Oreo Update- 12/9 AMPS 168

[oreosmom]

Hello Lantus Land Folks,

I just wanted to update you on how Oreo has been doing...and of course, ask another question! First of all...he is a new cat! He is playing again and is picking fights (playing) with Debbie, our other cat. He has occasional bursts of energy and will run up his cat tree again! Oreo is a fat indoor only cat.... minus 18 pounds or so, so he had been getting sluggish.
( I don't know how to add pictures yet, but he is a beautiful and sweet tuxedo cat , 12 years old)

In the AM's before shot, he has been around 150- 180 using the Alpha Trak 2. He is getting 1.75 units of Lantis twice daily. Then his numbers were declining, so we dropped to 1.5. Yesterday afternoon he dropped to 100. So I was afraid to give him the entire 1.5 units for fear of "hypo". So we gave him 1.25 instead. The vet wants us to keep him on a steady dose, but when I see the low numbers, I am beginning to freak since I have "hypo-phobia"!!! Our vet originally told us that our goal was to stay between 150-250 and that would be the best we could expect due to the prednisilone he is on for GI lymphoma. *

Should we keep him on the 1.75 and not fear dropping below 100? Or is it a good idea to adjust the dose as we have been doing?

I appreciate your input and thanks for guiding me and my hubby through all of this.

Happy Sunday!

Carol ...Oreo's Mom


*Regarding the GI lymphoma it is the slow growing kind. He is on Luekeran (chemo drug). He no longer barfs, has a great appetite and seems like he is improving. I am cautiously optimistic .....I think he might actually be OK and improving...but am afraid to get my hopes up that he can have a normal lifespan.

 

[Josie & Ripley (GA)]

Hi, Carol! I'm too new to give dosing advice, but if you add a "?" to your orig. subject line I bet your question will get answered (and your worries eased). :smile:

~Josie

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Oreo's numbers are looking good. My guess is your vet is very happy to see Oreo mostly in blue numbers. The question for me is what are your goals? If you are hoping to get Oreo in remission, I would raise his dose. There's a point where you need to begin thinking about shooting lower numbers. If you look at the subject lines on the Board, you'll see we have people shooting low numbers. Having Oreo spend time in numbers that are between 50 - 100 (80 - 130 on the AT) will help his pancreas to get used to normal numbers and to heal.

The reality is that you can work the insulin around the prednisolone. Not all cats have higher numbers when on a steroid. I don't know if remission is possible with the steroid in play but either way, I'd encourage you to keep Oreo's numbers in the lower blues or greens.

Remember, there's almost always someone here 24/7 if you think Oreo's numbers are dropping and you're not sure what to do.