Sliding scale using vetsulin

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

ted by Mamakin, Nov 7, 2018.

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1. 
   Mamakin
   Joined:
   Sep 21, 2018. Hi everyone, does anyone using vetsulin follow this sliding scale, my vet gave me this to go by
   Hi ewveryone I just started to home test finally, right now I have been giving Tyler 4 units. I went to the vet last night so she could show me how to prick the ear. I got it first try. So this is what she told me about adjusting the insulin. She wrote out. If greater than 220 increase by 0.5 units. If 100-220 do not change the dose. If 80-100 decrease by 0.5 units. If 60-79 decrease by one unit. If less than 60 skip dose. She told me that I would go by what his last dose was,trying to explain this lol .So he was at 4 units, I did the test this morning and his BG was 240 so by doing what she told me I increased it by 0.5 units, so I gave him 4.05 units. Now when I do it tonight I would go by his last dose which was 4.05 units and see what his BG is tonight and then adjust it accordingly. Does this seem right to all of you .Thanks

 

[Kris & Teasel]

Answered on your other thread.

 

[Kris & Teasel]

So he was at 4 units, I did the test this morning and his BG was 240 so by doing what she told me I increased it by 0.5 units, so I gave him 4.05 units.

I think you mean 4.5 u? We look at the pre shot numbers (all food withheld for 2 hours before so they're not food influenced) merely to see if they're high enough to give the planned dose safely. It's the low numbers at peak insulin action (generally around 4 to 6 hours after the shot for Vetsulin) that carry the most weight in assessing a dose. If those numbers are nearing 68 (or lower) on a pet meter, that's too low and a 0.25 u dose reduction is called for. If they're in the the high double digits to low 100s, that's ideal. If they're in the 200s or higher the dose is too low.

It's very possible with Vetsulin to have a high pre shot BG and then kitty dives into very low levels. Without some BG testing in that middle cycle range you'd have no idea. You might even have increased the dose as per vet instructions and it would be even worse. That's the basis on which the Vetsulin guidelines in the yellow sticky are framed.

The violent ups and downs can be from a phenomenon called "bouncing". Here's something I wrote a while ago to explain it:

1. BG goes low OR lower than usual OR drops too quickly.
2. Kitty's body panics and thinks there's danger (OMG! My BG is too low!).
3. Complex physiologic processes take glycogen stored in the liver (I think of it as "bounce fuel"), convert it to glucose and dump it into the bloodstream to counteract the perceived dangerously low BG.
4. These processes go into overdrive in kitties who are bounce prone and keep the BG propped up varying lengths of time (AKA bouncing).
5. Bounce prone kitty repeats this until his body learns that healthy low numbers are safe. Some kitties are slow learners.
6. Too high a dose of insulin can keep them bouncing over and over until the " bounce fuel" runs out and they crash - ie., have a hypo episode. That's why we worry so much about kitties that have had too high a starting dose prescribed by the vet and the owner isn't home testing.