PLEASE HELP - My cat is coming out of Hypoglycemic..

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meand4

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At 8pm I tested my cats BG before feeding and it was 3.3. I fed him and tested him again about 20 mins later. His BG was then 2.9 and so I gave him some Banana and some treats dipped in honey. I took his blood again at 9pm and he was 4.4. I took it again at 10pm and it was 8.1. I took it again now and it is 14.8. Im worried now that I gave him too much sugar!

I will keep checking his blood every hour for the next little while...or until it stop rising or falling.

Is it possible I gave him too much sugar?? What happens if I did? My vet isnt open now and Im really worried about my little guy. Any advice would be much apprecaited.
 
Nothing will happen other than he may go higher than he ever has before. You did well in handling the hypo and sometimes we just have to understand they may be higher than normal for their next shot time. Of course, no insulin tonight, just let him be, and start over in the a.m. with his dose.

What insulin is he on and what is the dose?
 
Congratulations on a job well done! You did the right thing and your little guy will be all right. Better that his BG is too high for a little while than too low.

:thumbup
 
Thank you so much for your quick response.

He just started Lantus at 1.5 units 2x per day.

Im worried to give him any insulin in the morning now.

How long should I watch him for and keep testing his blood sugar for? I see Binky's page says to keep an eye on him for "several hours". Should i keep testing him every hour or every other hour?

Your help is really appreciated!
 
His poor ears are so red and sore. I feel bad to kep poking him but am afraid of his numbers dropping.

He was given the 1.5 units at about 8:30/9am this morning which is 15 hours ago approx.
 
I am going to try and get some Lantus people over to this thread to help you on that dose. Usually a starting dose is only 1 unit but.......I've never used Lantus. Be patient and hopefully some will be able to give you suggestions.
 
just letting you know we saw the help post and a couple of the experienced lantus folk are on their way...
(i'm not one of them)
 
Hi...I saw Hope's post on the Lantus board, I came over to see if I can help you. (Thanks Hope!) You did a good job with the low numbers, don't worry about him going high...that's better than too low. You will want to keep testing to make sure he doesn't drop again. Sorry about his ears, but you are not doing any lasting harm, and his safety comes first.

I'm sorry, but I need to ask some questions in order to help. Was this your first shot this morning? If not, when did you start giving Lantus? When are you giving shots (times)? How did the vet determine that he is diabetic?
 
Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

The way it was determined that this cat is diabetic...the short version: I noticed his blood sugar was high by doing random testing. I then switched him to a wet food from Binkys list. His numbers went down from the mid 20's to about 18 average. I kept testing 2x a day and when the numbers did not continue to drop I did a blood curve. The numbers stayed in range from 15-20. I took him to the vet and had a urine test and a complete blood screening done. He was told that everything was fine except his BG and that he would need insulin. I dont know why I didnt come here about the insulin before starting to give it to him. Im mad at myself for that but there is nothing I can do about it now. :(

He started his insulin yesterday at 8:30am. He was tested at BGL 17. He was feed about 1/3 a cup of PC Finicky Turkey Wet. He was then given 1.5units of Lantus. I checked his blood 2 hours after and it was 18.3. I was told to wait 12 hours between feedings and not to feed in between. He was then tested at 830pm and was 11.6. We fed him about 1/3 cup and then injected him with 1.5 units of Lantus. Two hours later his BG was 13.8. This morning at 8:30a we tested him and his BG was 11.3. He ate 1/3cup and was given the 1.5units of Lantus. I did not test him 2 hours after today as I had to go out. I then tested him at 8pm tonight as he was bugging me for food and I wanted to give him something. His BG was 3.3. I did NOT give him Insulin. I fed him 1/3c and he ate it very fast and was still looking for food. I gave him some more...and he was still hungry so I gave him some more. I tested him about 20-30mins after he first started eating. His BG was 2.9. I then started with Banana and honey...at 9pm I tested him and his BG was 4.4 then I tested him at 10pm and his BG was 8.1. Then I tested him at 11 and he was 14.8. I am going to test him again shortly.

Thank for any help!
 
I'm not an expert by any means, but my Gracie started on Lantus 1 month ago at 1u. We worked our way up to 1.5 over the coarse of a month and a lot of testing. You may just need to start over at a lower dose, but I'll leave that to the more knowledgeable folks to say.

Good Luck,

Jason

meand4 said:
Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

The way it was determined that this cat is diabetic...the short version: I noticed his blood sugar was high by doing random testing. I then switched him to a wet food from Binkys list. His numbers went down from the mid 20's to about 18 average. I kept testing 2x a day and when the numbers did not continue to drop I did a blood curve. The numbers stayed in range from 15-20. I took him to the vet and had a urine test and a complete blood screening done. He was told that everything was fine except his BG and that he would need insulin. I dont know why I didnt come here about the insulin before starting to give it to him. Im mad at myself for that but there is nothing I can do about it now. :(

He started his insulin yesterday at 8:30am. He was tested at BGL 17. He was feed about 1/3 a cup of PC Finicky Turkey Wet. He was then given 1.5units of Lantus. I checked his blood 2 hours after and it was 18.3. I was told to wait 12 hours between feedings and not to feed in between. He was then tested at 830pm and was 11.6. We fed him about 1/3 cup and then injected him with 1.5 units of Lantus. Two hours later his BG was 13.8. This morning at 8:30a we tested him and his BG was 11.3. He ate 1/3cup and was given the 1.5units of Lantus. I did not test him 2 hours after today as I had to go out. I then tested him at 8pm tonight as he was bugging me for food and I wanted to give him something. His BG was 3.3. I did NOT give him Insulin. I fed him 1/3c and he ate it very fast and was still looking for food. I gave him some more...and he was still hungry so I gave him some more. I tested him about 20-30mins after he first started eating. His BG was 2.9. I then started with Banana and honey...at 9pm I tested him and his BG was 4.4 then I tested him at 10pm and his BG was 8.1. Then I tested him at 11 and he was 14.8. I am going to test him again shortly.

Thank for any help!
Click to expand...
 
The 3.3 and 2.9 numbers equate to around 57 and 52 for us here in America. Not hypo numbers, but numbers you want to keep a close watch on. The first time kitty dips into these numbers it is a learning game - you learn how much higher carb food it takes to raise the blood sugar a certain amount. You now know that you don't have to give quite so much.

As far as your dosing protocol - a few suggestions for you. The test 2 hours after injection will not show a lower number than your preshot number since lantus doesn't start working until 2-3 hours after injection. The best time to test is about 6 hours after injection since that tends to be the peak for most kitties on lantus. Also, the idea of restricting food to only shot times is an old school way of doing things since that is what you had to do with the Humalin insulins. Many lantus users, myself included, feed many small meals through out the day. I feed about 1 oz of food three times per 12 hour shot cycle. The idea is that small amounts of food over time make the pancreas work less than one whopper meal every 12 hours.

Since this is around day 3 for you guys - my guess for the dramatic difference in numbers is because the shed in the body has built up finally. Lantus works on a shed principle since some of the insulin molecules bind with other molecules in the body and gradually unbind over time. This gives a longer overlap with this insulin, and an appropriate amount of build up takes a few days to acquire. I personally would recommend going down to 1u for a few days and feed mini meals throughout the day if possible and see where that takes you guys.
 
Thank you for your reply.

How long do I need to keep an eye on him for tonight to make the numbers dont drop again? His latest BG test was at 12:20pm and it was 21.4.

Would it be okay to start at .5 units and go from there? Im worried to give him the 1.0 even.
 
Please don't beat yourself up for starting insulin without coming here first, you were following your vet's instructions and that's understandable! The wonderful thing is that you were testing and saw the low number and didn't give his insulin.....nice job with that! You are giving the shots on a 12/12 schedule, also very good. As Kelly said, feeding one big meal per cycle is old school, it's much better to feed small meals spread over the first half of the cycle with Lantus.

It looks like the 1.5u dose is too much, based on the fact that he has only gotten 3 shots and he dropped low. As Hope said, the typical starting dose for Lantus is around 1.0u. I would be tempted to cut the dose in half, to 0.75u, seeing this response. If you are more comfortable with 0.5u, that's fine.

One more thing....did the vet test for ketones? Are you testing for ketones? If not, I would suggest you get some ketostix and start testing as soon as you can. If there are ketones involved, that will affect the dose suggestion.

I'm going to list your testing info here so others can quickly see it in a format that we are used to. I converted the numbers to the scale that is in use in the US, as that's what everyone is used to here.

3/3
AMPS 306 1.5u
+2 329
PMPS 209 1.5u
+2 248

3/4
AMPS 203 1.5u
PMBG 59 NS
+12.5 52
+13 79
+14 146
+15 266
+16 385

It looks like he is bouncing from the low numbers. I think it's fine to stop testing at this point and get some rest.
 
Thank you so very much for all of your help.

I think starting with the .5 units is what I am comfortable with at this time.

What do you mean when you say "over the first half of the cycle"?

I dont know if the vet tested for ketones? How do I do that?

I just tested him again...and got 24.7 ..sorry I dont know how to convert it to your numbers.

Im thinking I will try to go to bed now and do the .5 in the morning.

Thanks again to all of your for all of your help! So very much appreciated.
 
Feeding over the first half of the cycle.....what I mean is that it is best to feed during the first 6 hours or so of each cycle. If you feed during the second half (or after the peak of the insulin) it just helps push the BG numbers up higher at the next preshot.

You can get ketostix at any pharmacy. If you don't see them with the diabetic supplies, ask for them at the pharmacy counter. You test by sticking it into his urine stream while he is peeing. If he is shy about peeing with you in the room, there are tricks to getting a urine sample...just ask for help with ketone testing in a new thread. Ketone testing is very important....if he has ketones, it can develop into a very serious (and expensive) problem pretty quickly. If you catch it early, it is treatable at home or at your vet's office. An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure!

You convert the numbers by multiplying by 18...so 24.7 x 18 = 445. He is high, but it's to be expected. He will come back down.

Get some rest...have a good night!
 
Thank you for everything. You guys really helped to ease my mind last night. Hugs all around!

Did the BG test this AM and got 497. I fed him his usual 1/3c and then gave him 0.5 of Lantus. I will check him at 4 hours and give him a snack.

Thanks again.
 
You've gotten good advice so far :smile:

To make sure, you are measuring 1.5 units correctly with half unit marked 3/10 cc insulin syringes, right? The board occasionally sees a newbie who misreads the insulin syringe markings and, say, measures 10 units instead of 1 unit :o Personally I don't see how one can read a boldly marked 10 as 1.0 when there is no decimal point but it happens.

resource.aspx
 
squeem3 said:
You've gotten good advice so far :smile:

To make sure, you are measuring 1.5 units correctly with half unit marked 3/10 cc insulin syringes, right? The board occasionally sees a newbie who misreads the insulin syringe markings and, say, measures 10 units instead of 1 unit :o Personally I don't see how one can read a boldly marked 10 as 1.0 when there is no decimal point but it happens.

resource.aspx
Click to expand...

Hi there,

yes, for certain it was 1.5units. I am only comfortable starting at 0.5units now which is what I gave this am. I will update later on how that went. Thank you very much for your reply and advice. :)
 
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