OTJ First Time Questions

Matt and Mojo

Matt and Mojo

Member Since 2018
Hello-

Our kitty Mojo has been on Lantus for close to three months now. We have been monitoring his blood glucose levels regularly and slowing adjusting his dose downward. His numbers started off in the 400-300 range. Then 200-100. Currently, his numbers have been consistently below 100. We were wondering if it would be okay to try and take him off of Lantus for the first time. His current dose is 0.5. Are there any special ways we stop?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Matt and Mojo
 
On this forum, we typically go to 0.25 units after 0.5 units. The longer you can safely give insulin to help the healing process, the stronger the remission in our experience here.
 
Okay. It seems a little difficult to read the syringe for fine doses. Are there different syringes that help with fine doses. Or can we use the ones we have? The ones we currently are using are U-100 that have a total of 100 units.
 
First, where do you live? You should be able to get u-100 syringes with 30 units, that have half unit markings, but availability varies by country. I am in Canada and get BD Ultrafine at the people pharmacy.
 
Matt and Mojo said:
I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I'm going to try and call my local Pharmacy and see what they carry.
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Hi Matt, I'm from South Lyon - you can get the syringes for Lantus at Walmart - Relion makes a 100 u syringes with half unit marks - about $13.00 for an entire box.

I use the really short needles - 15/64ths because I'm worried about sticking it too far in - and did run one all the way thru once - no long needles for me. These short 100u have been working great for me for a year...

I also use calipers for fine tuning.
 
Thanks for that information. Do those have half unit markings? How many are in a box? Also, what are calipers and how do you use them?

Matt
 
Matt and Mojo said:
How many are in a box?
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100 syringes
Matt and Mojo said:
what are calipers and how do you use the
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See the post that Wendy quoted on using calipers. Mine are from Harbor Freight; I also have a set from Amazon - thought that spending more would make them 'better' somehow - just be sure to purchase the digital calipers - makes it so easy to set...calipers are used in many applications - industrial uses allow users to measure fine/acute distances/tolerances for things from automotive engines (think pistons and the distance that is tolerated in the shaft - enough for the piston to slide freely but not enough to lose compression)...and many other uses for fine calibrations.
 
Thanks, guys. I picked up some u-100 syringes with 30 units, that have half unit markings. Mojo is still on 0.5 units twice daily. We are going to move down to 0.25 units here shortly. His numbers are still under 100. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
 
Take a look at my Black Kittys’ spreadsheet (ss link is in my signature below) starting at 09/06/2009, which is when he was down to.0.5u.

From there on out we took reductions based on BG remaining normal for one week (14 cycles). Next stop was .25u followed by 0.1u. We started BKs OTJ trial 10/09/2909, so it was a 33 day trip from 0.5u to zero u. Two weeks later, having maintained normal BG through diet alone, he was officially OTJ on 10/23:2009. He remained OTJ for 6.5 years, which was the rest of his life.

Don’t rush it. Best to avoid demanding too much from newly healed pancreas. :cool:
 
Thanks for the information. I see BK was on insulin for quite sometime before you were able to take him off. Mojo's first dose was November of 2018. Which would give him approximately 4 months of insulin treatment. Within the first month, Mojo's BG levels dropped drastically down from the 400 range to the 200 range. Is it true that if caught and treated early enough remission can be achieved in an as early as 3 months? I'm just afraid that if we take him off the juice too early, his BG can rise back up in the danger zone. After looking at your chart, I noticed uR and No R. What does that represent? Also, I think Mojo is a few pounds overweight. Should we be concerned about getting his weight down?
 
Yes, the sooner you can get a cat regulated (primarily under 100) on insulin, the better the chances of remission.

Sandy's kitty had a high dose condition, so she had to use some special techniques, such as the use of a bolus insulin (Humulin R) to help get his numbers down. This is not something the majority of caregivers have to do.

For the health of the cat, it's always good to be a proper weight.
 
Matt and Mojo said:
I see BK was on insulin for quite sometime before you were able to take him off
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Yes, 21 months. He was rhe last cat anyone, including myself, though would ever get regulated much less go OTJ. He developed a idiopathic condition called IAA (insulin auto antibodies) where his body decided to produce antibodies that would grab the insulin making it unavailable. He was the first FDMB kitty to test for it. The test result (84%) indicated extreme insulin resistance.
Matt and Mojo said:
Is it true that if caught and treated early enough remission can be achieved in an as early as 3 months?
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It can, depending on circumstances. For some just the change of diet does the trick. How long a kitty has been diabetic is a factor. Healing of the pancreas to the point where it once again can consistently produce enough insulin day in and day out to completely handle metabolic needs can take time. Sometimes the level of healing required is not possible - ECID (every cat is different). In general the longer a kitty has been diabetic the less likely it is they will go into remission.
Matt and Mojo said:
After looking at your chart, I noticed uR and No R. What does that represent?
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The IAA required very high doses of insulin so I used Humulin R, a fast acting insulin, in conjunction with Lantus.
Matt and Mojo said:
Also, I think Mojo is a few pounds overweight. Should we be concerned about getting his weight down?
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what exactly is ‘a few’ psounds? ;)
 
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