie]

Just think about the fact that feeding after nadir can slow the insulin effect down and result in higher preshots......but also...ECID. We were feeding a +9 snack and once we stopped it, the PSs got better.

 

[my Casey bear]

Just think about the fact that feeding after nadir can slow the insulin effect down and result in higher preshots......but also...ECID. We were feeding a +9 snack and once we stopped it, the PSs got better.

ok, I will try to stick with food up by +6, see hows that goes w/her irritability, then adjust accordingly. Here is to hoping she will do ok w/testings tonight, that will let me know if she is ok with it, then we can work towards the goal of no food after +4.

Thank you,

Roberta

 

[julie & punkin (ga)]

hi roberta!

good for you for getting going! starting is probably the hardest part, then being patient is the next hardest!

i feed punkin with his shot and again 3 hours later. i started at shot times and then at +4 and +8, and his numbers also improved a lot once i stopped feeding after +3. the lantus effect wanes after the nadir, so you're giving them carbs in their food and they don't have "ammo" for it after the lantus wanes. There are some people who free-feed and it works for them. i think you could totally put out the food with the shot and leave it there for 3 hours without any problem at all, if that seems better for you.

you'll probably have to see what works for you, but for each change you make you have to give it about 3 days of being consistent at that before you can tell what it's really doing. when you make a change in dose or food you can get some bouncing effects and you have to wait for that to settle down before making another change.

keep posting here every day and ask lots of questions - we'll help you get casey bear doing better! we just all help each other.

julie

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

The entire issue of how to feed is a very individual thing. My cat is prone to fast drops early in the cycle. As a result, Gabby gets her food spread out at pre-shot, +1, +2, and +3. It may be that Casey will do better if you feed spread out to +6. Much of how you figure out when to feed is by trial and error.

For now, I'd concentrate on getting Casey started on Lantus and not try to do everything at once. I'm glad you're sticking with the 0.75u dose. You'll want to hold that dose for a total of 5 - 7 days. You're doing a great job with getting spot checks. Once you have a bigger picture of how Casey is responding to Lantus, we can be more attentive to the food. It's most important to make sure that Casey is eating and if allowing Casey to graze works, that's fine. I do agree with Marjorie that if Casey will be ok with the shift, not feeding after +6 would be best.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you Sienne for posting that. Roberta is so new....and spent time in health very worried about beginning treatment. We told her it would be easy, and it usually is. Please don't pile on the military rules until she has time to settle in. We promised her it would be easy....as it is for most of us that don't necessarily use this protocol and still remarkably have success.
Thank you....
no offense intended.....
Lori