Profile Pic Update & Venting

[foodietoria]

Morning,
I updated my profile so you could see Chino. He’s a Tonkinese who lost his brother a year and a half ago and now dealing with diabetes. Just frustrated because his levels are still between 325 and 425 despite going from 1.0 U to 2.0 units 3 days ago as well as him loving the FF Chicken Feast Pate for Sr Cats, which seems like an addictive drug to him. I’ve never seen him go crazy over food like this. He is now acting like he’s starving all the time so I started what was suggested and am giving 2 main (1/2 can) meals plus snacks. He keeps waking up early crying. I really don’t want to be getting up at 3, 4 or 5 AM every morning. Getting sleep deprived and it’s affecting my energy level at work. This morning, I couldn’t get a reading after 3 try’s because he wouldn’t sit still because he was starving, so I fed and shot. His reading last night was 425, so could it really be so low this morning that he could get hypo after shot? I know thats a big no-no but didn’t know what else to do. I just want to get past this phase and have him in a stable range and routine.

 

[squeem3]

Your original thread: Newly Diagnosed

Did you ever get a spreadsheet set up? FDMB can't really advise unless there's a spsreadsheet of blood glucose levels. It would also help to get your signature set up with all the basic info about your cat so you're not constatnly being asked the same questions over and over again.

Getting blood glucose levels regulated takes time so have lots of patience. We only advise adjusting doses by 0.25 units at a time. It's easy to miss the right dose if you increase too much.

The Lantus info is here: Lantus / Levemir / Biosimilars Rread through the info threads to understand how Lantus works in cats. Lantus needs about 7 days to fill the depot and to see any effect on blood glucose levels. I assume you're doing the Start Low Go Slow protocol and not the Tight Regulation one.

Make a programmable timed feeder your best friend. The feeder will give your cat the snacks he needs while you are away at work or wherever and so you can sleep at night. With Lantus, don't feed anything 2 hours before insulin time. Food will spike bgs a bit.

It's safest to test bg before insulin so you know what the level is and if insulin can be safely given. You can't assume the cat will be always be high. My cat has tested in the hypo-levels recently (no symptoms and it was 18+ hours since the last insulin dose) and normally he's much higher. Have patience with testing and working out what works best for you and your cat to get a good drop of blood.