New to "Relaxed" Lantus Group

[april_sd]

Hi Everyone,

My cat, Maddy, was diagnosed a little over a month ago. I've been cruising around the main health forum, and I'm starting to feel more qualified to post in an insulin support group.

I've mostly managed to switch Maddy from a dry food, free-feeding diet to a low-carb, wet food, timed meal diet. She gets half a can of Fancy Feast Classics at in the morning, afternoon, and evening. The change in diet has really impacted her BG levels. Yesterday she went from 201 at AMPS to 65 (+6), 87 (+10), and 89 (PMPS). I didn't give her insulin last night, but gave her some high carb wet food to help counteract any dips in her BG overnight. This morning she was at 136 and I didn't give her insulin - I'm still new to this, and I'm not yet comfortable shooting when she's below 150.

I'm struggling to determine what dosage to give her now that she's on the low-carb diet. Based on her weight, she should be at 1.5 units. Any advice?

 

[atajev]

Hi and welcome! Our resident Wonder Woman, Mel, is away on the weekends, but she's probably the best one to give you dosing advice of the people who are around most often. I am not qualified to recommend a dose myself, but Maddy's spreadsheet looks a heck of a lot like my cat's did after we switched to all wet food from dry. You're clearly in a place where if you need any insulin it's going to be a tiny bit since after no shot for 36 hours, Maddy is still in the normal range.

Personally, I'd hold off on all insulin until Mel or some of the other experienced people can let you know what they'd suggest. For me, they had me hold no insulin for a whole, then put her on a drop (no even to the zero line on the syringe) for a couple weeks before she didn't need any more at all!

 

[atajev]

Also, the fact that she dipped back down again after the food you gave her to keep her higher last night is fabulous!

You don't need to worry about her going into a hypo event right now because you're not dosing her with insulin, so just stick with the low carb food and keep testing to get a picture of how her body is reacting to it.

 

[Geneva]

Hey, April! I've only been here since the first of July, so I'm not an expert by any means, but my newly-adopted cat Alice has been able to go into remission since then. All I did was change her diet overnight from all dry to all wet (under the guidance of the FDMB, of course). I have a feeling your Maddy may be one of the lucky ones who can also go OTJ with just a diet change.

How much dry is Maddy still eating? Alice responded so well to the wet food that she went from 3.0u twice a day to 1.0u twice a day almost overnight and started a successful OTJ trial within two weeks.

You are fortunate to be tackling Maddy's diagnosis so quickly and effectively. I have read the sooner the diet is changed and this type of dosing protocol is made, the greater the chance the cat can go into remission. Something like 84% within the first 90 days after diagnosis.

You're doing a GREAT job, April! Maddy is very lucky to have you!

Edited: as I was typing, I see that atajev responded. I was going to suggest dropping Maddy to 1.0 unit, but, as atajev said, it might be better to wait until someone like Mel is here to advise you. Maddy is responding so well! :thumbup

 

[april_sd]

Thank you both for the advice! I'm excited that her numbers have stayed within the normal range for 36 hours after her last dose. I'll be testing her again in a few hours before her evening meal, but will likely hold off on the insulin unless her numbers start to get much higher.

Geneva, right now Maddy hasn't had any dry food in about 36 hours. I was leaving a little out for her overnight to ease the transition from free-feeding. Last night she got high carb wet food, but I forgot to leave the dry out. She didn't complain too much during the night, so I'm hoping we're done with the dry.

 

[Geneva]

Geneva, right now Maddy hasn't had any dry food in about 36 hours ... so I'm hoping we're done with the dry.

April - that is excellent! Since she's gone that long without, just don't leave any more dry out at all. Even a little bit of dry can detour the good progress you've made. You're definitely headed in the right direction!

Does Maddy get treats at all? My Alice was so sensitive to carbs that even a couple of high carb treats made her numbers rise. Zero carb treats like freeze-dried chicken or salmon are tasty (I assume, lol) and don't raise BG.

 

[april_sd]

Quick update: Maddy hasn't had any dry food since Friday morning. Her BG went up over night. At her AMPS she was at 170, and I gave her 0.5 units of Lantus. This evening she was at 84, so no insulin overnight.

Geneva, she does get treats after her BG testing, but I've been giving her the freeze-dried chicken (I think the brand is Whole Life). Funny story, my husband actually tried a bite of the freeze-dried chicken and declared that it was "not bad." Maddy seems to have a higher opinion of it though.