Amy and Owl
Member Since 2026
Over the last few days Owl's numbers have started to come down on the .5units of Lantus. Yesterday he was at the vet's office for an ultrasound of his liver (all good!) from 9am (+2) until 6pm (+11.5). He did not get any lunch or snacks during this time. They also put a new Libre 3 on him. As such, I expected I might not have any data from that time period, but to my surprise his old Libre must have been still transmitting from the garbage because it connected to my phone while I was waiting to pick him up in the lobby and I got almost the whole day's worth of numbers! Very surprisingly, he did not run high all day due to being at the vet. I expected the stress would show up in high BG numbers, but it was actually very normal all day. Last night I used the Relion meter I purchased based on this group's recommendations to take a BG reading before I fed Owl, as the Libre had not finished calibrating yet. The Relion showed him at 168 so I gave him his .5unit and he did well throughout the night.
This morning his BG was only 130-something when I woke up at 6am (+11.5) so I fed him and then waited to see what his BG would do. It began to rise and was just over 150 on the Libre at 6:30 (+12) so I did his .5unit dose. He almost immediately began to drop all the way into the 50s. The low BG alarm went off (so much for going back to sleep...) and I tested with the Relion. The Relion showed 111 at +1. The vet was watching his numbers in her office and called me a short time later. I told her about the Relion test and she said to just keep an eye on him and test him again soon. She said I should feed him a bit of higher carb food, so I gave him about 2 tablespoons of his previous canned food before switching to FF (Hills prescription z/d). I tested again at +2 and it showed 90 mg/dL. On the Libre he bobbled around the 50s and 60s for a while before very slowly climbing. He is at 118 currently (+6). (side note: does anyone else feel absolutely horrible pricking their kitty for a blood test? I know it's in his best interest, and he doesn't seem bothered by it, but my god it hurts my heart to poke his sweet lil paw.)
My questions:
Why did Owl do well on .5units last night, with BG remaining stable all night long, but then drop dramatically immediately after his AM shot? Both pre-shot BGs were basically the same. He ate the same amount of food both times (one can of FF classic pate). The vet says if he is below 150mg/dL this evening pre-shot, I should skip his shot. However, last time we skipped a shot because he was low, he skyrocketed during the next 12 hours and it took a few days to bring him down again. I don't want to bounce him around again if I can help it. Should I instead ask his vet about dropping the PM dose to .25units? She didn't seem to think such a low dose was possible to draw, but thanks to this group I think it is, and it may be better than no insulin at all.
What causes his BG to tank post-shot? My understanding is Lantus is a slow acting insulin, so those low numbers are expected more towards nadir sometime around +6, not immediately.
And finally, how do those of you who work manage your cat's diabetes when you need to be away from home all day? I fortunately work part time, but there are still 2 days a week I am gone for 9 hours, and no one is home to test or monitor for hypo symptoms all day. I work too far from home to nip home on lunch. His Libre is synced to my phone, which goes with me to work. We have no other device we could pair it to. I bought a camera to put in his bedroom to keep an eye on him, and I purchased an automatic feeder to make sure he gets snacks when I am not home to provide them, but how on earth do I monitor these lows if I have to leave the house between +2 and +4 most days, right when he typically drops low? I know the 50s on Libre are not hypo, and I know the Relion says he was never dangerously low at all, but the what ifs are killing me. How do you keep your kitties safe if you're gone all day?
Thanks for reading my big wall of text. Here is a photo of Owl with his adorably shaved tummy from his ultrasound yesterday.
This morning his BG was only 130-something when I woke up at 6am (+11.5) so I fed him and then waited to see what his BG would do. It began to rise and was just over 150 on the Libre at 6:30 (+12) so I did his .5unit dose. He almost immediately began to drop all the way into the 50s. The low BG alarm went off (so much for going back to sleep...) and I tested with the Relion. The Relion showed 111 at +1. The vet was watching his numbers in her office and called me a short time later. I told her about the Relion test and she said to just keep an eye on him and test him again soon. She said I should feed him a bit of higher carb food, so I gave him about 2 tablespoons of his previous canned food before switching to FF (Hills prescription z/d). I tested again at +2 and it showed 90 mg/dL. On the Libre he bobbled around the 50s and 60s for a while before very slowly climbing. He is at 118 currently (+6). (side note: does anyone else feel absolutely horrible pricking their kitty for a blood test? I know it's in his best interest, and he doesn't seem bothered by it, but my god it hurts my heart to poke his sweet lil paw.)
My questions:
Why did Owl do well on .5units last night, with BG remaining stable all night long, but then drop dramatically immediately after his AM shot? Both pre-shot BGs were basically the same. He ate the same amount of food both times (one can of FF classic pate). The vet says if he is below 150mg/dL this evening pre-shot, I should skip his shot. However, last time we skipped a shot because he was low, he skyrocketed during the next 12 hours and it took a few days to bring him down again. I don't want to bounce him around again if I can help it. Should I instead ask his vet about dropping the PM dose to .25units? She didn't seem to think such a low dose was possible to draw, but thanks to this group I think it is, and it may be better than no insulin at all.
What causes his BG to tank post-shot? My understanding is Lantus is a slow acting insulin, so those low numbers are expected more towards nadir sometime around +6, not immediately.
And finally, how do those of you who work manage your cat's diabetes when you need to be away from home all day? I fortunately work part time, but there are still 2 days a week I am gone for 9 hours, and no one is home to test or monitor for hypo symptoms all day. I work too far from home to nip home on lunch. His Libre is synced to my phone, which goes with me to work. We have no other device we could pair it to. I bought a camera to put in his bedroom to keep an eye on him, and I purchased an automatic feeder to make sure he gets snacks when I am not home to provide them, but how on earth do I monitor these lows if I have to leave the house between +2 and +4 most days, right when he typically drops low? I know the 50s on Libre are not hypo, and I know the Relion says he was never dangerously low at all, but the what ifs are killing me. How do you keep your kitties safe if you're gone all day?
Thanks for reading my big wall of text. Here is a photo of Owl with his adorably shaved tummy from his ultrasound yesterday.
I am going to assume this is a "bounce" I've read about here, probably due to skipping his insulin on Thursday evening. Ugh. I am so frustrated. He was doing so good! I am hoping to see him come down a bit over the next day or so. I have updated his spreadsheet in case any more informed eyes want to take a look. He is doing well today. He thanked me for all of my hard work and diligence in testing him by smacking me in the face at 6am for breakfast and biting my toes when I got out of bed. 