New Member Vetsulin to Lantus ($99)

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Sequoia84

Sequoia84

Member Since 2020
Hello,
My sweet Niblet was diagnosed a month ago, and, unfortunately, my vet prescribed Vetsulin. After finding this site I immediately switched Nibs from her high-carb, dry food, to a low-carb, canned food diet. Vetsulin was giving us it's typical short duration, so I was finally able to convince my vet to let me try Lantus. Today is Niblet's first day switching from, Vetsulin to Lantus. She was on 1.5 U of Vetsulin twice daily, so I gave her 1.5U (with the new 100 U Lantus syringes vs. the 40 U Vetsulin syringes) this morning. I'm wondering if this is the best dose to start with? Her AMPS was 256 and by +3 she was already down to 100. Our Vet had prescribed a once daily dose of 3U. I have come to realize not to take our vet's advise for the best feline diabetes treatment.
Also, I wanted to share that I was able to buy Lantus for just $99 for a 10 ml bottle from CVS Pharmacy. I didn't want to wait weeks for shipping from Canada, so I just asked CVS if there were any discounts available. Apparently, there is a manufacturer's coupon for $99!
 
First of all Lantus is dosed every 12 hours rather than once a day. I’m glad you are here because it sounds like your vet is not knowledgeable when it comes to Lantus. That’s a great price for Lantus! Keep it in the fridge where it won’t get jostled around and it will last at least 6 months. Looking at your ss I would stick with this dose for now. Please read the sticky on dosing methods on the Lantus forum and decide if you want to follow SLGS or TR. That will determine future dosing and when to increase or decrease the dose. Lantus is dosed according to how low it takes your cat so you will need to get mid cycle tests. It will take awhile for the depot to build so you don’t need to decide right away and f course you can change at anytime. From my experience I think TR gives the best chance for remission but cats do go into remission on SLGS as well. And welcome! I highly encourage you to read the yellow stickies. Kudos to you for testing at home and switching to canned food. The food change alone helps some cats go into remission.
 
Thank You! I have read all of the stickies and I will attempt the TR method. I want to give her the best chance at remission. I just added a +5 to her chart. She is down to 65, which is the lowest number I have ever recorded, so I'm nervous about going hypo. At what point should I consider giving her a high carb treat?
 
I thought I should mention that she is tiny. Her ideal weight is about 8lbs, but she is down to only 6.75lbs due to her diabetes before she was diagnosed. So, that would suggest a starting dose of 0.9 U, using the .25 U/ Kg of ideal weigh rule. I'm concerned he 1.5 U I gave her this morning might be too much.
 
Welcome to FDMB! You found us! We are so glad you did. This is the best site on the planet to help you help Niblet on this journey.
Theres a wealth of information here with good folks to help you decipher it all.
I see you already have a spread sheet ! Awesome. You also will be asked to set up a signature. That is so people responding can in a glance see all the particulars like insulin type and methods. You will find that info here:
Suggestions, Tech Support & Testing Area
Again welcome to the best darn site to help you help your diabetic kitty Niblet!:bighug:
jeanne
 
Hypo numbers in this early stage I would be worried at anything 65 and under. Its been a LONG time since Ive had a diabetic cat so maybe at 65 just feed him some of his regular food. If this is a hypothetical question please wait for confirmation on my advice.
Otherwise I would give high carb food and retest in 20 mins.

Experts please correct me if I'm wrong thinking.
j.
 
Actually with a human meter you reduce if under 50. Some cats have a big response at first. Given her weight give 1.0 tonight or maybe even .75. Let’s see nadir and pmps numbers. Feed some of her regular food as she might be close to nadir, lowest point in a cycle. Nadir is usually at +5-7. Test in a half hour after feeding.
 
Good to know about the 50 threshold with human meters. Since this is her first dose on Lantus, I was worried that she could still be going down at +5 So, I gave her about a teaspoon of high carb treats and tested again at +6. Even with the treats, she was at 63, so I just gave her another 2 teaspoons of treats. I will test again in 30 min. And I'll set up the "signature" Thank you All!!
 
I'm soooo glad I went with this groups guidelines and didn't follow my vet's dose. 3 units? I can't imagine. Scary.
Anyway, after a second treat, Nib's glucose is back up to 99, so, I'm feeling better about that. I'll keep checking this evening, and go with a lower dose tonight.
 
What high carb treats are you giving? I always gave higher carb fancy feast. Keep a few cans of gravy lovers as just a teaspoon or two of gravy works pretty fast. You will learn soon enough what works for your cat. You gained some experience with Vetsulin. If late enough in the cycle some mc will work. If dropping under 50 it’s time for hc or karro syrup. You need to keep testing if ever you see a really low test until Niblet stays up for two hours without food. It’s best to pick up all food two hours before insulin so you don’t get a food influenced preshot.
 
Aww, thanks!
I will get some gravy lover's FF to have on hand. I used temptations treats because I had some still in the pantry. Looks like I over did it with the hc treats as her levels are back up to 277 at +10. I'll take her PMPS in 2 hours and decide on her 2nd dose from there. I want to err on the side of caution as I won't be able to check numbers in the middle of the night. I appreciate the support in figuring out how to begin!
 
I would drop the dose tonight no matter how high her PMPS is. She's probably going to bounce high due to the low numbers she got today.

Bounces happen when 1. they drop too low, 2. they drop too quickly, 3. they drop into numbers their body isn't used to anymore (or any combination of all 3)

Dropping into green is probably going to set off a bounce but it doesn't mean she needs more insulin. It can take up to 3 days for the hormones and sugars that the liver releases when it "thinks" there's danger.

It's also very important that you start to get at least a "before bed" test on the PM cycle. Most cats go lower at night, so without getting any PM tests, you're missing half the data about what's going on during the night.

If you think of your spreadsheet like it's a puzzle, you have lots of pieces sprinkled around on the left side, so it's easier to see what the picture is....but on the left right side of your puzzle, there's no "pieces" so we don't know what's on that side!

You don't have to stay up all night testing (not every night anyway) but if you can get at least a +2 or +3, you'll have a good idea if you really need to get more tests in later or you can safely sleep the rest of the night.
(Welcome to the wonderful world of sleep deprivation known as feline diabetes ;) )
 
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