Too Hight of Does?

[julie & punkin (ga)]

Robin, just to encourage you - it gets infinitely easier. Truly.

The beginning can be overwhelming, but you'll get the hang of it before you know it. :YMHUG:

 

[Kitty mom]

Thanks

 

[Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)]

Test him before bed time if he's under 200 skip it , if over 200 I'll give him 1u.
I'm really feeling I'm not cut out to do this hopefully I'll get a good nights sleep and reboot

Robin,
I think you might have misunderstood Jill's suggestion for tonight.

i really don't like to suggest skipping shots, but under these circumstances i would skip tonight's shot. you don't have enough data collected yet to shoot a dropping number. i wouldn't feel comfortable suggesting a shot tonight.

She suggested completely skipping tonight's shot, and not giving another shot (1 unit) until tomorrow morning, and only if he's over 200.

i'd test again right before you go to bed tonight. post the number if he continues to drop. if not, get a good night's sleep and start over in the morning at 1u BID if he's over 200. if he's less than 200, post the number and ask for help.

The test tonight before bed was just to see if the number was continuing to drop by then. If so, post the number. If not, get a good night's sleep.

Tomorrow morning, IF he's over 200, give 1u. If below 200, post the number before giving a shot to see what people think.

Is that more clear? Tonight, you should be able to get some well-deserved sleep. ;-)

Carl

 

[Jill & Alex (GA)]

Test him before bed time if he's under 200 skip it , if over 200 I'll give him 1u.
I'm really feeling I'm not cut out to do this hopefully I'll get a good nights sleep and reboot

I'm not sure if this is a plan you came up with & want to do or if you misunderstood my suggestions.

just to clarify my suggestions:

--- skip tonight's shot because you don't have enough data collected yet to support shooting a dropping number.

--- grab a test before going to bed. post the number if the number has dropped from the 147 @ +12.

--- if the before bed test number is higher than 147, go to bed and get a good night's sleep.

--- in the morning test before you shoot a 1 unit dose. if Dasher is less than 200, post the number and ask for advice.

hang in there, ok? in no time at all this will get a whole lot easier.



EDITED TO ADD: i'm so slooooooooooooooooooooow at typing. carl beat me to it. thanks carl!

 

[KittyMom777]

FYI: Rand's OLD protocol (based on 0.5 unit per kg of actual weight) also advised kitty be hospitalized for the first three days of treatment because of the increased risk of hypoglycemia!

Hi
I need some help with dosing. My cat is 12lb. I don't know what you mean by ideal weight opposed to actual weight? My vet initially advised one unit once per day. She upped this after three weeks to 2 units once per day. After his first curve (attached), she has told me to up it to 2 units morning and 2 units evening. My gut tells me this is too much. He's been on insulin now for four weeks (1 week at one unit, 3 weeks at 2 units - once per day). I need to make a change this weekend when I am home to watch him but I need advice as to how much and what to change. Please help.

 

[Jill & Alex (GA)]

Hi
I need some help with dosing. My cat is 12lb. I don't know what you mean by ideal weight opposed to actual weight? My vet initially advised one unit once per day. She upped this after three weeks to 2 units once per day. After his first curve (attached), she has told me to up it to 2 units morning and 2 units evening. My gut tells me this is too much. He's been on insulin now for four weeks (1 week at one unit, 3 weeks at 2 units - once per day). I need to make a change this weekend when I am home to watch him but I need advice as to how much and what to change. Please help.

Hello KittyMom777,

What is ideal weight opposed to actual weight? Ideal weight is the weight kitty should be if kitty was in shape and at a nice, lean weight. In other words, not overweight. So many of our diabetic kitties are um... "fluffy". We don't want to risk over dosing them by calculating a dose based on their actual weight.

The formula we use for an initial starting dose in this forum (for those practicing Tight Regulation) is 0.25 unit per kg of the cat's ideal weight. Other forums generally suggest an initial starting dose of 0.5 unit or 1.0 unit shot twice a day.

I'm sorry. I'm unable to open the spreadsheet you've attached so I can't be of much help. As you've probably noticed, most of us use Google Docs. Ask for help on Health if you need help setting a Google spreadsheet up.

You've somehow landed in the Tight Regulation Insulin Support Group. Practicing Tight Regulation is an advanced technique. The kind of information/help you're seeking can be found on the
FELINE HEALTH: The Main FDMB Forum. I see you've already started a thread in that forum: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=128073. Good job! The main Health forum is the best place you could possibly be to learn the basics of feline diabetes.

Once you have the basics down come back and explore the possibilities of practicing Tight Regulation. Check out the "Stickys" (posts marked with yellow stars listed under the "Topics" section on the page). Read through them to see if you think practicing the TR protocol is something you'd like to do. If you're interested, jump in and start a new thread whenever you feel comfortable.

Have a good day! :mrgreen:

 

[Marje and Gracie]

Robin

It would help us all very much if there was a spreadsheet for Dasher. Here is the post that will help you Create a Spreadsheet for your Kitty. If you have any problems, please send me a private message by clicking on the "PM" box to the right and under Gracie's picture. I would just need to get your google email addy (which should be sent to me privately) and I can do a SS and establish you as the owner. It literally takes me two minutes.

 

[Melanie and Smokey]

i know how hard it is to not follow the vet advice sometimes Robin. Think about it this way, if you went to the dr and got pain meds and they made you really sick if you took a full dose, but if you took a half dose you felt fine, would you continue to take a full dose? Your testing is giving you the information to know that the dose the vet estimated is too high. There is nothing in their education that makes them know what each cat needs, every cat is different. Many have very little feline diabetes education at all. Gathering information and adjusting the dose according to that to keep your cat safe is just being careful and doing the best for your cat.

 

[KittyMom777]

i know how hard it is to not follow the vet advice sometimes Robin. Think about it this way, if you went to the dr and got pain meds and they made you really sick if you took a full dose, but if you took a half dose you felt fine, would you continue to take a full dose? Your testing is giving you the information to know that the dose the vet estimated is too high. There is nothing in their education that makes them know what each cat needs, every cat is different. Many have very little feline diabetes education at all. Gathering information and adjusting the dose according to that to keep your cat safe is just being careful and doing the best for your cat.

Hi
I need some help with dosing. My cat is 12lb. I don't know what you mean by ideal weight opposed to actual weight? My vet initially advised one unit once per day. She upped this after three weeks to 2 units once per day. After his first curve (attached), she has told me to up it to 2 units morning and 2 units evening. My gut tells me this is too much. He's been on insulin now for four weeks (1 week at one unit, 3 weeks at 2 units - once per day). I need to make a change this weekend when I am home to watch him but I need advice as to how much and what to change. Please help.

Do start your own post somewhere so we don't have Robin's hijacked. I was able to open your SS and see your curve because I have excel. The reaction to insulin looks promising. A couple of things - Lantus is not a once a day dosing for cats, it needs to be 2X a day 12 hours apart. That is why you have such an odd curve, the insulin sets in, then wears out long before you get to the next shot. If you split your dose and go to 12/12 shots, you will see a flatter line. Also, we don't recommend only doing random curves, we recommend testing every day at least pre-shot testing, plus a few others if you can. Lantus dose adjustments are done by the nadir (low point in the curse or "peak" of the insulin) so those tests would be needed for dosing advice.

Thanks. Just learning the FDMB etiquette . I'm over in the general forum now as Jill said this is for tight regulation only. Going to two doses from tonight.