under 200 way under

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Fievel

Fievel

Member Since 2013
I got my new routine started this morning, Took out the tester, insulin, and syringe. As per suggestions I only drew 1 unit of insulin in preparation for his am shot and then tested him. He was down to 116. My internet was down so I called up Venita right away and she told me not to inject him until it goes over 180. Well it just did, 2 hours after last test so he got the 1 unit I drew earlier. Now I will be keeping an eye on him for the next few hours to make sure everything is alright.
 
Great job on catching that low pre-shot! Now, because you gave the shot 2 hours later, tonight's shot time will also have to be moved back by 2 hours. With Lantus, it works best on being consistently given every 12 hours; too early a shot acts like a dose increase and too late a shot acts like a dose decrease.
 
Good job. He will likely now bounce. (Explained below). Anyway let's see how the 1 unit works over the next few days.


Bounces - what are they and is my cat doing them?
When a cat isnt regulated, the blood glucose has probably been high for a while. As the insulin starts to take effect and numbers start to come down, the liver has to learn to adjust to the lower numbers. We call this "liver training school". But before it relearns that low numbers are ok, when the BG drops to a number lower than the liver is accustomed, or if BGs drop low, or if the BG drops suddenly, the liver”panics” and reacts by releasing counterregulatory hormones and glucagon. This drives the BG back up. This is what we call a "bounce". Bounces can take up to 72 hours to clear so we are generally careful about increasing doses during the bounce. Once the bounce clears, then you can see the "real" numbers and determine if the dose needs to go up or down.
 
Thanks for the heads up. I was a little worried when he was over 400 again last night ps and was tempted to give him an extra half unit but I went with my gut and just did the 1 unit. There is just so much to learn, trying not to get burned out by trying to absorb too much at once.
 
Don't worry; we have no problem repeating ourselves so if there's anything you didn't "absorb" :lol: the first time around, that's what we're here for! If you didn't realize it yet, when you joined FDMB, you also got yourself a collective brain holding all the information you don't know yet. ;-)
 
Well here is todays learning

Lantus is a depot insulin. Which means it takes a few days to build to the correct level in the cats system. Or drain from it. So you need to wait a few days to let the dose settle before you really see if its working or not. It usually takes 3-5 days which is why we say to hold the dose that long - unless the cat drops below 50 which means the dose is too high and you need to drop it by 0.25 immediately.

Also Lantus is dosed based on the nadir. The nadir = the lowest point of the cycle. So you need to test for the nadir as you don't want to raise the dose and force the low point too low and cause a hypo.

Anyway he is looking good for now. Lets see how he is by end of day and then we can work out if a slight dose change is needed or whether you need to hold it the full 5 days.



Wendy
 
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