Qucik BG question

[Kathy]

My cat Bert is not on insulin yet.
He will be to the new vet on Monday and they will start him then
I started wet only Wellness food 3 days ago.
His BG the first day was in the 320-360 range.

I did not test his BG yesterday.
I tested him just a few minutes ago and his BG was 212.
He ate about 3 hours ago.

Is this a good number for a diabetic cat that is not on insulin yet?
Shoud I be worried/looking for anything?

We are leaving for the day.
We will not be back till late tonight, but I have someone coming in to feed them so Bert does not go to long with out food.

 

[Monique & Spooky]

Kudos on getting Bert switched to the low carb food! It appears as if the diet change is having a positive effect on his BG numbers. 200's are still however too high and Bert is going to need some help from insulin. Do you know what type of insulin you will using? The fact that his BG has dropped and is not crazy high means you will likely not need to give him a big dose of insulin, just enough to bring his BG down into a more normal range for period of time so that his damaged pancreas (where insulin is produced) can rest and heal. It looks very promising that if kept on a low carb wet diet and with a short time on the right insulin Bert will go into remission and hopefully remain a diet controlled diabetic for a long time! I have seen many cats that come here with BG's and diets very simular to what Bert has and the majority are quickly in remission.

You can leave canned food out for Bert, some people freeze little portions and leave them out when they go to work or out for the evening. As it thaws the cat can eat it, and it stays fresher longer.

 

[Kathy]

I think he said Lantus?

 

[Hillary & Maui (GA)]

Lantus is an excellent insulin. When you return, please go to the board index and check out the insulin support group page for lantus.

Please read the first 5 posts, it will tell you everything you need to know about using Lantus.

 

[Monique & Spooky]

I think he said Lantus?

Very good choice!!!!

In my opinion and according the current data Lantus is the preffered insulin for newly diagnosed cats and has the best chance for achieving remission. It is very easy to use, we follow here a true and time tested protocol for dosing and have many people with a great deal of experience with this insulin. The only disadvantages to Lantus are that it is a human insulin which means only available in U100 strength (100 units per 1ml) that makes giving small doses that our cats need difficult to measure, but with a little practice and patience it's do able.

Just to give you a heads up*
It is cheaper and more effcient to have your vet give you a prescription for the insulin that you can buy at any pharmacy. Also Lantus is availble in 3 different forms.

1. a 10ml glass bottle (vial) this contains 1000 units and costs somewhat less than the other options, however it is not the most economical

2. a package of 5 refill cartridges for a refillable insulin pen. Each catridge has 3ml (300 units) insulin so 1500 units in the whole package. They cost slightly more than the vial but are more economical should something happen to one of them (dropped and broken, frozen...) then you only waste 1/5th or 300 units and still have the unopened remaining containers to use.

3. pakage of 5 disposable solorstar insulin pens. These are just like the cartridges only in a pen form, I like this because they are somewhat less breakable being surrounded in a plastic cover. Cost is almost the same as the catridges.

Each of these forms requires you to use an insulin syringe to administer the injection (unfortunatly we can't use the convient pen injection that humans do, it doesn't allow small doses and is not very precise) You will need U100 insulin syringes, the best ones to use are 3/10 cc (,3ml) with half-unit markings. It makes measuring small and partial unit doses easier. Vets often prescribe or sell clients the vials of Lantus if you don't request the catridges or pens. Also if you buy the pens at the pharmacy be sure to tell the pharmacist that you don't need the pen needles that go with them (they are used to selling to humans) you need the syringes instead.

Go to the Lantus forum here and read the information about Lantus at the top of the forum. There are pictures of how to use the pens and syringes as well as lots of useful information about storing and handleing the insulin.

Good Luck!