Newly Diagnosed - pls have a look at spreadsheet?

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Brittanyb5353

Brittanyb5353

Member Since 2020
Hi All! Brittany here - Bijoux's caregiver :) Bijoux is my 14.5 year old world traveling kitty who has been newly diagnosed as of 4/11 as diabetic. We just started insulin today (1 unit of Lantus given in the morning as she finished her meal - not sure I did it correctly!) while simultaneously transitioning from dry food to a new wet food (Tiki Cat) which she's learning to love. I'd love if someone could take a look at our spreadsheet and weigh in on if this seems normal so far? I've added in her labs from Saturday too on the final tab. I do hope I'm filling it out right & doing all of this right to be honest, so overwhelming. I look forward to interacting with you all on this board!
 
Hi Brittany and Bijoux! WELCOME TO FDMB. You already have a spread sheet? Wow good for you. I just wanted to welcome you and let you know there are a lot of people here who can answer your questions. I havent had a diabetic kitty in many years and protocols have changed since my time. So I will leave you to the experts. You have a head start. Very impressive.

I have to leave right now but will check back in before I shut down for the night.
Again WELCOME to the best site on the planet, to help you help Bijoux!
jeanne
 
Hi Brittany and Bijoux and welcome.
Looks like you are using a freestyle libre at the moment. And it looks as if you are filling the SS out correctly.
I’m glad you are testing as you swap over to a low carb diet. Well done.
One comment about the Lantus. Lantus is dosed twice a day in cats. If you only give one dose a day you are leaving the other 12 hours with no insulin. Cats have a faster metabolism than humans.
And as Lantus is a depot insulin it will mess up the depot and you will get wonky numbers.
I would give 1 unit twice a day. If you look at everyone’s spreadsheets you will see they all give insulin twice a day.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Hi Brittany and Bijoux and welcome.
Looks like you are using a freestyle libre at the moment. And it looks as if you are filling it out correctly.
I’m glad you are testing as you swap over to a low carb diet. Well done.
One comment about the Lantus. Lantus is dosed twice a day in cats. If you only give one dose a day you are leaving the other 12 hours with no insulin. Cats have a faster metabolism than humans.
And as Lantus is a depot insulin it will mess up the depot and you will get wonky numbers.
I would give 1 unit twice a day. If you look at everyone’s spreadsheets you will see they all give insulin twice a day.
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Thank you! I will take a look. My vet recommended we start with 1 unit once a day as I was also transitioning her food. I'll give her a call tomorrow and talk about the dosing now that we're in the swing of things.
 
When you start Lantus you need to stay on the same dose for a week to let the depot fill and settle unless Bijoux drops too low, in which case you reduce the dose. So when you change to twice a day stay at that dose for the 7 days.
We increase and decrease the dose in 1/4 unit increments so that we don’t go past the best dose and it is much safer than increasing in1 unit increments which most vets tend to do.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
When you start Lantus you need to stay on the same dose for a week to let the depot fill and settle unless Bijoux drops too low, in which case you reduce the dose. So when you change to twice a day stay at that dose for the 7 days.
We increase and decrease the dose in 1/4 unit increments so that we don’t go past the best dose and it is much safer than increasing in1 unit increments which most vets tend to do.
Click to expand...
very helpful!!!! Really appreciate it. I think I messed up her shot this morning so kind of beating myself up a bit, but so far her numbers seem good and she is doing okay otherwise, a bit sleepy this morning but I also may be just over monitoring her a bit. This is such helpful information to have so I can speak in an informed way to my vet, she wasn't particularly encouraging when I mentioned I was going to transition Bijoux to wet high protein food and off the dry and that I wanted to start low and slow with the insulin (for both Bijoux's sake and my own sanity as I get used to our new reality). I'm also speaking with a holistic vet who is much more understanding and I feel listens to my research from this board and thoughts. Really appreciate everyone's input so far!
 
She seems a bit lethargic today which is concerning me a bit but hoping we're on the right course as her numbers are down today - I do know we're only on day 2 so don't want to get overly optimistic. Also, with switching to her wet food she doesn't seem to be eating as much / pooping as much, i'll search around on the board but would love any and all advice here. Just want to make sure she's getting enough calories and that I'm doing all I can to make her feel as good as possible.
 
The lethargy concerns me.
Are you testing for ketones? It is always a good idea in an unregulated cat to test for them as they can appear if the cat is not getting enough insulin or enough food. Make sure he is eating well and please start giving the insulin twice a day.

You can buy a bottle of Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy for about $10. Collect a urine sample and dip the test strip into the urine and read the result against the colours on the side of the bottle. Anything above a trace needs vet attention. It you get a trace that also is of concern. Ketones can lead onto ketoacidosis which is a very serious illness if the ketones are not treated.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
The lethargy concerns me.
Are you testing for ketones? It is always a good idea in an unregulated cat to test for them as they can appear if the cat is not getting enough insulin or enough food. Make sure he is eating well and please start giving the insulin twice a day.

You can buy a bottle of Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy for about $10. Collect a urine sample and dip the test strip into the urine and read the result against the colours on the side of the bottle. Anything above a trace needs vet attention. It you get a trace that also is of concern. Ketones can lead onto ketoacidosis which is a very serious illness if the ketones are not treated.
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I am not testing for ketones as she didn't have any in her labs & vet didn't mention doing so, I will pick up some Ketostix ASAP tomorrow. Thank you!
 
She's feeling much better today, has more energy and ate a great portion of her wet food this morning before her shot :) I'm keeping an eye on her numbers and have ordered the ketostix to start monitoring there too. If anyone has any feedback on her numbers and if it's looking normal I always appreciate that! Going to try to speak with her vet today to give an update.
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
Hi there just wondering if you are giving lantus twice a day yet?
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Hi there!!! Thanks for checking in and sorry for the delay here, we had a good day yesterday and I just took some time to enjoy the sun with Bijoux on the patio and relax/not stress. I'm not yet giving her twice a day shots. I will speak with her vet this morning - if I were to switch to twice a day shots I'm just not sure what dose I should be giving her?? Also, not sure if anyone else has experienced this - my Bijoux is normally affectionate and snuggly, not overly so but she will crawl on my lap and snuggle next to me while we sleep. Lately she hasn't been doing this and has been avoiding being petted as well. I can't tell if she's in pain, mad at me, or something else. Would appreciate any insights or experiences here, I'm trying to take it slow with her and we haven't had the best experiences with giving shots except for yesterday when I randomly mastered it. I just hope I haven't inadvertently hurt her or something - I am so sad and overwhelmed to think I may be doing so :(
 
Hi all! I also posted in the Lantus specific group as well - but made it back to the vet today and she agrees after seeing Bijoux's numbers that I should move to 2 shots a day of 1 unit each. I'm prepping to feed her in about a half an hour and do the 2nd shot for the first time and was just wondering if that seems normal advice from the vet to give a full unit as the 2nd dose? I'm a bit worried because bijoux's numbers have been different today (but good/better) - I think maybe due to the stress of the vet visit. And I haven't given a 2nd shot yet so just hoping I don't cause her any distress or anything ahhh!
 
Given Bijoux's response last night, I'd like to offer a suggestion. How about dropping the dose to 0.5u twice a day? It's a lot easier on your nerves to shoot lower dose and gradually increase versus shooting ore and having to give your cat higher carb food to keep the numbers propped up.

I'm going to look for your post on the Lantus board and say a bit more there.
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
Given Bijoux's response last night, I'd like to offer a suggestion. How about dropping the dose to 0.5u twice a day? It's a lot easier on your nerves to shoot lower dose and gradually increase versus shooting ore and having to give your cat higher carb food to keep the numbers propped up.

I'm going to look for your post on the Lantus board and say a bit more there.
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Thank you! I appreciate any/all advice. She’s doing ok for the moment but would love your input as well. I think I have a fur shot this morning but monitoring to see how we progress. I just feel so bad, I just want her to feel good and comfortable and I feel like I’m messing this up
 
Brittanyb5353 said:
Thank you! I appreciate any/all advice. She’s doing ok for the moment but would love your input as well. I think I have a fur shot this morning but monitoring to see how we progress. I just feel so bad, I just want her to feel good and comfortable and I feel like I’m messing this up
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:bighug:
If I has a nickle every time I said that. feline diabetes would be a FULLY funded research project. Hang in there you really DO have the best of the best helping right here.
j
 
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