Number ranges to expect when just getting started?

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RuthC

RuthC

Member Since 2012
I started George on Lantus yesterday mid-day following a morning vet appointment. She advised just the one shot for the day and based his dose on .25 units for body weight totaling about 2 units a.m. and p.m.

First shot was at 12:30 yesterday and when I checked him 2 hours later he'd gone from a.m. 302 to 53. Whew! By 11pm he was back up to 120, and this morning I set up a SS and began posting for use in this forum (I've been tracking him on paper for the past month as we changed diet prior to beginning insulin). Today AMPS=214, +2=151, +4=61.

I assume there's some sort of "settling in" period initially while his system adjusts to the Lantus and I know I need to find his upper and lower limits.

My question: How low should I be concerned about? Should I make adjustments if numbers are low or will that screw up getting him started with the program?

I guess as we get farther into this I'll be more comfortable making "unauthorized" (i.e. without calling the vet) adjustments based on my own monitoring.
 
First off Lantus is dosed in a cat TWICE a day...It is a depot insulin where each shot builds on the last one to form a shed or depot. Cats metabolize insulin twice as fast as either dogs or human so Lantus needs to be given every 12 hours. Dosing once a day is going to have George on a roller coaster ride, where he has insulin on board for half the day and nothing for the other half.

But that being said to answer your question...Normal for a cat on a human meter is between 40-120, normal on an Alpha-trak meter is between 70-150, so depending on which meters you are using you don't want George failing below either 40 or 70.

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang
 
Thanks for the reply Mel. I've been reading on the Lantus board, learning a lot and do realize it's a 12-hour cycle. Just that first day the vet had me do one shot as it was already mid-day and she felt it was better to get something on board sooner rather than later. Going forward we'll be on a 12-hour schedule. While he's getting stabilized I won't worry so much about the lower numbers as long as he's in the range you mention and is acting ok. Thanks!
 
Now that my eyes are fully open and the coffee is starting to take effect I just noticed George's starting dose....2u is pretty high for a starting dose especially if George is on an all canned low carb diet...if he is still getting any dry food then it may be warranted but if not you are going to want to monitor him closely.

When I adopted Autumn she had gone untreated for over 10 months after they knew she was diabetic, so Lord only knows how long she had actually been a diabetic, plus she also had moderate ketones so I had to pull her numbers down quickly. And even as such she was only started on 1.5u b.i.d. (twice a day). Today she is on barely a couple of drops of insulin now that I have her completely transistioned to all wet low carb diet.

Just wanted to let you know to watch him close on that dose and be prepared to either walk him through a hypo (make sure your hypo kit is ready to go) or reduce his dose as needed.


Mel, Maxwell,Autumn & The Fur Gang
 
You might take that starting dose of 2 units and divide by 2, with 1 in the am and 1 in the pm.

And the profile pic of him is gorgeous!
 
Thanks for the reply, BJM. I ended up dropping it to 1.5 yesterday and today. He stayed higher yesterday, and today has been better (amps=262, +2.5=122, +6=87. I can see this is going to be a bit of a roller coaster while he gets settled. It felt weird to make an adjustment after only the one shot, but 2u just seemed to tank him. I'll try to be consistent now at 1.5u until reporting back to the vet on Thursday. It has helped a lot to have experienced people here lending perspective.
It's great to see George already feeling noticeably better - eating well, playing a lot and taking care of himself again.
 
My first adopted diabetic Maxwell I gave him 2 shots total...one at 1u and the next at .5u and after that he was in remission and as of this past November 1st he has been 2 years insulin free. For him it took just really changing his diet and a very short course of insulin ( he was in foster care getting insulin for 2 weeks before he was flown to me.)

My Autumn I've never had a vet helping with her, I adopted her after her previous owner refused to treat her for 10+ months after she was dxed diabetic, so I started her on insulin, I decided to switch her from Lantus to Levemir and I have been the only one adjusting her dose from the get go. Something must be working because she has gone from 1.5u back in March when I adopted her to where she is at present on a tiny .15u and headed for remission as well.

But I still remember nearly 3 years later how bad my hands shook on that very first insulin shot with my very first diabetic Muse. It was scary back then and I wondered how I would ever be able to do this without a vet watching over my shoulder...today I don't think twice about it I just look at the trends in the spreadsheet and know which way to go up or down in dose. If fact Autumn is my fourth diabetic kitty, I lost Muse to cancer and Musette (my second adopted FD) to anemia when a ER vet misdiagnoised her. Now caring for a diabetic kitty has gotten so easy that we are starting to look for number 5 to adopted...lol But this time my DH is being particular about who we take in since on Nov. 14th we lost his best buddy a civie Onyx to cancer, and he really wants another long-haired black kitty again...but I know him if DCIN has one that is a hard luck case and it is us or death, well it won't matter what it looks like it will be sleeping on our couch in no time.. :-D

In a few more months you too will look back at these early days and wonder why you thought it was such a big deal. It will be just like getting up in the morning and brushing your teeth and making the bed.

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang
 
To show your vet what happens with no shot in the evening, you might:

Get a test before bedtime.
Get a +9 or +10, as the insulin is wearing off. (I know - getting up at o'dark hundred.)
 
My fault - I wasn't clear. The day with only one shot was just the first day. Since it was already past 12:30 the vet said just give him the one shot that day. If I knew then what I know how, I would have held off until the next morning and gotten started on a 12/hr schedule and monitoring. I AM giving him two shots a day! Today was much better and I'm already feeling less lost.
 
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