Question about food and BG

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Kris10mo

Kris10mo

Member Since 2014
Hi. For the past four mornings Calley's BG has been under mid 90's-low 100's when I take it first thing with no meals since 10:30pm the night before.

I have not given her any insulin in the morning. Then when I test about five hours later around noon-1pm ish....she is in the mid 200's. So I deduce that she does need a morning shot. So should I have her eat, make sure she keeps it down, and then give her a small dose-maybe 1 unit, about an hour after she eats?

I'm calling the vet today to have her changed back to Lantus. Presently it is just her eating that is still abnormal. Her drinking and peeing are still greatly reduced. She is grooming still a little bit but her fur is still not that pretty.

QUESTION: How much will a bowl of wet food(approx. 1/3 can) raise the sugars?

I'm afraid of giving insulin and then leaving the house in the mornings and having her go hypo again. Would 1 unit bring her down that much?

Thanks all....I think I'm getting a better idea on all of this

Kristin and Calley
 
Have you tried mini meals? That way it keeps her pancreas working, but not too hard at once. Plus it might be easier for her to keep her food down. As to her bg rising with food and the amount.....there is no set amount. Every cat reacts differently to carbs some will rise more or less with a certain % of carbs. I know Hidey is carb sensitive and has to stay on LOW carbs.

As to the lantus. I know you had her on lantus before, but from what I gather with lantus your supposed to stick to strict amounts for the morning and night. Right now it seems shes fluctuating, have you tried prozinc? I had Hidey on prozinc and he responded well on it, bbut also with all my reading about prozinc is you have the ability to adjust dosage to your needs. I know it cost about $80 for a vial for Hidey, but it is supposed to last 3-6 months
 
I just took her BG again at 9:30 about an hour after she ate. It is now 264. I gave her one unit. When I had her on Lantus before I was not feeding her wet food so I think may have had something to do with her not responding to it?

I am trying to get her regulated without a lot of mini meals as once I return to work in August(I am a teacher), I won't be home to give mini meals. So she needs the insulin to keep her levels constant throughout the day without the food.

I asked my vet about Prozinc and I don't remember what she said so i'll ask again. I just want to get Calley off the Humulin and on to a longer lasting/slow insulin.

Thanks
 
My vet initially had Hidey on vetsulin which I here is close to your current insulin (short acting) and his numbers were all wonky. Once I got him on prozinc his numbers stabilized and he is now in remission, diet controlled. As to the mid day feedings you could als=ways get a pet feeder. They have a 2 meal feeder and a 5 meal feeder. The 2 meal is cheaper and would work for you to help feed mid day,I got the 5 feeder because of the convenience of not having to feed as often. I only ask about the lantus because of what I have read from peoples experience, and then seeing your comments about not being able to give shots at certain points due to bg being normal. Just keep in mind what ever insulin you do get from your vet start at a low dose since her bgs are stabilizing :) Its great that your home testing now, it gives you an idea of what works and what doesnt.
 
Lantus may be my only choice for insulin as I called my local Walmart and Walgreens and neither has Prozinc available through their suppliers. :( I'll call a few more local pharmacies...Kmart etc and see if it can be found.

I would like to have Calley's insulin consistent and changing. I have only been lowering her dose as I have started testing and figured out that she was getting way too much insulin for her needs. She has not vomited since I stopped the large doses of insulin and tested in am before her first meal. So yes, thank god I decided to home test. I was so against it and ready to give up....but I think I have embraced it (if I continue to see improvements in Calley) and hope wish I had started testing earlier. I hope the change off of Humulin will bring more improvements.

Thanks for the support and encouragement.

Kristin and Calley
 
ProZinc is an insulin only for animal and thus not available in a human pharmacy with may the exception of a few Target pharmacies that also carry pet insulins.
Besides Lantus there is also the Human Levemir insulin. It is similar to Lantus
 
Ok...so I found a local pharmacy that carries the Prozinc at my local grocery store. But it has to be ordered and it won't be available until the day I leave for vacation.

So what do I do? Keep her on the Humulin in a very small dose while I am gone on vacation and then order the Prozinc when I get back?

Or just pay for the Lantus?

Too much stress.........:(


Kristin and Calley
 
It really depends on you. I wouldn't switch insulin before you go on vacation. Regardless of what you switch to you have no clue how she'll react. I know she's been on Lantus before but now since she's on something else her body may react differently. I would wait till you got home. How long are you going to be on vacation for? You may want to even drop her down to 0.5 units 2 x a day till you get back if the sitter doesnt know how to home test. That way she's getting insulin twice a day, but not an amount that will send her to hypo. I have no experience with your insulin though, so hopefully someone else would chime in with the dosage help.
 
I think you are right. Changing insulins while I am gone doesn't sound like a good thing to do. The sitter will not be testing levels so I agree that a small dose/2x daily is the way to go.

Will .5 unit keep Calley from going hypo?

Calley says thank you
 
I would think so but I cannot say for certain. What have her numbers been lately, and also when have you been feeding and shooting (if you dont mind) I just popped over to the insulin support area and read a little on your insulin. Have you read the sticky for it?

I don't have any experience with it but it suggests feeding an hour prior to injections.

Here is the sticky just in case:
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=303

also a couple main things popped out at me:

-N is not the easiest insulin to regulate on. However, there are several cats on this board who have been regulated on it. Bunny was regulated on Humulin N for just short of 5 years. Bunny, unlike most cats, got 12 hours duration out of the N.

-FOOD. Always make sure kitty eats about an hour before his/her shot. This will insure that kitty has food on her stomach to counteract the typical fast drop of the bg's caused by N (some cats do not drop fast on it, which is, again, why hometesting is so important!).

-DO A CURVE/HOMETEST. This is a must with all insulins, but can really save you from hypo on N. You need to know when the insulin peaks because you need to know just how low the bg's are dropping. N, in my experience, can peak at anywhere from 2 to 6 hours. Before Bunny got sick, his peak was at around 5 (depending on exercise and food consumption) and after his cancer dx and subsequent hypo, we dropped down to two hours after shot. Needless to say, we have switched insulins.

The importance of your peak/nadir/low number is two fold: A) You do not want to hypo your cat. High blood glucose kills slow, low blood glucose KILLS FAST. B ) You cannot adjust a dosage on preshot alone. Preshot numbers can be deceiving in that if you are going too low at peak, you will have high numbers at preshot. It is kitty's body's way of saving it from overdose. Consistently high preshots without knowledge of your nadir number could mean rebound, at which point you don't need to increase your dosage you need to DECREASE.

HORROR STORY: When we were newbies and our vet was learning this right along with us, we kept increasing Bunny's dose based on high preshots and vet visit readings. He was up to FIFTEEN UNITS OF N BID!!! Makes my stomach flip flop thinking about it now! Posted on this board that I was at my whit’s end because I could not get nice preshots. The posts I received back said, "That is WAY too much N! Start over and check your peak numbers!" He was going down to 26 at peak! YIKES! If not for the fact that Bunny free feeds, and can thus bring his numbers back up by eating, he would have died. ALWAYS FIND OUT WHEN YOUR PEAK IS AND CHECK THOSE NUMBERS BEFORE ANY INCREASE!

When curving on N for the *first time*, in my opinion, it is good to check bg's at +2, +3, +4, +5 and again at +6. This will tell you exactly where your peak is. After the numbers start to rise, you can go back to every two hour checks. This is not the only way to do a curve; it is just my opinion on how to do your first with a new insulin, especially one as fast acting as N.

Until you have a chance to curve, I do not recommend giving the shot at bg’s under 300 simply because you do not know yet how much of a drop you are going to get. I have sat up all night on hypo watch with several folks who were new and thus had not curved yet, only to find out their cat dropped 200 on a single unit…not good when preshots was 250.

I did notice on your other post that home testing is getting better, still stressful but better lol It will get easier. I don't know how well the rice sock is working, but in a pinch you can wet a paper towel and put it in the microwave for a few seconds, or even run it under hot water for a sec. Of course test the hotness prior to using. I found socks and such to be too big, so the warm paper towel was easier for me AND Hidey lol.
 
Well to be honest....I have been free feeding her the wet food, whenever she chases me into the kitchen....probably about five to six mini meals a day. She gets a larger amount at each shot time which is usually a 7am/7pm schedule.

In the past four days the highest her numbers have gone is 292 and that was early evening. She was 264 this morning after her morning meal...it jumped up from 97 pre-shot/pre-meal. Without a spread sheet....her numbers have been in the 100's most of the day but have had a few mid 200's. I have tested at first in the morning and a few times during the day and again before her evening meal.

Her last test at 1pm today was 62. I just now tested her and she is 84. So I'm not sure I'm going to give any insulin tonight at all. AND I might not have the pet sitter give her any at all while I am gone. Maybe just several meals throughout the day?

The vet suggested no insulin at all and maybe to leave out the dry food so she could get meals? or do you think just the wet food four times a day will keep her low?

This cat is confusing me.

Kristin
 
If her numbers are looking THAT good I wouldn't do any insulin, and NO dry food just the 4 mini meals a day....with those numbers and JUST wet food who knows maybe Calley is on her way to remission. Fingers are crossed :-D
 
I was concerned to see the number in mid 200's right after Calley ate her breakfast, but the vet said it was normal for a meal to cause the BG to rise that much. I didn't realize that and gave her insulin this morning. But she hasn't had a day of twice daily insulin in four days and the most she has gotten at one time is 1 unit.

With that info do you think I can stop the insulin while I am gone for 10 days and just have Calley eat the wet food?

I'd hate to have her go hyperglycemic and I have to start all over dealing with the peeing/drinking constantly.

confused_cat
 
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