Question regarding changing dose

Status
Not open for further replies.
Hillary & Maui (GA)

Hillary & Maui (GA)

Member Since 2009
OK beans in the know....I'm working with a member from the board who is using lantus, and is giving the cat 5.5 units, with BG's ranging above 300 up to high consistently.

I suggested that he start over at 1 unit and work the TR/SLGS programs as they are designed for lantus to see if we can get the BG's down into better ranges. When the cat was on 1 unit, the BG's were in the 100-200 range. And I think that can happen again.


The cat is also extremely overweight (dangerously so) and I suggested the following:

Regarding his weight, you need to talk with your vet about a safe way to reduce his weight - I'd start by removing ALL DRY FOOD! Feeding him 6 ounces of wet food a day with added water - at least 1/2 can of water to each can of food. You can break this up over multiple meals or two scheduled meals. The only treats you can give him is 100% protein, such as freeze dried chicken, beef.

Buy a harness and leash and take him for walks - they will be short walks at first - maybe throughout the living room, then outside to the end of the driveway or 1/2 block and home -- and as he becomes more active and the weight loss happens, you can increase the walks.

Can he jump or climb? You can entice him to do that with the freeze dried treats - make him work for it.

Get some interactive toys and play with him - wands, feathers, etc -- not a lot at first, but every day you need to play with him and get him moving.

The reply I got was this:

All except the starting over at 1 unit. Sounds pretty crazy to me and I'm sure most on the FDMB site would say going from 5.5 units to 1 unit would be crazy.
Click to expand...

So, I'm here asking for input on reducing the units -- what do you all think?
 
Without looking at a spreadsheet it's hard to say much. If the cat is on low carb food, doesn't need a dental or have another condition like pancreatitis or hyperT, and has increased safely according to either SLGS or TR protocol with sufficient tests to see what is happening at each dose, it could be that the cat has a high dose condition. The latest information from the Royal Veterinary Clinic that is testing every cat coming into it's Diabetes Remission Clinic, is that one in four diabetic cats have acromegaly. Acrocats tend to be large with amazing appetites which can make them overweight. And some are just large.

If it is who I think it might be, the cycles are showing some curve, which to me says not overdose. Returning to one unit can be dangerous and require lots of ketone testing. I have seen acrocat SS's that start off with good numbers at lower doses but soon fall apart as either the tumor pulses or the IAA that may also be present takes hold. Neko got her first green around 3 units but didn't earn a reduction until 8.75 units.
 
The cat in question is Poopers - as many of you may know who he is... and yes, I'm getting the same information on FB that this could be a high dose cat with IAA or acromegaly....


Wendy - would you please post what the tests are to determine these conditions. As I want to encourage Ryan to get these tests done on Poopers..

And also try to encourage some weight loss too.
 
It can be very dangerous to just suggest that every cat on a larger dose ought to start over with 1u. There are many cats that have acromegaly - as Wendy said, 1 in 4 - and dropping the dose automatically to start over can put them in a risky situation.

When we got here Punkin was on 3u of Lantus, but it was quickly discovered that it was actually 7.5u of insulin because our vet had us using u-40 syringes instead of u-100 syringes that go with Lantus. When the error was discovered, someone posted to me, described the options of starting over or carrying on, and we opted to carry on. It was the right decision - 4 months later he was diagnosed with acro.

The way to decide how to move forward is to ask lots of questions and tease out the rest of the story, identify if anything might point to a high dose condition (an incredible appetite) and the other things that would help figure out what's going on in that particular cat's body.

He's posted in LL today and has asked for advice there.
 
He also posted on Facebook and we know that advice needs to be given here and not there, and was trying to do that. Additionally, I don't know Pooper's history and had limited information when I asked this question, which is why I posted here and asked for input.

as there is possibility that he may be IAA or acromelagy, I suggested he get the cat tested for these to know if that is the issue regarding insulin. and if that is the case, then my next suggestion was going to be to talk with the people who understand and are dealing with this matter, as I don't have any experience in this area.

I also haven't been on here recently and did not go searching to see if he posted today or not. My apologies if I created any confusion. Was not my intent.
 
Yes Jill I know that and that is why I wrote on FB that this needed to be put on here and posted on here to get it started. I put this thread link on there to direct others over to here and not there.
 
Hillary & Maui (GA) said:
I suggested that he start over at 1 unit and work the TR/SLGS programs as they are designed for lantus to see if we can get the BG's down into better ranges. When the cat was on 1 unit, the BG's were in the 100-200 range. And I think that can happen again.

The cat is also extremely overweight (dangerously so) and I suggested the following:
Click to expand...

I do see that this link was eventually posted on Facebook, but I believe what Robert intends (and what he has asked for) is for experienced members to direct people here first to ask for advice, not to give advice and then send them here for validation.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top