Still struggling to achieve regulation on Lantus

[Christin & Mimi]

Hello there! I was told that posting in this section of the forums would likely be best, as the issue I'm having deals specifically with Lantus. Our cat Mimi was diagnosed with diabetes several months ago, and has been on Lantus since March. We've been using the SLGS protocol since then. At our last trip to the vet in May, we were told to hold Mimi's dose at 2 units and continue to monitor her BG for a while before increasing it again. Her nadirs have continued to run in the mid-200s, so I decided to increase her dose to 2.25 units for 2 weeks, and then this week, to 2.5 units after the change we noted was minimal. Her numbers are still pretty consistently in the 200s during nadir and 300s pre-shot. This is definitely better than where we started, but I was hoping to have her well-regulated by now.

About three days ago, I accidentally left out a treat ball filled with Greenies (intended only for our other 2 cats). She discovered the treat ball and ate of the contents before I could take it away in time. I'm generally very cautious about making sure she never has access to our other cats' food/treats, but I slipped up this time. In any case, since then, her readings have been super high-- up to 405 pre-shot with nadirs in the 300s. I initially posted about about this on the Feline Diabetes FB page, but since I'm looking for dosing advice, I figured I should post here instead. Is it normal for her numbers to be affected this much several days after consuming higher carb treats? Should I increase her dose temporarily (or permanently)? I'm really discouraged by the struggles I've faced to get her regulated. We feed FF Classics low carb pates.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

It can take several days for the high carb treats to work their way out of her system, but I'd expect the numbers to be coming down by now.

It would really help if you'd start keeping track of your test numbers on the spreadsheet we all use here. It's a very useful tool here and we all depend on it to give the best advice on dose adjustments.

The color coding also helps to visualize the "patterns" we look for.

You don't want to increase based on the contraband, but you may need to increase to get her numbers under better control.....Having that spreadsheet will help us to help you!

Here are the Instructions on setting up the FDMB spreadsheet but if you have any problems, let us know and we can help you get it set up! It's very easy to use...you just enter the numbers as you get them....the color coding is already formatted

 

[beggargirl]

How old is the Lantus vial? I found that I had to replace mine after 3 months because I started getting wonky numbers.

 

[JeanW]

How old is the Lantus vial? I found that I had to replace mine after 3 months because I started getting wonky numbers.

My vet recommends replacing the Lantus every 60 days.

Or are you using the Lantus pen?

I fed FF Classics low carb pates for several months and could not get my kitty regulated at all. Her numbers were very high. What's helped me most was switching from the Lantus pen to Lantus bottle with syringe and changing the food (now using a mix of prescription Purina DM and Nature's Logic low carb chicken).

Too much insulin can cause them to bounce resulting in high numbers for a longer period of time.

And for my kitty too few carbs resulted in higher numbers. But ECID - every cat is different.