My 16 year old cat was recently diagnosed with diabetes, need advice please.

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syringes 100U/ml 3/10ml 1/2" or less length syringes. The higher the gauge number the thinner the needle.

If you are sweet to the pharmacist, they might be able to give you a baggie of syringes for free - my pharmacists does this often when I'm between orders, and she feels bad I spend $$$ on the cat.
 
Here's the info on the syringes you will need for the Novolin N / NPH:

Chris & China said:
Novolin is a U100 insulin so I'd say the Relion 3/10ml, 3o or 31 gauge, 8mm U100 insulin syringes would be fine
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- Get the ones with half-unit markings.

Make sure you have plenty of test strips for your BG meter.

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Ask them for the ones with 1/2 unit markings. The Walmart pharmacy people often don't know they have them, but ask them to look. The 1/2 unit marks just help to fine tune the dose. They should be around $12.58 for 100. You can use them for the Lantus insulin when you get it, too.
 
My help with dosing Novolin-N would be limited to my knowledge of this insulin in humans. I've never used it in cats. I feel that starting at a negligible dose (less than 1/2 unit, or about 1/4 unit three times a day) and working up would be safe. Three times a day dosing would be preferable to prevent steep drops and to provide full day coverage with this insulin.

Off topic - novolin-N is actually a slightly better insulin to use in this situation because it won't have as much potassium lowering effect as lantus does.
 
Where I live we need a prescription for syringes. I guess and hope she does not in her state.
 
I'm back from walmart. I got novolinN, syringes, fancy feast gravy lovers, and honey. We are going to test her glucose in a minute to see where it is. I will post that in just a few minutes. I can be about 2 hours late for work tonight which gives us about 2 hours from now since right now is when I should be leaving, after that Dan is going to be on his own until I get home around 3:30am so I need to know what we need to do right now. Do we start with a very small dose of insulin right after we test the sugar? How long after insulin should we retest? Sorry I feel this post is frazzled, but that's because I am right now.
 
(((Heather)))

The post's just fine, Heather. You are doing amazingly well in very stressful circumstances. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply - it does help - then lets do one step at a time.

- Test Mittens' BG and post the result.

- How long is it since Mittens had food and roughly how much did she eat?

- Have you given Mittens the mirtazapine yet?

NB - you will need to give Mittens some food and wait a little before giving any insulin.

.
 
Ok, testing now. Thank you everyone so much, I cannot express how helpful you have been thru all of this craziness. I know for a fact I would not be able to get thru this without you
 
Her BS is 389, she ate about an hour and a half ago, so now we will feed her again. She is fighting us every time we do it now but we will get as much in her as possible

No we did not give her the mirtazapine yet
 
Ok we just fed her again. She has retreated behind the couch again, she hasn't been staying there for too long. So I should give her that mirtazapine as soon as I can? I will do it when she comes out.
 
I can't think of any interactions with low K and mirtazapine, other than heart arrythmias, but that's a risk with the low potassium either way. It might make kitty a little lethargic or goofy especially at first. I really wouldn't worry too much about starting it now or starting it in a day or two. Likely, she will still need to be syringe fed for a few days until other things are fixed, so it's not priority.
 
NPH insulin onset is about 1-2 hours, peak 2-6 hours and duration 8-10 hours give or take with some residual effect up to 20 hours. Insulin metabolism is faster in cats. So for your initial couple doses I would test at +2, +4, +8 in each cycle at the minimum. Does anyone have a copy of the spreadsheet for 3 times a day dosing?
 
Please notice that 0.5 unit dose, if that is what you are going to give, is the very first black little line on the syringe. I am going to try to find some pictures for you.
 
Here's a picture of 0.25 dose
upload_2016-12-23_19-34-13.png

If you shoot 0.25 then see above, if you shoot 0.5 then measure down just a little bit to the first small line.
 
We filled the syringe to 10ml we probably got half maybe a little more actually into her because she's fighting it. I'm worried right now because I'm down to the wire, I have got to leave for work in about half an hour and Dan has been up all last night and today, I dont think he's going to be able to stay up long enough to check her sugar and monitor her while I'm at work. So I dont know if we should do the insulin with nobody to watch her closely. I wish it was tomorrow, I have the day off and can spend all of it with her. What do you think I should do because he's not going to be able to stay awake?
 
Dan&Heather said:
We filled the syringe to 10ml we probably got half maybe a little more actually into her
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Please say you did NOT fill it to the 10 line out of a possible 30

You should have given less than 1 unit....1 unit is the 2nd line on the syringe (not counting the "zero" line)

Or did you mean you got about 5ml of FOOD into her?
 
Can he set an alarm for 2 hours from now? It's just that she really needs the food, the insulin, and to fight that infection.
 
Dan&Heather said:
We filled the syringe to 10ml we probably got half maybe a little more actually into her because she's fighting it.
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IMPORTANT!

Heather, please confirm straight away that this is a 10ml syringe of FOOD!

Please confirm that you have NOT given any insulin.
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This may not be perfect math, but this is the formula I used to use for J.D. to figure out how many calories he was getting.
upload_2016-12-23_19-54-46.png

I often had to give 3 or 4 syringes in the wee hours of the morning, wait an hour, and give another 3 or 4, then go to work. I would feed another 3 or 4 when I got home from work, and another 3 or 4 before I went to bed.
I figured my syringes had about 16 calories each. Maybe my math was wrong.
Anyway, I have to log off for an hour or so.
 
Chris & China said:
Please say you did NOT fill it to the 10 line out of a possible 30

You should have given less than 1 unit....1 unit is the 2nd line on the syringe (not counting the "zero" line)

Or did you mean you got about 5ml of FOOD into her?
Click to expand...

Yes just food, we didnt give any insulin yet.
 
I hate not to start her on insulin since she's still showing "Small" ketones (according to the testing done today at the vet) but she's going to also need more food

Will your husband wake up to an alarm? Or could you call him from work to make sure he wakes up to test?
 
He's decided he's going to stay up with her. How much insulin should we give to her. He swears he can stay up and watch her
 
Dan&Heather said:
oh my god, I'm sorry, yes it was food
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No apology needed....we've just seen it happen before where people thought they were giving X when they actually gave Y

Do you have an idea of how much she weighs?

With her not eating very well, I think I'd start with .5....that's the first tiny line on the syringes after the "zero" line...if you got the Relion 3/10ml syringes
 
Ok, will start with .5 right now. The post above said test her sugar at 2 hrs 4hrs and 8 hrs. Is that correct? Dan said he will stay awake to do it
 
Dan&Heather said:
The post above said test her sugar at 2 hrs 4hrs and 8 hrs. Is that correct?
Click to expand...

It's really too early to say for sure.....it will depend on how she responds....it's possible you may have to test more often but it's also possible he'll be able to go to bed earlier

It's a good place to start though if she stays safe....it's good to get that later test in just to see how long the insulin is lasting in her but it may not be necessary tonight

Will he wake up to an alarm if he takes a nap? Or can you call him from work to make sure he's up?
 
- Pull up the scruff to form the tent.

- Make sure the bevel on the syringe needle is facing upwards (rotate it under a good light to see the bevel).

- Insert the needle into the tent at a 45 degree angle.

- Press the plunger to deliver the insulin.

- Withdraw the needle.

- RECORD THE EXACT TIME THE INSULIN DOSE WAS GIVEN.

(You need to refer to this time for testing, etc.)

.
 
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