Hi all, so glad for this board... so much information to read...trying to digest as much as I can! Here is a background of my fur baby Sashie, a 16 year old Tabby that I rescued when she was about 10 days old. She has always been petite and weighs approximately 8 lbs. Her health has been great, never sick. Increased urination & water consumption resulted in her diabetes dx in June of this year. She was put on Lantus 1 Unit BID, Purina DM dry because Sashie always preferred dry (which now I am eliminating). The wet food has been a challenge, and since dx I have relied on Natural Choice kitten tuna & chicken formula mixed with water, and Wellness pouches both, Salmon/tuna, Salmon/chicken formulas. I know the gravy in the pouches is not a good choice, Yesterday I purchased Fancy Feast Classic and so far, Sashie has liked it! I also removed the dry food last night, and I was so happily surprise when I tested her BG pre insulin this AM and got a reading of 272 mg/dl, the lowest in the longest time. I test with the Alpha 2 but will be buying a Walmart glucometer in the next couple of days to save $$
My biggest concerns have been getting Sashie glucose regulated to a safe level. Her vet has been wonderful and emails me frequently to check on my kitty's BG and health. Sashie's dosages on Lantus have increased/decreased in the past few months but still Sashie's glucose has been high. I am realizing that what she may have been eating, even though was prescribed diabetic dry food and food with gravy may have been what keeps her BG numbers high despite insulin administration. Here is Sashie's Lantus history...started Lantus 6/18/12 1 Unit BID. I did the first BG curve in August, her BG numbers were in the 100’s with the Nadir at 56. Lantus insuling was decreased to 1 Unit daily. I purchased the Alphatrack 2 glucometer to do frequent BG testing and curves at home. Since the purchase I tested regularly AM and PM pre insulin. Within a month, Sashie’s pre insulin BG got up into the 300’s and 400’s. Within this time, she developed a UTI and was prescribed antibiotics. After the UTI was cleared and high numbers continued, Lantus was increased back to 1 Unit BID. Despite the change in Insulin, her numbers did not come down, and last month, she was put on 2 Units of Lantus BID. I conducted a BG curve 10/28/12:
Pre Insulin 399
+2 hours 337
+4 210
+6 140
+8 62, Rechecked 10 minutes later 54
+9 57
+10 97
+12 178
The low numbers at the 8th hour concerned me and the vet and the insulin was decreased to 1 ½ Units BID. Now I am waiting for this weekend to do another curve to see what the Nadir is at this lower Lantus dosage. I have done Pre Insulin testing and her numbers continued to be high in the 300 and 400’s, whith the exception of this morning 273 from just changing the food! The vet suggested last week that perhaps we need to change the type of insulin to Humulin if the next curve doesn't show improvements. I have read that Humulin is not a good choice…how can I help my diabetic kitty and help her vet (which we both like) with useful information? I would like to focus more in maintaining a better diet for Sashie, especially with the improvement overnight by eliminating dry food, and continuing with Lantus (just bought second vial 1 month ago), what do you recommend? One other thing, with switching to a Walmart glucometer which will have lower readings than the Alpha track, how do I make the transition, in other words, is this the best time to switch glucometers while I am trying to regulate the insulin dosage according to BG numbers? I don't want to get excited about lower BG numbers that are not the result of proper medication dosage but because the glucometer reads lower numbers, am I making sense? Also, where can I get the charts to document the BG curves? I am overwhelmed but motivated and committed to do whatever I can to help Sashie. She means the world to me! Thanks in advance for sharing your expertise and time. It is sooo much appreciated.
Tina and Sashie
My biggest concerns have been getting Sashie glucose regulated to a safe level. Her vet has been wonderful and emails me frequently to check on my kitty's BG and health. Sashie's dosages on Lantus have increased/decreased in the past few months but still Sashie's glucose has been high. I am realizing that what she may have been eating, even though was prescribed diabetic dry food and food with gravy may have been what keeps her BG numbers high despite insulin administration. Here is Sashie's Lantus history...started Lantus 6/18/12 1 Unit BID. I did the first BG curve in August, her BG numbers were in the 100’s with the Nadir at 56. Lantus insuling was decreased to 1 Unit daily. I purchased the Alphatrack 2 glucometer to do frequent BG testing and curves at home. Since the purchase I tested regularly AM and PM pre insulin. Within a month, Sashie’s pre insulin BG got up into the 300’s and 400’s. Within this time, she developed a UTI and was prescribed antibiotics. After the UTI was cleared and high numbers continued, Lantus was increased back to 1 Unit BID. Despite the change in Insulin, her numbers did not come down, and last month, she was put on 2 Units of Lantus BID. I conducted a BG curve 10/28/12:
Pre Insulin 399
+2 hours 337
+4 210
+6 140
+8 62, Rechecked 10 minutes later 54
+9 57
+10 97
+12 178
The low numbers at the 8th hour concerned me and the vet and the insulin was decreased to 1 ½ Units BID. Now I am waiting for this weekend to do another curve to see what the Nadir is at this lower Lantus dosage. I have done Pre Insulin testing and her numbers continued to be high in the 300 and 400’s, whith the exception of this morning 273 from just changing the food! The vet suggested last week that perhaps we need to change the type of insulin to Humulin if the next curve doesn't show improvements. I have read that Humulin is not a good choice…how can I help my diabetic kitty and help her vet (which we both like) with useful information? I would like to focus more in maintaining a better diet for Sashie, especially with the improvement overnight by eliminating dry food, and continuing with Lantus (just bought second vial 1 month ago), what do you recommend? One other thing, with switching to a Walmart glucometer which will have lower readings than the Alpha track, how do I make the transition, in other words, is this the best time to switch glucometers while I am trying to regulate the insulin dosage according to BG numbers? I don't want to get excited about lower BG numbers that are not the result of proper medication dosage but because the glucometer reads lower numbers, am I making sense? Also, where can I get the charts to document the BG curves? I am overwhelmed but motivated and committed to do whatever I can to help Sashie. She means the world to me! Thanks in advance for sharing your expertise and time. It is sooo much appreciated.
Tina and Sashie
