First of all, I would like to thank all of you for this board. Over the years, I have read posts on this board but this is my first post.
My kitty, Emma, is 18 years old and was diagnosed with diabetes about 6 years ago. Our vet put her on Vetsulin and Purina DM dry, and she went into remission about a year later. Unfortunately, about three years ago she came out of remission. At that point, Vetsulin was no longer sold in the US, so we tried Humulin (later Novalin). Her preshot numbers were not too bad at that point (around 300), so although the Humulin didn't last an entire 12 hours, her numbers did not get out of control on it. She gets really stressed going to the vet and I don't like doing that too much to her at her age, so I liked that we could get Humulin without a prescription. Emma has never liked wet food, so we kept her on the DM since she was first diagnosed. She seemed to be doing fine until about three weeks ago. At that point, she stopped eating and was very lethargic. Also, we tested her blood sugar and the meter read HI. She seemed to be doing fine and we thought her diabetes was under control, so it had been months since we had tested it. After 24 hours of acting sick, we took her to the vet. She was dehydrated and her bloodwork showed that it was probably a kidney infection. She was dehydrated so the vet gave her fluids, and we had to give her fluids at home as well for two weeks. The vet said that we probably would not be able to regulate her blood sugar numbers while she was so sick, and we concentrated more on the kidney problem. However, we did test her (every four hours most of the time) and gave her Novalin as needed, but it wore off very quickly (in five hours or so). After two rough weeks, the antibiotic kicked in and she was about 90% better! We were so happy and convinced the vet to give her a slower-acting insulin, and she gave us Lantus. We started her on Lantus a week ago. We started her at one unit twice a day for three days (like the vet told us to). Her numbers were always HI after 12 hours. Then we bumped it up to 1.5 units three days ago and her numbers were still HI after 12 hours (it seemed to wear off after 8 or 9 hours). Today, we were home all day, so we bumped it up to 2 units and tested every 2 hours. She was HI preshot this AM, her lowest reading was seven hours later (99), and then it gradually increased to 369 about 11.5 hours after the AM shot. My vet told me to give it three or four days before I changed doses, but it looks like this board recommends a week. I do not want her to numbers to get too low overnight, so I cut back to 1.5 units for tonight. It just worries me that I have been seeing HI on the meter for that last three weeks, and there is no telling how long her sugars were high before she started showing us that she was sick. I am also worried because she is not walking very well at times (probably neuropathy because of the high sugar numbers). It could be a potassium deficiency because her blood work showed she is in the normal range, but at the very low end of that range. The good news is we have not had to give her fluids, now that the blood sugar numbers are better than they were (at least for part of the day). She is drinking less and urinating less, so she does not need the home fluids. We have also been giving her 1 mg of Methyl B-12 a day (a pill crushed up with some water). If today is any indication, it seems that Lantus lasts longer during the day if the dosage is increased. Is that a fair statement, or was it just a coincidence? Also, I know I need to get her on wet food. She is the only cat we have ever had that does not prefer wet food to dry food. I have tried several brands (as well as the canned Purina DM and HIlls K/D), but she eats a bite (if I am lucky) and refuses to eat any more. I am also at a disadvantage because she has kidney disease - her numbers are a lot better than they were and not too bad considering her age, but they are still not good. The food for kidney disease is not low in carbs, and the food for the diabetes is not low in phosphorus and other minerals needed for her kidney disease. I would appreciate any suggestions about Lantus dosing, treating both diseases, or anything else!
My kitty, Emma, is 18 years old and was diagnosed with diabetes about 6 years ago. Our vet put her on Vetsulin and Purina DM dry, and she went into remission about a year later. Unfortunately, about three years ago she came out of remission. At that point, Vetsulin was no longer sold in the US, so we tried Humulin (later Novalin). Her preshot numbers were not too bad at that point (around 300), so although the Humulin didn't last an entire 12 hours, her numbers did not get out of control on it. She gets really stressed going to the vet and I don't like doing that too much to her at her age, so I liked that we could get Humulin without a prescription. Emma has never liked wet food, so we kept her on the DM since she was first diagnosed. She seemed to be doing fine until about three weeks ago. At that point, she stopped eating and was very lethargic. Also, we tested her blood sugar and the meter read HI. She seemed to be doing fine and we thought her diabetes was under control, so it had been months since we had tested it. After 24 hours of acting sick, we took her to the vet. She was dehydrated and her bloodwork showed that it was probably a kidney infection. She was dehydrated so the vet gave her fluids, and we had to give her fluids at home as well for two weeks. The vet said that we probably would not be able to regulate her blood sugar numbers while she was so sick, and we concentrated more on the kidney problem. However, we did test her (every four hours most of the time) and gave her Novalin as needed, but it wore off very quickly (in five hours or so). After two rough weeks, the antibiotic kicked in and she was about 90% better! We were so happy and convinced the vet to give her a slower-acting insulin, and she gave us Lantus. We started her on Lantus a week ago. We started her at one unit twice a day for three days (like the vet told us to). Her numbers were always HI after 12 hours. Then we bumped it up to 1.5 units three days ago and her numbers were still HI after 12 hours (it seemed to wear off after 8 or 9 hours). Today, we were home all day, so we bumped it up to 2 units and tested every 2 hours. She was HI preshot this AM, her lowest reading was seven hours later (99), and then it gradually increased to 369 about 11.5 hours after the AM shot. My vet told me to give it three or four days before I changed doses, but it looks like this board recommends a week. I do not want her to numbers to get too low overnight, so I cut back to 1.5 units for tonight. It just worries me that I have been seeing HI on the meter for that last three weeks, and there is no telling how long her sugars were high before she started showing us that she was sick. I am also worried because she is not walking very well at times (probably neuropathy because of the high sugar numbers). It could be a potassium deficiency because her blood work showed she is in the normal range, but at the very low end of that range. The good news is we have not had to give her fluids, now that the blood sugar numbers are better than they were (at least for part of the day). She is drinking less and urinating less, so she does not need the home fluids. We have also been giving her 1 mg of Methyl B-12 a day (a pill crushed up with some water). If today is any indication, it seems that Lantus lasts longer during the day if the dosage is increased. Is that a fair statement, or was it just a coincidence? Also, I know I need to get her on wet food. She is the only cat we have ever had that does not prefer wet food to dry food. I have tried several brands (as well as the canned Purina DM and HIlls K/D), but she eats a bite (if I am lucky) and refuses to eat any more. I am also at a disadvantage because she has kidney disease - her numbers are a lot better than they were and not too bad considering her age, but they are still not good. The food for kidney disease is not low in carbs, and the food for the diabetes is not low in phosphorus and other minerals needed for her kidney disease. I would appreciate any suggestions about Lantus dosing, treating both diseases, or anything else!
