New to being a diabetic cat mom... Need questions answered please

[Gatoluna]

Hello everyone,
So as the title says I am a new diabetic cat mom. My guy is going be 8 years old and was diagnosed with diabetes about a month and half ago. I noticed he dropped weight rapidly and was lethargic so I took him to the vet and his glucose level was at 411. The vet prescribed Lantus (vial refrigerated) 1 unit twice a day and a diabetic food. He is now eating royal canin glycobalance hard and wet food for the weight of 14lbs. He started at 21lbs but in the last year he lost the weight and is now sitting at 14.2lbs. From the end of February to 3/31 he was doing his schedule below.
His schedule is as follows:
6:30 am 50g of hard food
7:00am 1 unit of insulin
12:45 10g of hard (snack)
6:30pm Wet food can
7:00pm 1 unit of insulin
On 4/1 I took him to the vet for his first glucose curve and the first reading was 428 @8:21 and 556 @10:21. He was on gabapentin because he doesn't like the vet. After those 2 readings the vet called and said I can pick him up and that he now needs to be put on 2units twice a day. After reading online I seen that stress can increase the reading, so I am not sure if that's what made it jump even higher. When I spoke to the vet I asked if I need to start testing his glucose at him they stated no and to bring him back in 2 weeks. Well I bought a monitor anyways and check his blood glucose before dinner last night and before giving him his 2 units and he was at 392. I have a few questions
- How often should I check his Blood Glucose?
- Should he be feed 2x a day before his insulin (like the vet says) and split the cals evenly? or can I keep his current schedule with the increase in insulin? he is vocal about being hungry.
- is jumping to 2units right away okay?
* I will be doing a curve at home a few days before I take him to the vet to compare their numbers to ours at home to rule out stress if needed.
Sorry for the long message but the vet doesn't always communicate and I get mixed answers, any help would be appreciated!!

 

[Mary & Jude]

- How often should I check his Blood Glucose?
- Should he be feed 2x a day before his insulin (like the vet says) and split the cals evenly? or can I keep his current schedule with the increase in insulin? he is vocal about being hungry.
- is jumping to 2units right away okay?
* I will be doing a curve at home a few days before I take him to the vet to compare their numbers to ours at home to rule out stress if needed.
Sorry for the long message but the vet doesn't always communicate and I get mixed answers, any help would be appreciated!!

Hello, And welcome to the FDMB! We're sorry you have to be here, but I think you'll find a lot of useful/helpful information here as well as a good support group of other caregivers.

In response to your questions:

1.You should check his blood glucose at least twice a day, right before you give his insulin. This preshot test will help you know if your kitty's numbers are safe to receive his insulin shot (I posted a link below that talks about dosing methods and it shows numbers you are looking for--see the section on the SLGS dosing method). If you give him insulin when his blood glucose is too low, this can lead to a dangerous condition called hypoglycemia, so this test is key. After that, we suggest that you test periodically through the day and night, especially to begin with, so that you can get a feel for how your kitty is managing the insulin.

2. We suggest that caregivers increase/decrease in .25 unit increments (again, see the dosing methods sticky below). Stress can absolutely boost a cat's blood glucose, so you might have seen inflated numbers when his bg was checked at the vets. That said, it's not unusual for a cat's blood glucose to be erratic when they are first diagnosed.

Most of us on the board who use Lantus follow one of two dosing methods. Here is the information on them: Sticky - Dosing Methods: Start Low, Go Slow (SLGS) & Tight Regulation (TR). Since you are feeding dry kibble, you would need to follow SLGS. And a word about food: Most of us try to get our kitties off dry food and onto a low carb food (no more than 10% and most of us shoot for lower--Fancy Feast Classic Pates is a brand favorite around here because they are low carb, usually around 5% carbs). Unfortunately, the Royal Canin diabetic food is one of the "prescription" foods that is highest in carbs. There are food charts on the forum to guide you with choosing a lower carb food--let us know if you need help locating them. If your kitty is resistant to switching off kibble, let us know, and there are some lower carb kibble brands we can recommend. The sticky will offer some information about numbers and dosing and increasing/decreasing. We are here to help you understand any of that.

A couple of other things: please take a few minutes to set up a spreadsheet to track your kitty's blood glucose numbers. After setting up the spreadsheet, please set up a signature on your profile and link that spreadsheet in it so that when you post we can see your kitty's numbers. The information for getting all of that started is here: Sticky - New? How You Can Help Us Help You!. Again, we are here to help with any of this.

Finally, don't be surprised if your post is moved to the main forum; the moderators like for people to post there first so that we can help you get your spreadsheet set up, etc., and so that you don't get overlooked (you can't move it yourself, but if it's moved, don't be surprised).

It's a lot. I know. Especially at the beginning. We've all been there. We're here when you need us.