Henry’s sugars dipping to 40s and below

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Henry’s Mom

Henry’s Mom

Member Since 2022
Hi there, we decreased Henry’s Vetsulin starting this morning to 0.75U due to the low dips caused by the insulin. After both doses Henry’s sugar went way low (40s and below). Rubbed Karo syrup and gave high carb treats. Should I give him his AM insulin at this point?

I left his vet two messages today as an fyi regarding the above; they were closed today and back in tomorrow so I’ll call first thing but that’s not til 2 hours after Henry is due for his AM insulin.

Thank you and apologies if this doesn’t warrant a 911-post. Thank you!
 
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When you are using vetsulin, if you get a BG under 90 you reduce the dose. It looks as if he has dropped to 40 and 45 in the am and pm cycle.
Please reduce the dose down to 0.5 units in the morning providing the BG is high enough and you can monitor the cycle closely.
If you are unsure, please stall, don’t feed and post and ask for help.
In the meantime, please keep testing the BG for the next few hours to see he does not drop back down low after the Karo and high carb treats wear off. I will watch for your posts re the BGs.
I will tag @FrostD re the dose moving forward as I am not a vetsulin user.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
When you are using vetsulin, if you get a BG under 90 you reduce the dose. It looks as if he has dropped to 40 and 45 in the am and pm cycle.
Please reduce the dose down to 0.5 units in the morning providing the BG is high enough and you can monitor the cycle closely.
If you are unsure, please stall, don’t feed and post and ask for help.
In the meantime, please keep testing the BG for the next few hours to see he does not drop back down low after the Karo and high carb treats wear off. I will watch for your posts re the BGs.
I will tag @FrostD re the dose moving forward as I am not a vetsulin user.
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Thank you very much!! Right now his sugar’s back up to 224 but going to try to stay up at least another hour or two to get more readings. When you say “providing the BG is high enough” - what number would be high enough? In the 200s or 300s? (Hope this doesn’t come off as sarcastic… I really don’t know ). I’ll be able to monitor closely tomorrow.
 
I see in the SS remarks column you have said Henry dropped under 40. Can you put that number into the Ss itself please so we can see how low he dropped.
I think I would drop the dose to 0.25U in the morning and until you hear from @FrostD re the dose moving forward, just to be safe.


Henry’s Mom said:
When you say “providing the BG is high enough” - what number would be high enough? In the 200s or 300s? (Hope this doesn’t come off as sarcastic… I really don’t know ). I’ll be able to monitor closely tomorrow.
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Good question. I would use 200- 220 as a guide to stall, don’t feed and ask for help as we don’t have a lot of data.
Routinely are you testing, feeding then waiting 30 minutes before giving the insulin?
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
I see in the SS remarks column you have said Henry dropped under 40. Can you put that number into the Ss itself please so we can see how low he dropped.
I think I would drop the dose to 0.25U in the morning and until you hear from @FrostD re the dose moving forward, just to be safe.



Good question. I would use 200- 220 as a guide to stall, don’t feed and ask for help as we don’t have a lot of data.
Routinely are you testing, feeding then waiting 30 minutes before giving the insulin?
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Hi again, unfortunately he’s on a freestyle Libre and “LO” is anything under 40 (and we do not have his handheld glucometer yet)…and thank you re: 0.25U will probably follow that unless FrostD has more recommendations. Noted on the 200-220 as well. And yes, test, feed, wait half an hour, and then give the insulin.
 
Henry’s Mom said:
again, unfortunately he’s on a freestyle Libre and “LO” is anything under 40 (and we do not have his handheld glucometer yet
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Ok, then maybe pop LO into the SS. We find sometimes that the freestyle libre is not terribly reliable when it gets to lower numbers (under around 60 or 70) and if the caregiver has a handheld monitor it’s a good idea to double check with those. However that isn’t possible yet for you.
Would you mind taking down the 911 now that we have answered it please. You did the right thing…the 911 is for under 50 numbers and other emergencies. Once answered and resolved we like you to take it down so that if you put it up again we know you need more help.
I will keep an eye out for the next BG,:)
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Ok, then maybe pop LO into the SS. We find sometimes that the freestyle libre is not terribly reliable when it gets to lower numbers (under around 60 or 70) and if the caregiver has a handheld monitor it’s a good idea to double check with those. However that isn’t possible yet for you.
Would you mind taking down the 911 now that we have answered it please. You did the right thing…the 911 is for under 50 numbers and other emergencies. Once answered and resolved we like you to take it down so that if you put it up again we know you need more help.
I will keep an eye out for the next BG,:)
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Thank you soooooo much. Hugs from me and Henry!
 
FrostD said:
Yes I agree with Bron - 0.25U is new dose. When they go that far under the reduction point, we usually take a slightly bigger reduction. As she mentioned, you may find the Libre isn't accurate...but until you can double check with a handheld meter it's safety first.
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Thank you very much. The vet called early this morning and recommended 0.50. We gave 0.50 both times today and he still went down to 58 at which point I gave him treats and karo again. Tomorrow I will go to 0.25U. I’m feeling a bit down (also frustrated, scared) that we can’t get his sugar regulated. And super concerned that his previous vet started him off at 2U without monitoring. Henry is coming up on 2 months on insulin on 12/31 and feel like I haven’t done enough to get him regulated.

Thankful for this forum. Apologies for the vent!
 
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He started going up after the treats and syrup and just checked again and it’s going back down. I’ll just keep monitoring.
 
Don’t be discouraged. Henry is actually doing really well for a newly diagnosed kitty.
It can often take a lot longe than a few months to get a cat regulated, so don’t worry.
He is needing less insulin so that is a good sign. Just keep following the advice here.
 
Kay -
Looking at last night's numbers, I'd encourage you to give Bron's suggestion of dropping the dose to 0.25u a second thought. You're doing a phenomenal job of managing a very tricky insulin. You're seeing how quickly Vetsulin can drop numbers. You're also seeing how those low numbers are causing Henry to bounce into the 400s. Lowering the dose should make it a bit less "exciting" for you and give Henry a chance to get used to those blue and green numbers.
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
Kay -
Looking at last night's numbers, I'd encourage you to give Bron's suggestion of dropping the dose to 0.25u a second thought. You're doing a phenomenal job of managing a very tricky insulin. You're seeing how quickly Vetsulin can drop numbers. You're also seeing how those low numbers are causing Henry to bounce into the 400s. Lowering the dose should make it a bit less "exciting" for you and give Henry a chance to get used to those blue and green numbers.
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Hi there, thank you for checking in! I started on Henry 0.25U this morning. Hoping to see some more blue and green :) at least until I can get him on a different insulin that might work better for him. Thank you again :bighug:
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Have you considered asking your vet about switching to a different insulin? Vetsulin is very harsh in cats and can drop them hard and fast (as you have seen.)
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Hi there! Yes, we discussed it with his vet and she wanted to see if he reacts better to Vetsulin on a lower dosage first. Henry currently has the freestyle libre on to get an idea of his #s… but based on the #s I am really going to advocate for a change in insulin at his next appointment (next week). Really been frustrated with the Vetsulin as he drops so hard and fast as others have experienced.
 
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