jmalasiuk
Member Since 2014
Hi, new to posting here. My cat Tonka was diagnosed as diabetic a couple months ago (I myself have had type 1 diabetes for decades, however, so I'm only new to the feline side of thigs). We've been adjusting his dose very slowly, since I have to work out of town frequently, and my cat sitter was not comfortable doing blood glucose monitoring on Tonka.
After 2 months, he is up to 3 units of Lantus twice a day, roughly 12 hours apart, but his blood sugars are still quite consistently high. My worry is that he occasionally drops to normal or lower levels, followed by a spike: last week, he had a day with 23.2 before insulin to 5.9 four hours later, with a spike up to 32.4 by hour 11, after whch it fell slowly but never got below 15 on multiple tests over the next couple days. This week, we had a similar episode: he went from 20.5 before his morning shot, to 4.4 three hours later, then spiked ip to 16.9 another 3 hours later, and was up to 36.6 by hour 12 when he had his second shot for the day, after which his levels have fluctuated, but all been high (above 15, and as high as 31.
In a human, I'd suspect rebound, but I do not know how much this affects the cats, or how long it continues to affect them after the initial rebound. Could it be a couple days of high sugars after? I also can't see how he can drop so quickly (and he is eating the same amount each day, at the same time) on what is a very slow acting insulin in people. Are cats more sensitive to Lantus so that it can act that quickly? I figured he should have a more stable curve given consistent feeding... Also, since he's still on a rlatively low dose of insulin 6 units per day for a 14 pound cat - he's overweight but not grossly obese, just a big boy - I'm worried that he might need more insulin, but not sure how to avoid these sudden drops.
After 2 months, he is up to 3 units of Lantus twice a day, roughly 12 hours apart, but his blood sugars are still quite consistently high. My worry is that he occasionally drops to normal or lower levels, followed by a spike: last week, he had a day with 23.2 before insulin to 5.9 four hours later, with a spike up to 32.4 by hour 11, after whch it fell slowly but never got below 15 on multiple tests over the next couple days. This week, we had a similar episode: he went from 20.5 before his morning shot, to 4.4 three hours later, then spiked ip to 16.9 another 3 hours later, and was up to 36.6 by hour 12 when he had his second shot for the day, after which his levels have fluctuated, but all been high (above 15, and as high as 31.
In a human, I'd suspect rebound, but I do not know how much this affects the cats, or how long it continues to affect them after the initial rebound. Could it be a couple days of high sugars after? I also can't see how he can drop so quickly (and he is eating the same amount each day, at the same time) on what is a very slow acting insulin in people. Are cats more sensitive to Lantus so that it can act that quickly? I figured he should have a more stable curve given consistent feeding... Also, since he's still on a rlatively low dose of insulin 6 units per day for a 14 pound cat - he's overweight but not grossly obese, just a big boy - I'm worried that he might need more insulin, but not sure how to avoid these sudden drops.
I'm hoping that if I can move them to an even lower carb diet, the feeding schedule won't be as critical, so they can both free feed.