new to this board--hi everyone!--questions

Status
Not open for further replies.
Hi TMR!

No worries. We all get stressed sometimes, emotionally, financially, spiritually trying to manage this new sugardance with everything already going on in our lives. It's hard. I hope you still will continue to post here because there is a lot of great information available.

Curve. Nothing special. Just take a BG reading every two hours, write down the number. Start with the morning preshot (AMPS) test. It's that simple. You can do it over a weekend. You can do it at night. You can actually do it over a couple of days.

Food. 1/4 a day is probably not enough. Due to the diabetes, the food is not being processed correctly and the cat is starving. Newly diagnosed unregulated diabetic cats may require double the food intake of a normal cat. You need to know the weight of your cat and if over, under or just right weight. Ideal body weight x 15 calories is one formula. Then double that. My foster cat was eating a cup a day of dry food. Now diet controlled and eating 8 ounces of canned food.

Sliding scale. Nope, not on Lantus or Levimir. At least not most people that use the 12 and 12 schedule. You certainly may need to adjust how much insulin you give, up, down as the pancreas heals. Dose changes are based on the BG nadir for Lantus and Levimir. You will need a schedule that works with your long work shifts.

Feeding based on what the package says. Nope. These suggested amounts from the manufacturer are usually way too much and lead to obesity. You need to base the fed amount on ideal weight of your cat. See above response for one formula. Your vet should be able to tell you ideal weight.

Changing amount of food fed. Yes, I certainly do change the amount of food fed based on how hungry the cat is. Initailly, a diabetic cat is literally starving internally. Double the normal food intake is often required, even triple. As BG comes under control, cat will not be starving and appetite will diminish. At some point, you need to limit the number of calories so the cat does not become obese and develop other health issue due to obesity.

No, I do not change the amount of food given based on the amount of insulin given. I do make sure the cat is eating, not vomiting up food after the insulin is given. I use 4 smaller meals a day to help level out the BG numbers.

I have two ideas to maybe stop the wet food/home testing advice pushing we do.

1. Maybe if you added a block of text to your signature in the user control panel that said something like 'Choose to feed dry food after research and your feedback. Will not be changing my mind at this point. No more advice on home testing please. Thanks for understanding." or "Dry food due to other issues." Think about what to say and then put it in your signature.
2. Either that or some sort of disclaimer at the beginning of every post. 'No more wet food/home testing advice please'.

Then all us new and old people who don't realize this history and those who may not have the greatest of memories would stop and read that first. Then you will not keep getting those annoying posts that try to convince you to come over to 'the dark side of the force'. Just a thought.

I did not reread your entire post history when I responded, only the last post you had made. That is why you got another annoying reply.

We say what we say because it works. Over 240 cats are now diet controlled thanks to the hard work of their owners and the advice on this board. Maybe you will be the first to have a dry food diet controlled kitty!
 
How do I add the disclaimer? "Not switching to wet food at this time due to cat not tolerating it. Working on the home testing thing." Or something like that.

I am onboard with the home testing. I am just starting this process, so bear with me, please.

Thanks for all the suggestions and advice. I do appreciate it.

My cat was not eating well when I first switched her to diabetic food. Now her appetite is out of control. She inhales all of her food at once (she has always been a grazer, until now) and always stays by the kitchen. She weighs 9 pounds which is close to ideal. I think the vet said she could stand to lose another pound or so, but not much. I can see curves when I look at her from the top and feel her bones easily. She is medium-hair---not long and fluffy fur that needs to be brushed, but not short hair like my tiger striped cat was. And she used to weigh a lot more so her belly hangs down a little from being stretched out. It is quite a bit off the floor now--it used to almost touch the floor. Anyway, the bag of food says that based on 9 pounds she should get a max of 1/2 cup per day. So I give her 1/4 cup twice a day. The vet said after the curve is done he will give me a recommendation on adjusting her insulin and food amounts.

One more question, since I shouldn't use a sliding scale for the insulin, I should give the vet-recommended amount--always the same amount--as long as her blood sugar is above 250? I think I read somewhere not to give her any insulin if her blood sugar is below 250. Is that right? This is a lot of information to process! In other words, home testing is not going to tell me HOW MUCH insulin to give, just whether or not to give the insulin--right?

Thanks again.
 
Hi and Welcome!

I wanted to share a few links with you that might help answer these questions. First, regarding feeding, most people around here allow their cats to graze (yes, it's also possible on wet food). See this link about Feed Kitty as much as they want.

Next, with Lantus, you do not need to hold off or decrease the shot if the cat doesn't eat at shot time. In fact, Lantus is a depot-type insulin and you want a dose that is safe to shoot approximately every 12 hours (the closer to 12 you can get, the better). You do not want to skip shots (usually means the dose is too high) nor do you want to change dosing levels more than once every 6 cycles (3 days) or more, depending on numbers. Because of this, a sliding scale will usually not work with depot insulins because it takes up to 3 days to see the full effects of dose increase/decreases. It is recommended to not shoot under 200 if your cat is newly diagnosed and/or you don't have the data to show how your cat might react.

Finally, for the curve, here is a nice example of a typical Lantus curve and what the cat's numbers might look like:
+0 - PreShot number.
+1 - Usually higher than PreShot number because of the last shot wearing off. May see a food spike in this number.
+2 - Often similar to the PreShot number.
+3 - Lower than the PreShot number, onset has started.
+4 - Lower.
+5 - Lower.
+6 - Nadir/Peak (the lowest number of cycle).
+7 - Surf (hang around the nadir number).
+8 - Slight rise.
+9 - Slight rise.
+10 - Rising.
+11 - Rising (may dip around +10 or +11).
+12 - PreShot number.
Click to expand...

Home testing does take some time, so don't worry about it! It can take up to two weeks or more before you and your cat fall into a rhythm and your cat might actually start seeking you out for treats, I mean testing. :lol: But those two weeks (sometimes less, sometimes more) can be an additional trial in and of itself! Just make sure you have plenty of wine and chocolate stocked up for yourself! ;-)

And lastly, take a deep breath! We've all been where you're at and are here to help. The recommendations here are considered the "best practices" which lead to the highest remission rates and regulation rates for feline diabetics, but you know best which suggestions you feel will work best for you and your cat. A saying around here is ECID, "Every Cat Is Different!"
 
TMR said:
In other words, home testing is not going to tell me HOW MUCH insulin to give, just whether or not to give the insulin--right?
Click to expand...

Sorry, I missed this part and didn't address it in my previous post. As shown in the typical curve I posted above, home testing is based on both the pre-shot values (i.e. if you have to skip a shot because they're under 200) and the nadir, the lowest point in the cycle. If their nadir drops below 50 (on a human meter) the dose needs to be immediately lowered at the next shot time.

Here is some more information on dosing:
"General" Guidelines:

Hold the initial starting dose for 5 - 7 days (10 - 14 consecutive cycles) unless the numbers tell you otherwise. Kitties experiencing high flat curves or prone to ketones may want to increase the starting dose after 3 days (6 consecutive cycles).

Each subsequent dose is held for a minimum of 3 days (6 consecutive cycles) unless kitty earns a reduction (See: Reducing the dose...).

Adjustments to dose are based on nadirs with only some consideration given to preshot numbers.


Increasing the dose:

Hold the dose for 3 - 5 days (6 - 10 consecutive cycles) if nadirs are less than 200 before increasing the dose by 0.25 unit.

After 3 days (6 consecutive cycles)... if nadirs are greater than 200, but less than 300 increase the dose by 0.25 unit.

After 3 days (6 consecutive cycles)... if nadirs are greater than 300 increase the dose by 0.5 unit.


Reducing the dose:

If kitty drops below 40 (long term diabetic) or 50 (newly diagnosed diabetic) reduce the dose by 0.25 unit. If kitty has a history of not holding reductions well or if reductions are close together... sneak the dose down by shaving the dose rather than reducing by a full quarter unit. Alternatively, at each newly reduced dose... try to make sure kitty maintains numbers in the normal range for seven days before reducing the dose further.

If an attempted reduction fails, go right back up to the last good dose.

Try to go from 0.25u to 0.1u before stopping insulin completely.
Click to expand...



*Note: you do not have to follow the "Tight Regulation Protocol," but the information is still the same.
 
TMR said:
How do I add the disclaimer? "Not switching to wet food at this time due to cat not tolerating it. Working on the home testing thing." Or something like that...
Click to expand...

Go up to the top of the web page.
Click on User Control Panel.
Click on the Profile tab.
Click on Edit Signature.
Edit away.
Preview if desired.
Save.
Click on View your posts to quickly locate your last post.
Click on the little square next to the name at the right (last post made)
 
And now that you know how to add text to your signature that will show up at the bottom of every post, would you be willing to add a tiny bit more?

I'd love to see your first name and your cats name at the end of each of your posts.
 
I am going to read all these posts later when I get home so I can understand them better. I am out of the house for a while right now. But I have a meter specifically for cats and dogs. Would that make any difference in the recommendations?
 
You should add the meter you got to your signature also. Most of us use a human glucometer so we need to know you are using a pet glucometer.

The only difference is the range of numbers the meter will give. As long as we know it is a pet meter, we will know to subtract roughly 30 points from any BG reading you give us.
 
Deb & Wink said:
The only difference is the range of numbers the meter will give. As long as we know it is a pet meter, we will know to subtract roughly 30 points from any BG reading you give us.
Click to expand...

Well, there's one more difference: the strips for the pet meters are much more expensive than the human ones (which is why most of us use human meters).
 
You're are right. A pet specific meter besides being 5 times the cost of a human meter also has very expensive test strips. Some of the human meters also have expensive test strips.

Alphatrak test strips - $1.00 each roughly
Relion Confirm test strips - $0.36 each
Relion Prime test strips - $0.18 each

Might not seem like much but at 200 test strips a month that is
alpahtrak $200
confirm $72
prime $36

Where did I come up with that number of 200 strips? Roughly 5 per day and then special situations like hypo, dosing changes, beginners finding the nadir, dose changes, cat seems wonky, etc,
Daily use - AMPS, midcycle, PMPS, before bed test - 4 a day 4 X 31 = 124
Beginning out - finding that curve easily 10 in a day - several days of testing, say 3 days = 30
Random testing to see how cat is responding - many like to do a few +10, +11 tests = 15
Hypo testing - every 15 to 20 minutes until 2 non-food incluenced rises - 8-15 easy = 15
Dose changes - get more numbers to find nadir - AMPS, +2, +5 +6, +7, PMPS - 6 in a day minimum - 6
Curve - 6 a day for each curve, aaha guidelines recommend every two weeks = 12

124 + 30 + 15 + 15 + 6 + 12 = 202
 
I mentioned in a prior post that Midnight weighs 9 lbs, and I think that is very close or at her ideal weight. Someone had asked about her ideal weight. Someone asked about the meter I got. It is for cats and dogs. I know it is more expensive than a human meter but I thought it might be more accurate for a cat than a human meter. Maybe it doesn't matter, but I got it anyway. Oh well. I am pretty sure the meter is Alphatrak. But I just bought it Tuesday and left on vacation Wednesday. So I will start using it when I return from my vacation (return Monday night, start using it Tuesday morning). I will research and shop for low carb dry food. I will do a glucose curve. I will try to figure out, with my vet and all of the suggestions here, how much food and insulin to give. I am trying to do what is best for Midnight. I have spent almost $800 on her so far on this journey, between blood and urine tests, the glucose meter/strips/lancets, food, insulin, syringes, and vet appointments. I am totally broke. I don't even know if I have enough money in the bank to pay my bills right now. I am dealing with some major life issues with my elderly father, both of my children, and myself in addition to all of this with Midnight. But I am trying to do my best. Thanks for all the suggestions and support. I can't do anything until next Tuedsday with Midnight, so I am praying she will be ok until then on the amount of food and insulin she is getting now. And I changed my signature. I hope I did it correctly. I have stocked up on alcoholic beverages for myself (LOL). Have I covered all the bases, at this point, or do you think I am forgetting anything?
 
If you haven"t used the Alpha_rak yet, you might return it.
There are referenc numbers established for using a human glucometer with diabetic cats.

On a human glucometer
< 50 is possible hypo territory
40 to 120 in a non-diabetic cat is normal
50 to 150 is what we try to get as aften as possible with a diabetic cat
240 -280 is about when the glucose starts spilling into the urine
 
TMR said:
What are the normal and abnormal numbers with alphatrak.
Click to expand...

With the Alphatrak, at the low end, you add 30 points.
A human glucometer runs about 30-40% lower than the AlphaTrak and a vet lab, per Dr Janice Rand, University of Queensland Centre for Companion Animal Health.

Also, the FDA allows meters to read within 20% of the true lab value. Table here.

This 20% doesn't make any difference when high - 300 HI, 458 - you do the same thigs.
The most concern is the low numbers, because a hypo can kill quickly.

If you're going to keep the AlphaTrak, add that to your signature, so we adjust for the numbers.
 
Yes, stocking up on certain supplies is critical :lol: :lol: :lol: I always need a few pieces of chocolate around. Some people need their endless cups of ~O) ~O) ~O) ~O) ~O) ~O) ~O) ~O) ~O) .

Good on the signature. I'd like to see one tiny change. could you break out the meter onto a separate line and increase the font size from normal to large should work. That is in the middle of the toolbar when you are writing a post or updating your control panel info. Thanks.

Yes, that disclaimer did work. I read the post and saw "hunting for dry carb food" thought to myself why and then my eyes traveled down to the end of the post and saw your disclaimer.
 
I already added Alphatrak to my signature. Not sure if I will keep it or get a human meter.
 
Deb & Wink said:
Yes, stocking up on certain supplies is critical :lol: :lol: :lol: I always need a few pieces of chocolate around. Some people need their endless cups of ~O) ~O) ~O) ~O) ~O) ~O) ~O) ~O) ~O) .

Good on the signature. I'd like to see one tiny change. could you break out the meter onto a separate line and increase the font size from normal to large should work. That is in the middle of the toolbar when you are writing a post or updating your control panel info. Thanks.

Yes, that disclaimer did work. I read the post and saw "hunting for dry carb food" thought to myself why and then my eyes traveled down to the end of the post and saw your disclaimer.
Click to expand...
 
Add a couple of returns/enters around your line about the AlphaTrak in your signature and increase the size of the word "AlphaTrak" so it stands out and this will help. Or, you can remove it entirely since you haven't started testing yet and maybe add instead: "start testing XX/XX" date until you decide whether or not to keep the AlphaTrak.

(The <enter> between lines is especially imperative because the current line break on my device keeps making me read your sig as: "Terri, Mom of 12." And I think, " gee, that's a lot of kids!" :lol: )
 
hello
Its a lot to take in at first but you'll get up to speed fast. Sorry to hear about your life issues.. we hope we can at least help you out with this one!

In terms of dose we have a formula : the formula is 0.25 unit per kg of the cat's ideal weight = Which works out I think to 1unit - which you give twice a day.

Her BG might seem high now but thats because of the high carb food, once you get a low carb one her numbers should drop and the 1 unit will work better.

Did you get coffee liqueurs? Sometimes you might need the caffeine? lol.


Wendy
 
Seriously thinking about taking the cat glucometer back to the vet for a refund. I have not used it yet. I bought it because I figured it would be more accurate for a cat but it seems that a human meter would be just as reliable and a lot less expensive. So does it come with lancets and test strips? And I have heard that Relion is a good brand? The Alphatrak uses a tiny tiny drop of blood (they demonstrated it for me at the vet). Do the human meters also only require a tiny drop? And what about the lancets? I would think you would need a much bigger needle to poke a human than you would need for a cat. I am going to try to get to Walmart tomorrow.
 
I would. The Walmart relion brand is a good price and reliable. The Prime is the cheapest but it needs a little more blood than the confirm and the micro so I would go for those instead.. I think they need 0.3microlitres of blood - same as the alphatrak.

You would have to buy lancets and test strips in Walmart too. 28g or 29g is good to start for lancet size.

Wendy
 
Which is better: the confirm strips or the micro strips? I read online that you should not poke the vein alongside the edge of the ear but I also saw and heard that you should try to poke the vein. She is black and I cannot see the vein. I would think it wouldn't matter as long as you get a drop of blood.
 
Not sure I think they both are pretty good - I would look at the meters on walmart and see what you think.

You might want to buy a small flashlight so you can see what you are doing. Ideally you dont poke the vein as it can cause scarring and inflammation over time but if you are having issues getting blood then its ok short term. I bought a mini usb flashlight from ebay from China for like $2 including shipping.
 
TMR said:
Which is better: the confirm strips or the micro strips? I read online that you should not poke the vein alongside the edge of the ear but I also saw and heard that you should try to poke the vein. She is black and I cannot see the vein. I would think it wouldn't matter as long as you get a drop of blood.
Click to expand...
Hello! I am a newbie here as well...i've only been online since Monday and I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL!!!
The vet gave Charlie his first shot of Lantus (2U) on Monday about 5:15 pm and later that evening and he went hypo!!! The first night!!! hypo!!! I was a wreck and felt completely lost. There was more than person on here to help me through that and I am so greatful!!! ( I was on here well past 1am)
I read through your thread and feel I can contribute (yay me). If and when you decide to home test, there is a trick to getting blood the first time. Poor Charlie was a pin cushion the first night!!!
Put dried beans or rice in a sock
Tie it up ( I use lentils in a tied up paper towel)
Heat in microwave for about 20 seconds
Apply to fur baby's ear for a little bit to get the blood moving
Use lancet and you have yourself a dot!!!!
This was EXTREMELY helpful for me and I wish I knew right away.
Also, I have the Relion Micro. I liked that it was more compact.
Good luck! Everyone here is so great and will take care of you!!!
 
I got a Relion at WALMART. I got strips and lancets. I was told to get 28 or 29 g lancets but all they had was 30 or 33. So I got 30 g. It came with aa pen to. Put the lancet in. Do most of the people here use the pens or just poke the ear with the lancet?
 
I use the pen. I'm not comfortable doing it myself yet. I also use the the 4th setting. I tried 3 but it wouldn't even reach his ear. I even tried it on myself at 3 and got nuthin'.
 
I like to freehand the lancet.

1. Gives you better control.
2. Easier for this old, bifocal challenged to see where I'm hitting on the ear.
3. No clicking noise from the lancet pen to hurt my cute litty kitties ears.
4. No noise to send the cat running.

Whatever works best for you is the right thing to do. Try it both ways to see which method you like.

Have a long haired black cat. Since I was a newbie, I shaved a teeny, tiny patch on his ears so I could see better. Don't need that anymore and the hair is grown back.

The Relion Confirm and Micro meters use the same test strips. Your box should say that. Test strips are interchangable in these two meters so you can have both these meters and use one as a backup.

Both need 0.3 milliliters of bloood. The Prime needs 0.5. Still a tiny amount.

Try for the edge of the ear. You willl probably hit the vein a time or two and get plenty of blood. If you do, try to only put the edge of the test strip near the drop and let the strip do it's sipping routine (capillary action at work - cool!). Too much blood can give you an error reading.

If you really need to get blood, and poking the sweet spot simply is not working, then try for the vein. Hurts kitty a bit more but if your kitty has hypoed, you need to test frequently and get that blood to retest BG's.

Be sure to dab that neosporin with pain relief on kitty's ear. Poke yourself with the lancet and then put the Neosporin w/pain relief on your finger to see the action. It really works. You'll need it for when you eventually poke yourself with the lancet or the insulin syringe. I have sight in only one eye so my depth perception is awful. Poked myself with one syringe AFTER shot was given trying to get the dang cap back on the needle. :evil: ohmygod_smile ohmygod_smile ohmygod_smile ohmygod_smile
 
Just opened the meter and tested myself. 114, I think. As long as Midnight doesn't squirm too much I think it will be very manageable to do the curve tomorrow. THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR SUPPORT. I was feeling really overwhelmed for a while and got a little cranky but now that I have been away from Midnight for a week, I can put it into perspective much better. I had my daughter, son, and neighbor taking care of her while I was away. She looks better than she did when I left! Her appetite isn't as voracious, and I am actually really anxious to see what her blood sugar is tomorrow. I DO feel a lot more in control now that I will be able to home test her.
 
Should I just post the results of the curve here, tonight when I have finished testing for the day?
 
Yes, you can post the results of the curve right here.

A list like this but replace the xxx with your numbers

amps xxx
+2 xxx
+4 xxx
+6 xxx
+8 xxx
pmps xxx

You'll need to set up a spreadsheet eventually. Here is the how to link:http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=50130

You need a Google account to set it up and then update it. Yell for help if you need it.

A profile would be good too.

http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=79123 There is a template but throw it out the window if you want and tell us about YOUR cat. Love to see pictures in the profile.
 
I tried to get a photo on here but it is apparently too big and I can't figure out how to make it fit.
 
The profile I was talking about was a google doc, not the profile in the user control panel. Two different things.

You can add an avatar to your user control panel profile with a picture of your cat. This link talks about shrinking it down to the size limitation first:

http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=74672&p=809028&hilit=avatar+size#p809028

And if you want to have a link to a service like picasa or photobucket some explanation here:

Carl & Bob said:
Yes, the max size you can post here is 600 x 400 pixels. But if you put just a URL link to the pics on a service like photobucket, people can click on it and view much larger pics. If you click on the link in my sig, some off those pics are almost 5000 pixels high and wide. Crazy big:-)
Carl
Click to expand...
 
I had to poke her ear several times before it bled and she didn't cooperate at all! :(
 
Hang in there!!

I am trying to start home testing too and my Munchkin is not a fan of it, YET. (I have some new treats on order and plan to bribe him into liking our testing times.) I don't have any tips for you on how to make it go easier, but I'm sure the other FDMB members will be along soon with some help. Were you able to get a test reading, once you got her ear to bleed? If you did, then post it. :)
 
I warmed her ear this time with a warm washcloth and it bled on the first try. I also petted her and talked to her first, and she didn't squirm as much. I have been told on this board that people only hold the lantus if the blood sugar is below 200. Doesn't it matter whether or not they eat? Would you still give the insulin if the sugar was above 200 but the cat didn't eat any of their food? Do you give the insulin before or after or during the meal?
 
Congratulations! Welcome to the vampire Club. Your thread is 2 pages and your dosing question may get lost down here. I'd suggest starting a new topic specifically asking for Lantus dosing help
 
I have the results of the curve. If I should start a new thread, let me know and I can copy/paste.

March 1 (day of diagnosis): 491
March 13 (6 hours after insulin/food): 245
March 25 (5 hours after insulin/food): 407. Fructosamine level that day: 447

Today I did the curve--
7 am (before 1/4 cup Purina DM-have not had a chance to switch foods yet-and 1 unit lantus): 293
9 am: 245
11 am: 205
1 pm: 324
3 pm: 253
5 pm: 290
6:30 pm (before food/insulin): 438

Any suggestions or thoughts on these numbers?
 
I only gave her a few bites of food in between her meals at 7 am and 6:30 pm because she doesn't like treats, and it helped her cooperate a little more with the testing.
 
I need to know what this means, and if/how I should be adjusting her food and insulin amounts.
 
We have a protocol you can use but remind me, long has she been on lantus? You need to hold it to let the depot build up first before changing dose.

The protocol : http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1581 but essentially see below.. and explains also why you need testing:

"General" Guidelines:
Hold the initial starting dose for 5 - 7 days (10 - 14 consecutive cycles) unless the numbers tell you otherwise. Kitties experiencing high flat curves or prone to ketones may want to increase the starting dose after 3 days (6 consecutive cycles).
Each subsequent dose is held for a minimum of 3 days (6 consecutive cycles) unless kitty earns a reduction (See: Reducing the dose...).
Adjustments to dose are based on nadirs with only some consideration given to preshot numbers.

Increasing the dose:
Hold the dose for 3 - 5 days (6 - 10 consecutive cycles) if nadirs are less than 200 before increasing the dose by 0.25 unit.
After 3 days (6 consecutive cycles)... if nadirs are greater than 200, but less than 300 increase the dose by 0.25 unit.
After 3 days (6 consecutive cycles)... if nadirs are greater than 300 increase the dose by 0.5 unit.

Reducing the dose:
If kitty drops below 40 (long term diabetic) or 50 (newly diagnosed diabetic) reduce the dose by 0.25 unit. If kitty has a history of not holding reductions well or if reductions are close together... sneak the dose down by shaving the dose rather than reducing by a full quarter unit. Alternatively, at each newly reduced dose... try to make sure kitty maintains numbers in the normal range for seven days before reducing the dose further.
If an attempted reduction fails, go right back up to the last good dose.
Try to go from 0.25u to 0.1u before stopping insulin completely.
Click to expand...
 
Sorry, but I really don't understand that. She was started on 1 unit lantus every 12 hours the evening of March 1.
 
And also, I could not possibly change the dose by any less or more than 1 unit. The marks on the syringes are in 1 unit increments, and I would not be able to see 1/2 or 1/4 unit differences.
 
Ok well let me get a dosing person over to explain.

Normally we suggest people get the 3/10cc syringes since they do have half unit markings and many cats are sensitive to small changes. Even my Tiggy who gets 6.75units, if I give him 7 he goes too low but if I give 6.5 it's not enough. A small amount of insulin goes a long way. And we go up slowly so you don't miss the good dose.

But again all these assumptions are based on no dry, so maybe you will be ok. Anyway I want someone more experienced over here since I am flying a bit blind with this.
 
Do you need a prescription for syringes? I could try to change them when I run out.
 
Hello.
I think you've got lots of good info so far.
I saw that Wendy showed you the Young Again Dry food that is Zero Carb. If you would like to see a spreadsheet of someone who had
a cat that ate Evo dry ( 9 % carb) and struggled as the numbers wouldn't really go down..... and then switched to the Young Again Zero carb
dry and suddenly within a month or so, went into remission , send me a pm and I'll show you the spreadsheet.
We don't have any examples that I could find of anyone making any progress with dry food. She struggled alone.
I don't think you could be successful with any dry food other than the Young Again.

Secondly, your lancets at 30g will still make it hard for you to get blood. I would suggest you try to poke the same spot twice in a row
and that should give you a sample. I couldn't do it with the 30g. I had to go buy another lancing device... the accuchek softclix plus
which is 28 gauge. It made a huge difference. I resisted for a while and was so glad when I made the switch. Less stress for both me
and Shadow.

The other contingency you will need to plan for is how you will steer the numbers when your cat starts getting low enough to earn
dose reductions. It's really hard to steer when they eat dry food. If he doesn't like wet food, you will have to find a substitute for
the gravy foods we use to bring numbers up. So you will want to experiment before you start seeing low numbers.
The lady who used Young Again used a dropper of milk to bring numbers up ( the only treat her cat would accept) and I think she was
very lucky that the cat didn't have huge drops in glucose numbers.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top