Update on Simon and his bg test -- need help!

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Georgia and Simon (GA)

Georgia and Simon (GA)

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I was finally able to test Simon's bg for the very first time at 5:30 tonight (watching some of the videos on you tube about glucose testing really helped!). Simon's bg is only registering 53. When he was at the vet's on Tues. the lowest it registered was 284. I have fed him his canned food and am waiting for about an hour to recheck. The vet told me to give him 4 units of Lantus 2x/day but I am pretty sure I shouldn't give him that amount since his bg was so low. Should I be concerned that his bg is so low? If it goes up when I re-check should I skip this dose of insulin or give him a reduced amount? I am so confused and scared I am going to do the wrong thing. I did a control check on the glucometer and it is in range. Should I call the vet to ask her about this? She was not very supportive of me testing at home because she feels that the results can be wrong. Thank you for your help! Georgia and Simon
 
First, breathe, Georgia. This means Simon is reacting well to the insulin.

When was the 53? How soon after the shot? Remind us what kind of insulin you are using.
 
first, whatever you do, do not give that much insulin again ok.

as far as what to do right now, 53 is an ok number not requiring you to act with honey or karo or anything at this time. how long has it been since the last shot was given? i assume it was this morning?

but yes, test again if you can in 30-60 minutes and let's see where he is at that point. most likely kitty will be higher but if by chance his body treats the 4units as an overdose, it is possible that the number can stay the same and/or go lower still

and come shot time tonight, more than likely you won't be shooting another 4 units but i would say to post the number you get and see what people say as far as starting over at 1 unit, etc....
 
Ok -- I just tested again about 1 hour after I fed him 1/2 of can of food. His reading is now 92. His first shot of insulin was early this morning at 6:30 am. Should I go ahead and give him a small amount of insulin or test again in a little bit? The second testing didn't go as well. Simon is on to me and did not want to cooperate. I had to stick him 3 times before I got enough of a sample and now he is a little stressed -- and me too. If possible, I don't want to test again tonight if I don't have to! Thanks for your quick reply to my first question. It is so nice to know I have support. Georgia & Simon
 
So your first test at home was +11 and was 53 (11 hours after the 4 unit shot) Right?

And your second test was 92 at +12.

I think you should get Lantus specific advice. I will go over to that forum and ask someone to come over here to help.

He is getting a long duration from the shot, and he may have gone low during the day. Don't give any insulin yet, okay.

Thank goodness you are hometesting! If you had just gone ahead and given 4 units tonight, he could have been seriously overdosed.
 
FWIW I wouldn't shoot if he is below 150. 94 at +12 is still in the non-diabetic range. But even if he goes above 150 I would only give him a token amount like .5 or 1u. The folks in Lantus Land can give a more definite, Max and I weren't on Lantus that long before he went OTJ. But that would be how I would handle it if it was my kitty. But without a lot of data I wouldn't be comfortable giving anything greater than 1u while that low. 4u is awfully high starting dose.

Mel & Max
 
Georgia,

I would not give a shot until you get some more responses. My take would be to skip the shot tonight. You don't have enough data to know what will happen.

You could get a high number in the morning, but that could be a bounce from a low number before the 53, combined with no shot this evening. I would start again tomorrow morning with a nice low dose.
 
I think after hearing back from a few of you, I will skip the dose tonight and re-test in the morning. I don't think I should probably give him 4 units again but start at a much lower dose.
 
That sounds like a good plan. I would always err on the side of caution, especially since you have no data. Better too high for a few hours tonight than too low overnight, risking a hypo. I would post on the Lantus site in the morning, give them your test numbers and ask them how much you should give. viewtopic.php?f=9&t=30808

If you want help setting up a spreadsheet (which they do want), check your messages in the left hand corner of this board.

And I forgot to say - Welcome to the Vampire Club. Congrats on getting blood! :RAHCAT :RAHCAT If you want to post about what was the problem when it was hard, we may have tips to help.
 
I thought I already posted all this, but I guess I posted at the same time as someone else and didn't realize it.

I'm glad you decided to skip the shot tonight, and start over again at a lower dose tomorrow.
Don't worry if he's higher tomorrow. That's normal. You're welcome to come over to the Lantus forum.
You will get lots of help, advise, support and encouragement there.
 
Glad to see you decided to skip the shot tonight, and start fresh in the morning..If it were me I would start him out on 1u bid hold for about 3-4 days and see where he is by then before deciding to raise it if necessary. Especially if you are going to be around tomorrow and can test fairly often to gather some more data.

Mel & Max
 
Sounds like a plan. No shot tonight and lower the dose to 1 unit for tomorrow.

Nice job of getting tests to find out how low he was, whew!

Best of luck for Simon tomorrow!
 
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