New member - Please help me understand 🙏 | Feline Diabetes Message Board - FDMB

New member - Please help me understand 🙏

Hi Saskatchewan! Waving back to you from QC.

It's fine to post here, where people will help you get started. Then you can start posting in the Lantus/Levemir/Biosimilars forum, where experienced folks will help you get Sapphire into good BG values.

Do you know how to set up your signature? That will help a lot, so people don't keep asking you the same questions. Scroll down to the signature information.

You're off to a good start!
 
Hello and welcome from the west coast. Looks like your signature and spreadsheet are getting set up. Thank you, that does help us.

To answer the bounce question, it is yes. Some cats go higher before breaking out of the bounce, and that could be what you are seeing tonight. Today is the end of the 6th cycle after the event (nice blues) that caused the bounce. I'd make sure to get a before bed test in tonight

Here is the link to your intro post today, with lots more info: New to the group. We request that people post just once a day, or you could get answers on both threads, which makes it hard for us to follow too.

I think your plan for an echo is a good one. There are dental specialist vets who are used to dealing with older cats, including those with heart and kidney disease. Neko had HCM and early kidney disease when she had a couple dentals. Getting teeth fixed can really help you regulate your cat, and ongoing inflammation is a form of insulin resistance.
 
Thank you 😊 this is most helpful and good to know about Neko. I will read some more of the information. I'm a bit overwhelmed and anxious (quite) as I'm sure the vast majority are at the beginning. +3 was 29.5, not much change from PMPS. Appreciate your response and support!
 
Hi all, I'm struggling to understand Sapphire's numbers. I added the fact to notes on SS that she started on 1U on caninsulin on Oct 17. I had wanted lantus the day before when at the vet but had torn my meniscus that day and had to get wheelchaired to the doctor so accepted the caninsulin knowing she needed insulin. Changed to lantus as soon as I could. I only got a couple tests in on caninsulin as it was hard to get blood with the small lancet and it look some hunting to finally find smaller gauge ones. Of course vet #1 said not to bother testing. Vet #2 said the same thing and neither have bothered to check in on us. 😞 disappointing to say the least.

I am wondering if her lantus depot has filled quickly? Thinking about the blue numbers seen on Oct 27. Then from what I've been told here, a bounce followed. I was under the impression and of course had hoped that the bounce would clear.

I noticed that on Oct 29 AMPS when I gave a 1U less a couple drops the numbers were less severe.

I may have screwed up but on the FB group I was told that the black was definitely a bounce from the blues. And if she dips again to blues, it was suggested to reduce the dose to .75U to slow the bounce down. This made sense to me but I may have gotten ahead of things by dosing a .75U on the 6th cycle and not waiting? With the .75U, she had slightly lower numbers daytime Oct 31. Gave the 1U In the pm to see slightly higher numbers again.

I am so confused and feeling so sad that Sapphire is feeling like crap and barely moving around and having a hard time walking. (Plan to get B12 today...which I asked vet 1 about and got no response except an I don't know).

I'm finding it hard to know if I'm getting the dose correct even with using reading glasses and a magnifying glass so I've purchased digital calipers and have an earth angel from the FB group contacting me to do a video chat early next week to show me how to use.

I'm so anxious, feel so alone, and am already having trouble sleeping. I just want to do the best and all I can for Sapphire. Please help me understand what may be happening and how to move forward.

Thank you all so much!!
 
Hi Ramona,

Welcome to the FDMB: Just a couple of housekeeping notes: For security reasons, you might want to remove your last name from both the spreadsheet AND the name of the spreadsheet link. Also, I noticed that you also posted today on the Lantus forum (the same information you posted above). You can post in either forum, but we ask that you only post in one as it can get difficult for the experienced folks trying to help you when they are tracking multiple posts. The Lantus forum has specific posting guidelines, which are discussed here: Info - POSTING GUIDELINES PLEASE READ.

Finally, please edit your title and select the blue "?" prefix on the left of the title line. Hopefully that and my comment, which will bump your post up to the top, will attract some attention, and you'll get some answers to your questions.
 
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First, if you're concerned about Sapphire having diabetic neuropathy, you want a particular form of B12 -- methylcobalamin or methyl-B12. The general form of B12 is cyanocobalamin.

I do have one favor to ask. Could you please use our spreadsheet? Most of the members here are in the US. If you're outside of the US, you're measuring blood glucose in mmol/L whereas in the US we measure in mg/dL. Our version of the spreadsheet has a tab for those members who are outside of the US and it automatically converts your readings to US measures and puts that information on a separate tab on your spreadsheet so we don't have to manually convert your readings. The link to the spreadsheet template is in this post.

Regarding the depot, when first starting out, it takes 5-7 days for the depot to stabilize. Any subsequent change in dose needs 3 days for the depot to adjust. So if you increase or decrease the dose, you may not see a change immediately. In addition, things like a bounce can take a few cycles to clear. I'm not sure how experienced the person was who was giving you advice on the FB group but that's not the way the dosing methods are written. Reducing the dose to try to prevent a bounce only ends up keeping your cat in higher numbers longer. You do not reduce the dose unless your cat drops into a range indicating that the reduction is warranted. If you are following TR, that would be dropping below 50. If you're using SLGS, the dose reduction point is 90. A cat dropping into blue numbers, bouncing, and coming back into the blues does not get a dose reduction.

The other issue to factor is that Lantus likes consistency. The depot does not like it if you make back-to-back dose changes. You generally wind up with wonky numbers.

If you've not already done so, I'd encourage you to read over the sticky notes at the top of the Lantus board. There's a discussion of the depot in one of the posts. There's also a post on dosing methods. Your signature doesn't specify which approach you're using and it will help us to know how you're dosing so we can offer better informed guidance.

Also, one reminder. Be kind to yourself. You've been managing Sapphire's diabetes for less than 2 weeks. If someone hasn't said this already, your dedication and caring is very apparent. The other thing someone has likely said is that managing your cat's diabetes is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes time. And right now, I have no doubt that you're feeling more than a little overwhelmed. There's a lot to absorb. It will get easier and you and Sapphire will find your routine.
 
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