Newbie. Question about glucose/ketone testing

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Natalia & Enana

Natalia & Enana

Member Since 2011
Today was my first day giving my cat insulin and testing her glucose/ketones. AMPS 360 gave her 1u, PMPS 208 gave her .5u of Lantus 100. Tested for glucose/ketones with a Precision Xtra: AMPS +9 140 and .4 for ketones.

I observed that in in your spreadsheets most of you test for glucose several times a day. How many times should I test? She had a DKA episode (that's how I found out she was diabetic) last Monday. How many times should I test for ketones?

Thanks.

N
 
Welcome to Lantus Land!

Nice job getting your spreadsheet (SS) set up!!

First, I would pick up a box of Ketostix at your local pharmacy. The box of 100 runs around $15 and is much cheaper than the strips for a Precision meter. The Ketostix will let you test for ketones as much as you'd like without feeling like you're going to go bankrupt. I would test ketones daily if you can until you see Enana's blood glucose numbers are in a good range.

If you have just started testing, we generally encourage people to do mini-curves (i.e., testing every 3 hours) until your Lantus dose has stabilized and you have a depot (we call it a "shed") formed. This takes 5 - 7 days. The other reason that we test is that Lantus dosing is based on the lowest point in the cycle, the nadir, not on the pre-shot blood glucose (BG) value. Without getting spot checks during both the AM and PM cycle, you won't be able to make informed decisions about dose.

Please take a look at the starred, sticky note on the Tight Regulation protocol. One of the things you will note is that Lantus likes consistency. You want to shoot the same amount of insulin every 12 hours. If you are concerned that Enana's numbers are too low, it would be better to shoot the 0.5u twice a day than shooting 1.0u in the AM and 0.5u in the PM.

If you are not already doing so, you will want to be feeding a low carb, canned food diet. We can direct you to the resources for finding low carb food as well as reading on feline nutrition.

The other sticky notes at the top of the Board are a wealth of information about how to care for your Lantus, becoming oriented to the group (including info on how to do a curve, our slang, etc.), key concepts such as the "shed," and how to become data ready to shoot low numbers.

Please let us know if you have questions. The people here are very generous with their time and their knowledge. We're here to help.
 
Thanks for your response.

I can test every 3 hours during the weekend...but not during weekdays though :(

I tested her this morning at 7am and she was 180, my vet told me not to give her insulin. I fed her (I learned too late I shouldn't have)...should I test her again in 3 hours or sooner?

Im feeding her Fancy Feast Classic.

Thanks for all your help
 
I can't help with shooting and dosing advice.

Just want to pop in and say Hi and that Enana is a gorgeous kitty - I love her avatar.
 
Hmmm.......

Just an FYI, we shoot 180s pretty routinely. What I would suggest, though, is lowering Enana's dose. I'm thinking that lowering the dose to 0.25u may let you shoot. Given the history of DKA, I don't want to see your kitty's numbers jump back up because of a lack of insulin. Lantus also takes 5 - 7 days to establish a depot (we call it a "shed") before a dose is fully available.

Have you changed her food since she was diagnosed? If you've switched to low carb food, what you may be seeing is that you're kitty is taking big steps toward being diet controlled.

I'd be very curious to see how Enana's numbers look today without insulin. Can you get a +3, +6 and +9?
 
Welcome Natalia and Enana! As Sienne said, the stickies at the top of the page contain a wealth of information for you. Please read them and post any questions you may have.

If you can't test during the day, is there a way that you can get a few tests in at night? A lot of kitties get their lowest numbers during the PM cycle anyway, so we suggest at least a before bed time test. I you can alternate between +2/+4 and +3/+5 on some nights it would be good. Not sure what time you shoot and if you are able to do that...

Lantus likes consistency so we do shoot the same does both AM/PM. It might be good for you to go to the .5u twice a day. Our protocol as discussed in the stickies is a bit different from what many vets follow. It is really an up-to-date protocol for dealing with Feline diabetes and we have had much success following it. Other insulins are okay to dose differently during the day, but lantus should have the same dose AM/PM.

So happy to you you here! We post each day....and link our previous post to the first post of the day. Do you know how to do the linking? We keep all our condos (threads) linked with each other and it keeps things organized.
If you have some time one of these days, you might be interested in making a Profile viewtopic.php?f=6&t=17766 and attaching it to your signature. Great job on linking your SS too! :thumbup
 
Welcome to Lantus Land, Natalia & Enana,

I see that already you are in very capable hands, so I will only add to what Sienne has written that you can find the carbohydrate percentages of many wet foods in Janet & Binky's list: http://binkyspage.tripod.com/canfood.html
Check out your Fancy Feast Classic varieties and select the ones that are lower than 10% carbs (most of us aim for foods that are 5% carbs and lower).
Best of luck with your glucose testing today. If you have questions, post them and someone will be along to help. And do try to be consistent in dose. Pat and Sienne have advised you to stick with the same dose at AM and PM cycles because Lantus likes consistency. It will take a week or so for Enana's numbers to settle in because the "shed" has to build.

Ella & Rusty
 
Welcome to LL! Just one quick note to add, the Fancy Feast classics are on the Old list . so when you go to Janet and Binky's site go to that list for FF, the new just has the Elegant Medleys listed.
 
Welcome Natalia and Enana!

Good job on testing Enana. This way you will know how the insulin is effecting her instead of feeling in the dark. I wager that you'll be saying "it's a good thing I found that site" in no time. I know I did, any many others too. I don't know what would have happened to my kitty Sara if not for this site. They had her on a very high dose [5U] twice a day, and didn't tell me about hometesting.

Your getting excellent advice from the folks here. Post on the lantus forum daily and ask any questions you have.

Your doing a good job with Enana. Who is very pretty by the way.
Keep us updated.

jan and sara
 
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