When do you know to change from Lantus / "steep sudden drops" - when do they stop?

B

Bowie

Member Since 2026
Hello everyone -

Bowie is 10 and was diagnosed in May with Pancreatitis and Diabetes. We got him through the pancreatitis and with the guidance of an internal medicine vet, now have him at 2 units. He gets Purina DM with gravy (not the dried except as a treat), cooked chicken, raw venison, and Fancy Feast pates for his meals.

His spreed sheet should be attached in the signature. You can see we went from 1.5 back to 1 when his numbers really dropped off. His BG reverted & went back up. We have under RG gotten him up to 2 units. Since getting to 2 units there seem to be these huge swings and we are wondering a couple of things:

1) is this normal even 5 days in at the new dose?
2) how do you know when it is time to change off of Lantus?
3) we are managing this drops off the cliff with churu, his normal food and if needed Karo syrup. When can we expect this to stop?

Thank you,

Bowie and Co.
 
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Hello and welcome to you and Bowie.

If he goes under 68 on the Alphatrak, like he did on the 22nd, the dose is too high. You need to lower the dose to 1.75 units. The increase from 1.5 to 2.0 units was too big a jump. Here we make changes by 0.25 units at a time. Yes, you have to eyeball those in between doses.

With that 76 at +4 tonight, I'm a little worried he might go under 68 again. Can you test again later or at least leave him out some food so he can keep himself safe?

When a cat goes into lower numbers, even just numbers lower than they are used to, they do something we call a bounce, definition here:
  • Bouncing is simply a natural reaction to what the cat's system perceives as a BG value that is "too low". "Too low" is relative. If a cat is used to BGs in the 200's, 300's, or higher for a long time, then even a BG that drops to 150 can trigger a "bounce". Bouncing can also be triggered if the blood glucose drops too low and/or too fast.The pancreas, then the liver, release glucogon, glycogen and counter-regulatory hormones. The end result is a dumping of "sugar" into the bloodstream to save the cat from going hypoglycemic from a perceived low. The action is often referred to as "liver panic" or "panicky liver". *Usually*, a bounce will clear kitty's system within 3 days (6 cycles).
Click to expand...
Bowie is doing well on Lantus, you just have him on too high a dose. Typically we tell people to give it six months before deciding to change insulin types. Insulin is a hormone, his body is still learning how to use it properly.

You manage steep drops by first figuring out when the insulin onset happens(starts to lower his blood sugar numbers). It looks like it's around +2 or earlier. Once you know when he might do the steep drops, you feed small meals to try to slow down the drops. You might want to try to divide his meals into smaller ones. Maybe start with a meal at shot time, one at +1 and one at +2 to start, and see how that goes for him.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Hello and welcome to you and Bowie.

If he goes under 68 on the Alphatrak, like he did on the 22nd, the dose is too high. You need to lower the dose to 1.75 units. The increase from 1.5 to 2.0 units was too big a jump. Here we make changes by 0.25 units at a time. Yes, you have to eyeball those in between doses.

With that 76 at +4 tonight, I'm a little worried he might go under 68 again. Can you test again later or at least leave him out some food so he can keep himself safe?

When a cat goes into lower numbers, even just numbers lower than they are used to, they do something we call a bounce, definition here:

Bowie is doing well on Lantus, you just have him on too high a dose. Typically we tell people to give it six months before deciding to change insulin types. Insulin is a hormone, his body is still learning how to use it properly.

You manage steep drops by first figuring out when the insulin onset happens(starts to lower his blood sugar numbers). It looks like it's around +2 or earlier. Once you know when he might do the steep drops, you feed small meals to try to slow down the drops. You might want to try to divide his meals into smaller ones. Maybe start with a meal at shot time, one at +1 and one at +2 to start, and see how that goes for him.
Click to expand...
Hi Wendy and Neko-

Thanks for the reply. I forgot about the bounce effect. That makes sense why he bounced back so high. We have been doing what you said, feed him on the +1 & +2 and even left food out overnight just in case.

Thank you for the insight on waiting 6 months before changing insulin types. This has been super helpful!

Best,

Bowie and Co.
 
hey, mine uses lantus as well & it def takes a while for the body to adjust to both the buildup of the insulin & dose changes. this post was from when mine was first diagnosed. you can look at how much the BG swings-

**HELP** Low numbers 63 & 55

that was 10 months ago. he's down to a dosage of 0.5u these days. be patient & you'll be fine!
 
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