Would love some advice on insulin dosage. Obviously what were at is too high. Wondering what I should do about tonight. I'll test him before the insulin shot but is there any specific number where you'd suggest I skip the dose?
Hi Stephanie, I'm copying info that I posted on your FB thread; ....The current insulin dose is definitely TOO HIGH. That low number that you got makes that very clear indeed...
From FB:
"...On FDMB we generally recommend that Caninsulin users who are new to dealing with diabetes (or who don't have a lot of blood test data) aim to not let their cat's blood glucose drop below around 5 - 5.6 mmol as measured on a human glucose meter. That's because Caninsulin can drop the blood glucose very sharply in some cats; and aiming to not let the blood glucose drop below that level gives some buffer of safety while you're getting comfortable with testing, and are gathering data about how your cat responds to insulin (and truly, 'Every Cat Is Different'
).
...FDMB generally recommend to 'newcomers' (or those will little blood testing data) that no insulin is given if the 'pre-shot' blood glucose is below 11 mmol (220 mg/dL). Again, this is an initial safety measure. Once a caregiver has data showing how their own cat responds, this threshold is 'usually' lowered
[but not always] "
- - - - -
Well done for today, Stephanie! That must have been quite a stressful experience. (((Hugs)))
That dose today caused your kitty's blood glucose to drop too low.
Of course, we don't know what the 'pre-shot' blood glucose level was, so we don't know
how much or
how fast the blood glucose dropped; we only know that the result was blood glucose that was way too low.
The data shows that the insulin dose
does need to be reduced.
What you reduce it to depends, in part, on how well you can monitor your kitty's blood glucose after you give the shot.
I'd suggest that you only give insulin if your kitty's blood glucose prior to the shot is above 11 mmol (200 mg/dL); and I suggest you reduce the current 2 unit dose by half, to
one unit only. And further, I'd advise only giving insulin on this occasion if you are able to monitor the blood glucose during the first half of the insulin cycle, and to take any action that may be needed to raise it if it drops too low.
You
may well find that the pre-shot blood glucose is high; because that low blood glucose today may have triggered your kitty's body into releasing stored glycogen into the system in order to raise the blood glucose level. This kind of response is quite common. But don't let a high pre-shot number fool you into still giving 2 units. Do keep to the reduced dose. Any high numbers will soon settle out.
This is just my suggestion. Others may have different views.
Again, well done for today.
Eliz
