Gave insulin when too low

Status
Not open for further replies.
C

cici2024

Member Since 2024
Hi there, we are new to the forum and newly diagnosed (diabetes and stage 3 kidney disease). Just started our cat, Turkey, on Lantus 1u this morning. It was time for his next dose 12 hours later, and I tested his numbers beforehand but then dosed him and learned afterwards he was probably too low to dose.
I haven’t done a spreadsheet yet but have been tracking on my notes app:

2/19 (Feb. 19)

6:44am 485
6:56am Insulin injection
6:54pm 122
7:00pm Insulin injection
7:17pm 117
7:32pm 107
7:34pm Rubbed a bit of Honey on gums
7:56pm 106
7:58pm Rubbed a bit of honey on guns
8:20pm 98
8:21pm more honey than before
8:41pm 106
8:42pm more honey
8:55pm ate some FF tuna flaked, making some noise being spunky and grooming himself, alert
9:05pm 114 (hooray)
9:29pm 133 (ok good bc will try to go back down farther to go; no food eaten in between these past two readings)
9:58pm 129 (sleeping; no food, etc.)
10:15pm ate some Fancy feast flaked tuna
11:02pm 129


will test again 15 minutes (*EDIT: updated above) after the honey which will be in 5 minutes. It’s my understanding that I should keep trying to get his numbers up (testing every half hour) and staying up over the next 12-24 hours with honey (what I have on hand) and get him eating more (I gave him appetite stimulant on ear) and watch for any symptoms of hypoglycemia and go to vet if we see any.

More background: Our vet said to give 2u every 12 hours and not to test numbers at home and just give insulin as instructed. Thankfully, through the support of the FDIN group and I have been learning better and started with 1u. However, I still made this mistake :-(

i called the vet after realizing he was probably too low to be given insulin and they said just to watch for signs wouldn’t give a number or things to do and to bring him in if displays any.

thank you for your support I feel so stupid, stressed and scared right now. Missing work even though we can’t afford it to obviously stay home with him and make sure he will be okay. If I have to pay for our motel room late and get admonished or whatever then so be it. I’ll work even more hours miss kiddo’s baseball games whatever I need to do. It’ll all work out just need him to be okay. I’m talking outloud sorry I’m a planner and my brain is trying to cope. thank you again. Trying to breathe. Will keep this thread updated with his numbers.
 
Last edited:
PMPS (112 @AMPS +11.75) 1 unit
+.25 117
+.5 107 (bit of honey)
+1 106 (bit of honey)
+1.3 98 (bit of honey)

It's still early in the cycle though. Turkey is not in any danger so far. You are doing a great job.

Any more tests?

Are you using a pet or a human glucometer?

What does Turkey eat normally?

I'm on my way to bed and can't stay up. I'll tag a few late night people for you.
@tiffmaxee
@Wendy&Neko
@Chris & China (GA)
@Bandit's Mom
@Diane Tyler's Mom
 
Red & Rover (GA) said:
PMPS (112 @AMPS +11.75) 1 unit
+.25 117
+.5 107 (bit of honey)
+1 106 (bit of honey)
+1.3 98 (bit of honey)

It's still early in the cycle though. Turkey is not in any danger so far. You are doing a great job.

Any more tests?

Are you using a pet or a human glucometer?

What does Turkey eat normally?

I'm on my way to bed and can't stay up. I'll tag a few late night people for you.
@tiffmaxee
@Wendy&Neko
@Chris & China (GA)
@Bandit's Mom
@Diane Tyler's Mom
Click to expand...

Thank you so much!! Trying to keep him from tanking down to the 80’s etc. as he dropped sooo much from his first dose I’m nervous about that happening. He’s snacking on some food and more alert now, was kind of closing his eyes a bit before and making me nervous. Due to test him again in a couple minutes will keep it updated

ps sorry for the lack of proper formatting, will be learning even about all of this quickly this week. Was woozy yesterday and today from accidentally dosing myself with his appetite stimulant ointment otherwise would be further ahead on learning all of this and scouring the forum more.
 
Red & Rover (GA) said:
PMPS (112 @AMPS +11.75) 1 unit
+.25 117
+.5 107 (bit of honey)
+1 106 (bit of honey)
+1.3 98 (bit of honey)

It's still early in the cycle though. Turkey is not in any danger so far. You are doing a great job.

Any more tests?

Are you using a pet or a human glucometer?

What does Turkey eat normally?

I'm on my way to bed and can't stay up. I'll tag a few late night people for you.
@tiffmaxee
@Wendy&Neko
@Chris & China (GA)
@Bandit's Mom
@Diane Tyler's Mom
Click to expand...

Oh and it’s a human glucose meter the Relion Premier ‘Compact’ (which came with lancets, test strips etc.)

and I don’t mean to make anyone stay up with me. Please everyone get your sleep! We will be okay one way or another. I appreciate the support regardless and posting here just makes me feel like I’m being more useful than I feel right now if that makes sense.

edit to add he normally eats canned FF fancy ‘feast flaked’ now since he hates the consistency of the FF classic pate so one step at a time. And he always eats it with water added.

He was eating Orijen original cat before (dry food) before we found out about all of this being a potential issue a couple weeks ago. Made some big changes quickly. Will do an intro post after all of this sorry I first joined the Facebook group and intro’d our issues there, and then made an account here but things have been happening so quickly.
 
Last edited:
Hi and welcome to FDMB. I'm in India and it's 11:18am, here so I can stay with you. :-)

I can also help set up your spreadsheet and signature. Shall I do that?

Btw, do you have any more tests?
 
Bandit's Mom said:
Hi and welcome to FDMB. I'm in India and it's 11:18am, here so I can stay with you. :)

I can also help set up your spreadsheet and signature. Shall I do that?

Btw, do you have any more tests?
Click to expand...
Oh my gosh that would be amazing thank you so much!!!
 
Bandit's Mom said:
Hi and welcome to FDMB. I'm in India and it's 11:18am, here so I can stay with you. :)

I can also help set up your spreadsheet and signature. Shall I do that?

Btw, do you have any more tests?
Click to expand...
These are all my tests so far. We are brand new. Just got the glucose tester, insulin and everything and just started with all of this although switched his food probably a week ago or so as soon as I learned about the potential diabetes and what to feed/not feed.

2/19 (Feb. 19)

6:44am 485
6:56am Insulin injection
6:54pm 122
7:00pm Insulin injection
7:17pm 117
7:32pm 107
7:34pm Rubbed a bit of Honey on gums
7:56pm 106
7:58pm Rubbed a bit of honey on guns
8:20pm 98
8:21pm more honey than before
8:41pm 106
8:42pm more honey
8:55pm ate some FF tuna flaked, making some noise being spunky and grooming himself, alert
9:05pm 114 (hooray)
9:29pm 133 (ok good bc will try to go back down farther to go; no food eaten in between these past two readings)
9:58pm 129 (sleeping; no food, etc.)
 
So it's now 3 hours since his PM shot? I think you can go easy on the honey and high carb food for now. Can you get a test in an hour?

Will send you a PM with the details I need to set up your spreadsheet and signature. Look for it in the Inbox at the top right corner of this page.
 
Bandit's Mom said:
Hi and welcome to FDMB. I'm in India and it's 11:18am, here so I can stay with you. :)

I can also help set up your spreadsheet and signature. Shall I do that?

Btw, do you have any more tests?
Click to expand...

Sorry for the multiple replies. For the signature, I’m reading yours and can give you the info for mine? Looks like mine would say something like the following:

Mom: Colleen | Kitty: Turkey | 11-12 years | Male | 14 lbs. | DX: 17-Feb-2024 | Human meter | Lantus | 1u every 12 hours, for now | CKD Stage III | Trace ketones | From USA
 
Bandit's Mom said:
So it's now 3 hours since his PM shot? I think you can go easy on the honey and high carb food for now. Can you get a test in an hour?

Will send you a PM with the details I need to set up your spreadsheet and signature. Look for it in the Inbox at the top right corner of this page.
Click to expand...

Will do! That’s what I was thinking as well. His numbers are up for now. Will definitely do that thank you so much.

Ok sounds good thank you!
 
cici2024 said:
Mom: Colleen | Kitty: Turkey | 11-12 years | Male | 14 lbs. | DX: 17-Feb-2024 | Human meter | Lantus | 1u every 12 hours, for now | CKD Stage III | Trace ketones | From USA
Click to expand...
Great! Let me tell you how to add this to your Signature.

Go to https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/account/signature
Paste the above info
Click on Save Changes

You want to add the name of the meter (I use more than one), what you are feeding and take off the info on the dose since that keeps changing.
 
When did he stop eating the Orijen dry food? How many days has it been now?

And just wanted to confirm that he hasn't had honey or anything high carb 1.75 hours after his shot?
 
It looks like we switched Jan 31, so 19 days ago. He hasn’t had Orijen in probably about 20 days he just all of a sudden stopped eating and drinking on that day, and then I noticed the acetone breath and put it all together.

correct no honey or high carb. Just some FF flaked tuna he got up and ate some about 25 min ago, mostly the water portion but some of the food too.

(it’s my understanding that fancy feast flaked is low carb and okay to give while we work on transitioning to fancy feast classic pate. Chewy.com says it’s 1.9% carb. Hope that’s accurate.)
 
Bandit's Mom said:
When did he stop eating the Orijen dry food? How many days has it been now?

And just wanted to confirm that he hasn't had honey or anything high carb 1.75 hours after his shot?
Click to expand...

Just did the +4 and he’s still at 129. Updated the spreadsheet too with this updated test. Thank you for walking me through all of this. ❤️
 
cici2024 said:
(it’s my understanding that fancy feast flaked is low carb and okay to give while we work on transitioning to fancy feast classic pate. Chewy.com says it’s 1.9% carb. Hope that’s accurate.)
Click to expand...
Yes. FF flaked is LC :-)


cici2024 said:
Just did the +4 and he’s still at 129. Updated the spreadsheet too with this updated test.
Click to expand...
If it's been 2 hours since he had honey, you're good for the night.


I think you want to go down to 0.5U from tomorrow.
 
Bandit's Mom said:
Yes. FF flaked is LC :)



If it's been 2 hours since he had honey, you're good for the night.


I think you want to go down to 0.5U from tomorrow.
Click to expand...
Oh whew! So his glucose won’t tank at this point? (Just tested again +5 at 133) I am crying happy tears. Hopefully we have made it through this now. I have been learning so much - thank you.

I’ll definitely plan on 0.5U for tomorrow. Is there a pre-injection test number that you’d decide to just skip the dose altogether? Trying to avoid this type of scare again! Thank you again.
 
Bandit's Mom said:
Yes. FF flaked is LC :)



If it's been 2 hours since he had honey, you're good for the night.


I think you want to go down to 0.5U from tomorrow.
Click to expand...

I’ve been reading a lot on the Lantus forum just now and feel so much better equipped. I read about the curve and how he should be out of the thick of it now. Thank you so much again for everything. You all are amazing souls! Turkey is grooming himself & seems to be doing just fine now. Thank you for your help!
 
cici2024 said:
So his glucose won’t tank at this point? (Just tested again +5 at 133)
Click to expand...
Yes, he should be okay. Lantus nadirs typically around +4 although it can be sooner or later for some cats. Honey/HC wears off in 2 hours and he hasn't dropped after.

cici2024 said:
Is there a pre-injection test number that you’d decide to just skip the dose altogether?
Click to expand...
Normally we ask caregivers of newly diagnosed cats not to give insulin if the preshot is less than 200. Once you get more experience and data to understand how your cat responds to insulin, you can shoot any number over 90 with SLGS and over 50 with TR (numbers being on a human meter).

Turkey might just bounce from the lower numbers he saw tonight. If you get a test an hour or half an hour before his shot is due and it's below 200, you could post on the Lantus forum and ask for help :-)
 
Hello and welcome to FDMB to you and sweet Turkey. Nice to see him responding really well to the Lantus so far.

Looks like you might have skipped the shot this morning? If so, could you put either "skip" or "NS" for no shot in the units cell. That way we know it was a deliberate miss and that you didn't just forget to enter the data.

The typical Lantus nadir is more like +6, but can be sooner or later.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top