Sugar Cat, Lantus, Questions...Oh MY!

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Jeannie & Cairo

Jeannie & Cairo

Member Since 2014
Hi Everyone! I'm Jeannie and very new to feline diabetes (and this site--which I LOVE). My sugar kitty is Cairo (she's about 14 years old, Fancy Feast 2X/day, not on insulin yet). I home test 2-3X/day using ReliOn Confirm. I'm comfortable with home testing (she's very good for me) and I'm learning to use the spreadsheet. My first insulin consultation is this Thursday (8/14) and I have a few questions before I go so that I feel more informed. So far I'm not thrilled with my vets level of expertise with feline diabetes.

1) The vet has prescribed 3 units 2X/day (Lantus) to begin with. She's about 14 lbs. --which is overweight but not horrible. Her BG is rarely over 260 and has been consistently in the 220 range for the past 2 days. Does 3 units seem right, or does that seem high?

2) The Target near my home was amazing in helping me obtain the Solostar pen for $25 and is willing to sell them to me one at a time as needed. Without thinking too much I also purchased the needle tips for this pen. In watching a few You Tube videos people are saying not to use the tips because they have too short of a needle for cats and to use syringes. My questions are: a) Are the "tip type" needles too short for cats? AND b) "IF" I can use the tips, are there cheaper versions I can use? I wasn't given a choice but in one of the videos it looks like ReliOn makes a pen type needle tip (and maybe cheaper?) c) If I have to use syringes, does anyone know the likelihood that Target might take the pen needles back?

Thanks for any help/advice!
 
Hey, Jeannie! I wanted to welcome you and Cairo (love that name!) to the Relaxed Lantus board!

I've only been here since the first of July when I suddenly and unexpectedly adopted a diabetic cat when her "mom" passed away , so I'm no expert. The formula I was given for dosing was 0.25 unit of Lantus per kg of the cat's ideal weight, not Cairo's current 14 pounds. Here's an Online Calculator for Converting Pounds to Kilograms.

Just since I've been here, I've been shocked to read how many posters have vets who seem to have no clue about treating feline diabetes. If I had kept taking Alice to her previous vet, she would still be eating junk dry food and still be on 3 units twice a day (if not more!). Instead, Alice is off the juice (insulin) based on the excellent advice I've been given here.

I don't have any experience with the pens and very little experience with syringes, but hopefully someone with more experience will come along and advise you properly.

Edited to add: Oh, and I meant to say in my limited experience, 3 units is way too high a dose for a cat with Cairo's numbers, especially if she is being transitioned to a totally wet, low carb diet. That alone will make a HUGE difference. Have you read Dr. Lisa Pierson's website, www.catinfo.org ? She has sections on feline diabetes (A MUST READ!), nutrition, obesity, even litter and litter box care. Excellent site ... check it out! Dr. Lisa's site is what led me here to FDMB. :-D
 
I second Geneva's recommendation that you read Dr. Lisa's site. Absolutely eye-opening! You'll never look at dry food the same way again.

I think some people do use the pen-tip needles, but my understanding is that they're harder to handle than regular needles. I've only used regular needles, myself. I did try to exchange some needles at Wal-Mart once (they sold me the wrong everything...except they at least have the right markings!), and they told me that it's illegal for them to take needles back, even if they're unopened. Dunno if that's true, but if it is, you won't be able to take them back to Target.

3u BID sounds high to me, too. But I'm also pretty new to this!

Best of luck to you and Cairo! Glad you're here!
 
OK, thanks so much to the both of you! I agree that I'm learning more on this site than from my vet, I'm definitely going to question the 3 units and even suggest a lower dose. I think I'm going to just try the tips that I bought for now and see how that goes before I invest in syringes. I am going onto Dr. Lisa Pierson's website NOW :-D
 
Jeannie- make sure to read what Dr. Lisa has to say about that prescription cat food too.

Your vet ain't gonna like it!! :lol:

Seriously, the low carb Fancy Feast or Friskies Classic Pate is all you need. Of course, if you can afford it, there are better quality, more expensive canned varieties, but any of the low carb canned is better than the expensive prescription stuff. And definitely better than ANY type of dry food.
 
See, now to me, it seems like a vet should be knowledgable about things like.... I don't know.... CAT FOOD!!! Is that too much to ask??? Ha!

So far, Fancy Feast Classic Chicken is a winner for 2 out of 3 of my cats. The 3rd is not diabetic but seems to have a sensitive tummy so I'm still working on something that she will tolerate and keep down (actually SHE likes and keeps down the DM--but, as you know, its not the best and too expensive). I might try the Friskies Classic Pate.

I'm actually going to print out what Dr. Lisa said about prescription cat food and take it with me Thursday! cat(2)_steam
 
Jeannie,

Welcome to the greatest board you never wanted to need:)

Just a couple of comments about vet training. Most vet schools don't teach nutrition. They have the food companies (specifically Hills) contracted to offer a few hours on nutrition. Then the food companies offer discounts to the vets.

So your vet may not be too open to your request to use other food. Just be prepared to smile and say "my cat won't eat that food."

As to the Lantus needles. The pens only dose in full unit doses. That is why for cats we use syringes for dosing. The syringe allows dosing in .25, .5 and in some cases even smaller dosing. Look for 3/10, 31 gauge, short needles with 1/2 unit markings.

Lantus starting dose is usually .5 or 1 unit given twice a day 12 hours apart. It is a shed based insulin and will take about 5 days to a week to become fully available in the cat. Start Low, Go Slow. Best way to handle either Lantus or Levemir.

I'm sure you will have many more questions. Ask away. There is a wealth of experience and information on this board. So glad you found FDMB. You are over one of the biggest hurdles in that your already home testing.

All the best

Claudia
 
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