Hello everyone! I have been lurking in the forum for a little while - definitely a great source of info. So glad to have found you!
A little about my diabetic kitty Lee Lu (named after Fifth Element character) - she's 13 yrs old (born in 2001), and was dx in Oct 2013 when she was drinking a lot of water and excessive urination. I can't remember her exactly initial readings but they were in the 500s. We went with Vestilin first, got up to 9 units x2 daily and while she was better, definitely not stable (still in the 200-300s) while feeding Purina DM wet & dry. Finally got her off dry altogether, no more all you can eat buffet, and moved from Purina DM to BFF wet food pate styles. She loves it. Gobbles it up every time I feed her, never any appetite issues (in fact, I probably err on the side of underfeeding but she's not starving).
Right not we are doing 2-2.5 units of Lantus x2 daily. We are on the 2nd bottle, I think we've been using it since March. I'm using the Freestyle Freedom Lite reader. (I plan on changing the reader now that I'm low on strips.) Except for the occasional urinating outside the litter box, her behavior is great, just like pre-dx. Eats, purrs, happy, lost a little weight (which is good, she was heavier than she should be).
Question - I've been home testing her once a month. Her last two curve tests she would dip close to hypo after starting in the 200s. Yesterday, she started at 216 at 7:45am (post meal but pre-shot), and her reads every 2 hours were as follows - 167, 94, 54, 47, 31. I fed her at between the 94 and 54 reading, and again between 47 and 31. I did give her 2 units of Lantus around 8pm. Her test read this morning at 7:56a post meal was 46. This is the first time she didn't upswing after nadir, and definitely the first time she's read under 100 in the morning. So my first thought is that a) I shouldn't have given her insulin last night and b) I'm hesitant to give her any insulin this morning when her read is 46. She's acting fine - again, I trust her behavior. **Thoughts on this?** I was going to test her later today just to see. [I also tested the reader with the control solution and its accurate.] So I guess my question is, I know you shouldn't give insulin (or at least lower the dose) when the kitty doesnt eat as much or at all, but do you adjust the insulin when the read is low (like in the 40s)? I would say definitely yes, but I'm curious how you all gauge it -- just reduce, none at all, feed then test again, all of the above?
I have my curve tests on an xls but at work, I will find and upload it to my profile (or wherever we are supposed to).
We have two other kitties (Little Buddy, age 6 and Abby, age 3.5) who are not diabetic.
Thanks Everyone!
Amanda
A little about my diabetic kitty Lee Lu (named after Fifth Element character) - she's 13 yrs old (born in 2001), and was dx in Oct 2013 when she was drinking a lot of water and excessive urination. I can't remember her exactly initial readings but they were in the 500s. We went with Vestilin first, got up to 9 units x2 daily and while she was better, definitely not stable (still in the 200-300s) while feeding Purina DM wet & dry. Finally got her off dry altogether, no more all you can eat buffet, and moved from Purina DM to BFF wet food pate styles. She loves it. Gobbles it up every time I feed her, never any appetite issues (in fact, I probably err on the side of underfeeding but she's not starving).
Right not we are doing 2-2.5 units of Lantus x2 daily. We are on the 2nd bottle, I think we've been using it since March. I'm using the Freestyle Freedom Lite reader. (I plan on changing the reader now that I'm low on strips.) Except for the occasional urinating outside the litter box, her behavior is great, just like pre-dx. Eats, purrs, happy, lost a little weight (which is good, she was heavier than she should be).
Question - I've been home testing her once a month. Her last two curve tests she would dip close to hypo after starting in the 200s. Yesterday, she started at 216 at 7:45am (post meal but pre-shot), and her reads every 2 hours were as follows - 167, 94, 54, 47, 31. I fed her at between the 94 and 54 reading, and again between 47 and 31. I did give her 2 units of Lantus around 8pm. Her test read this morning at 7:56a post meal was 46. This is the first time she didn't upswing after nadir, and definitely the first time she's read under 100 in the morning. So my first thought is that a) I shouldn't have given her insulin last night and b) I'm hesitant to give her any insulin this morning when her read is 46. She's acting fine - again, I trust her behavior. **Thoughts on this?** I was going to test her later today just to see. [I also tested the reader with the control solution and its accurate.] So I guess my question is, I know you shouldn't give insulin (or at least lower the dose) when the kitty doesnt eat as much or at all, but do you adjust the insulin when the read is low (like in the 40s)? I would say definitely yes, but I'm curious how you all gauge it -- just reduce, none at all, feed then test again, all of the above?
I have my curve tests on an xls but at work, I will find and upload it to my profile (or wherever we are supposed to).
We have two other kitties (Little Buddy, age 6 and Abby, age 3.5) who are not diabetic.
Thanks Everyone!
Amanda
