New Member - Heather & Reese, dosing advise

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HeatherM

HeatherM

Member Since 2024
Hi everyone! My cat Reese was diagnosed as diabetic in October of 2023 after we noticed he was drinking a lot of water. We've had a lot of trouble getting him regulated, and have been back and forth to the vet, adjusting his dose because increasing the insulin doesn't seem to have much of an effect. After increasing him all the way up to 6 units (and from 4-6 pretty rapidly) Reese had a bad hypo on 12/23 and almost didn't make it. After that we started over back at 2-2.5 units, and similar pattern was playing out so I decided to start home testing and trying to follow the SLGS method, hoping to have more success and insight into what's happening with him.

My wife and I have finally gotten the hang of testing (Reese is not the most cooperative!!) and I've seen that he seems to be quite bouncy, but we are finally getting some traction with 4 units. He's been consistently in the blues at +6 which finally feels like some progress, but then he's also been below 200 twice at his PMPS which is making me wonder what to do. Last night I ended up giving a reduced dose, and I want to be better prepared if that happens again. I am very hesitant to reduce his dose in general, but am not sure if this is indicative of needing to do that? I'd love some insight on his dosing, since all of you here seem so knowledgeable! His spreadsheet is set up and linked in my signature.

Thanks in advance, and happy to provide more info if that helps in any way!
 
Well done for setting up our spreadsheet and signature!

One thing I’ve noticed right away is that your not giving him the reductions he’s earned. Every time he goes under 90 on a human meter he gets a 1/4 dose reduction. You’re using a pet meter though That could explain the lower than usual preshot values. Have you checked out the prozinc forum and read all the yellow sticky notes? You’ll want to make sure to review the one on dosing. I’m tagging @Suzanne & Darcy who is more experienced with prozinc
 
Reese is definitely bouncy!

Please get a pre-shot test every time you plan to give insulin. Without the test you have no idea if you're dosing with numbers in the 400s or the 40s. We also recommend that your get a minimum of 4 tests each day -- your AM and PM pre-shot tests and at least one test during both the AM and PM cycles. Again, this is a matter of safety. You want to know how low the insulin is taking your cat's blood glucose numbers.

If you haven't thought of this, giving Reese a treat every time you test may help with cooperation! Regardless of whether the test is successful, give him a treat! Most of us use freeze dried protein (e.g., chicken) as a treat. The freeze dried treats are zero carbs. Of course, cooked human food also works.
 
Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA) said:
Well done for setting up our spreadsheet and signature!

One thing I’ve noticed right away is that your not giving him the reductions he’s earned. Every time he goes under 90 on a human meter he gets a 1/4 dose reduction. You’re using a pet meter though That could explain the lower than usual preshot values. Have you checked out the prozinc forum and read all the yellow sticky notes? You’ll want to make sure to review the one on dosing. I’m tagging @Suzanne & Darcy who is more experienced with prozinc
Click to expand...

Thank you for the response and the tag! I have reviewed the stickies, and I reduced Reese's dose the first time he went under 90. The recent 85 was a first in a while and he was with a cat sitter, so I wasn't confident that was reflective of an actual 4 unit dose, so I didn't reduce. When I saw his 74 a few days ago, I was curious to get some advice to see if reducing was really the right thing to do. I'm happy to do it, just a bit wary of having gone through the lower doses with no success.
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
Reese is definitely bouncy!

Please get a pre-shot test every time you plan to give insulin. Without the test you have no idea if you're dosing with numbers in the 400s or the 40s. We also recommend that your get a minimum of 4 tests each day -- your AM and PM pre-shot tests and at least one test during both the AM and PM cycles. Again, this is a matter of safety. You want to know how low the insulin is taking your cat's blood glucose numbers.

If you haven't thought of this, giving Reese a treat every time you test may help with cooperation! Regardless of whether the test is successful, give him a treat! Most of us use freeze dried protein (e.g., chicken) as a treat. The freeze dried treats are zero carbs. Of course, cooked human food also works.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the advice! It was very challenging at first for us to successfully test him and we weren't always having success. We've been testing pre-shot every day since we finally figured out a method that works. We do have the freeze dried treats for him and he really likes them! I work in-office during the week, and my wife works part week in office, so it's not always possible for us to get a test in the day time, but we try our best to always test now when one of us is home and on the weekend. We've really only mastered testing him without both of us there this past week. It's been a real work in progress, to say the least!
 
I can relate! I was Gabby's sole caregiver and I work full time. Sometimes full time is a 10 - 12 hour day. I became quite proficient to ducking out of the office and running home, tested, and ran back to work. (I didn't live that far.) If I had a late meeting, she'd get her shot and I'd go back for my meeting. I did, however, adjust her shot time so I could get at least one test before I left the house. (Shot time was 5:00.)

This is a post that was created for Lantus users that addresses some of the issues of working/going to school full time and managing your cat's diabetes. Lantus is pharmacologically different than Prozinc and most other types of insulin in that it requires a bit more regularity with respect to shot times, dose adjustments, etc. There are likely to be some "tips" in the link that are applicable to your schedule that you may find useful.
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
I can relate! I was Gabby's sole caregiver and I work full time. Sometimes full time is a 10 - 12 hour day. I became quite proficient to ducking out of the office and running home, tested, and ran back to work. (I didn't live that far.) If I had a late meeting, she'd get her shot and I'd go back for my meeting. I did, however, adjust her shot time so I could get at least one test before I left the house. (Shot time was 5:00.)

This is a post that was created for Lantus users that addresses some of the issues of working/going to school full time and managing your cat's diabetes. Lantus is pharmacologically different than Prozinc and most other types of insulin in that it requires a bit more regularity with respect to shot times, dose adjustments, etc. There are likely to be some "tips" in the link that are applicable to your schedule that you may find useful.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much, I really appreciate it! Will check out those tips.
 
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