New to forum - Bailey - low dosing advice?

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Wendy&Tiggy(GA)

Wendy&Tiggy(GA)

Member Since 2011
Ok I should preface this with the fact that I have been on the forum for a while with my other cat Tiggy. (info in signature).

However I also have another cat called Bailey who is also diabetic, We adopted him from my DH sister in January. He was a complete mess having been untreated diabetic for easily 8 months if not longer - when we got him he was barely alive. (see profile https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1Q5tMpUS3tTS7hD-M60LQi-wLSk2wGTMf6k5lm1ai8sg for the full story.

We really followed the vets advice on this one :
- We put him on 0.5IU lantus BID
- I measured his BG twice a day at pre shot with my old Freestyle meter. (fyi since August i moved to new Contour meter)
- We were skipping almost every 2nd or 3rd shot he was bouncing all over the place since day 1 of lantus - highs in the 200s one day to lows of 40 the next.

The vet attributed the bouncing to the long time he was so sick, and various infections he had. We cured an ear infection and we knew he needed a dental but wasnt strong enough. Over time he gained more energy, a little weight, and wasnt showing the usual diabetic symptoms.

Then
- Aug 23 we finally did the dental work. He had ALL teeth removed except his 4 canines as his mouth was a mess.
- Sept 1 we tested taking him off insulin . See spreadsheet - note this is the new Contour meter readings only. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AmWmpHZ2Pu8QdFZENWVXa3B3aml6ZVNSWTh0NktqZ1E&output=html
- Wed 5th I didnt like the look of the numbers , still bouncing etc(!) so I tried putting him back on 0.25IU. And he had a bad hypo that night!
- Fri 7th took him to the vet, and the vet says we dont need to give Bailey any insulin any more based on the numbers up to this date

But since the hypo all I am seeing is yellows plus I am seeing 56mmol/L sugar in his urine (vet says this is ok since a little for a diabetic cat is ok??) I am not sure he is ready to be OTJ. And if is he is doing a hypo at 0.25IU.. how much lower can I go?

I know this is a mess but any thoughts would be welcome. We really were in a holding pattern until we could do the dental but now thats done I want to be sure we are doing best for him.

I am thinking waiting a couple more days for the potential bounce from this recent hypo to clear and then trying him again on less than 0.25IU if I can manage it - any advice on dosing and giving low doses would be great - I did look at the photos on this site of syringes and have played with one with water in but it seems like a bit of a crapshoot and given Bailey can hypo at 0.25IU I dont want to take any chances.
 
Hi Wendy, Sorry for all that Bailey has been through, poor kitty. He is lucky to have you taking care of him now cat_pet_icon and his dental is done. I can't give dosing advise, the wise ones will be along for that. Good job checking his numbers while he has been off insulin! When you get a chance you may want to backfill more of his history in teh spreadsheet to provide the advice givers with a more complete picture. Hope you all have a great day!
 
Wendy --

I'm not ignoring Bailey's condo. I want to get some input from a few people who are experienced with Lantus. My initial thought is that Bailey may be a microdose cat. You may want to try shooting 0.1u.

01unit-1.jpg
 
I don't think the syringes are a problem. If you always use the same brand and whatever the issue is, is consistent, then it's not a problem. In other words, if the dose is always off by 2 drops, it's been off by 2 drops from day one and that's how you've been dosing. As long as you measure your doses the same way, it doesn't matter. (I hope that makes sense!)
 
Hello Wendy and Bailey!

I can't offer suggestions with dosing advice, I'm pretty new at this myself. But I thought I would send you a link to some really good pictures of syringes with fine graduations: http://steverapaport.com/jock/SyringeFineGradations/

My experience with BD syringes is that they seem to be way off. Sometimes the plunger was past the 1 unit line when fully depressed (keep in mind these were 1 unit markings and NOT half unit markings). I don't know if this is the consensus or if I just had a bad batch, but I gave up on the whole box after using 1-1/2 packs of 10. Does your Walmart carry ReliOn syringes? ReliOn is a Walmart brand and I recently purchased them from behind the pharmacy desk (no script required in Minnesota). I read somewhere that these were decent for accuracy and good at removing air bubbles. I have yet to break into my new box, so no opinions for certain as of yet.

Good luck to you and Bailey!
 
No relion in Canada :( But those pictures help.

i reckon having played all day with water and my syringe (DH thinks i am nuts!) and I reckon I can fairly consistently get different 2 dose levels under 0.25. (0.25 seems to be 4 drops or so).

So I can get maybe 3 drops by putting it where the plunger takes up all the space between 0.5 and the zero line
I can also get a smaller dose of 1-2 drops where the plunger is right at the zero line.

Might start him on this smaller dose which seems to be 1-2 drops depending on how hard I squeeze (!).. lets hope that each syringe is the same too although I doubt it.
 
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