How quickly to increase insulin

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Jill R

Jill R

Member Since 2022
Hi I'm Jill, my cat is Toots, he's 14 and has had diabetes since June 2022. He was pretty well controlled on 3 units of glargine/lantus twice a day but in December 2023 he was diagnosed with pancreatitis and lost weight rapidly. The 3 units was too much for him and he went hypo (glucose was 23!) in early Feb and had seizures and needed to be rushed to the ER and be hospitalized. He recovered quickly and they reduced his insulin to 1 unit twice a day. We saw his regular vet the next day and she agreed we should keep it there for now (I had gotten several readings in the 130-150 range over the past couple days so that seemed reasonable).

Well about 3 weeks later he started getting very very thirsty and very hungry again just like when he first got diabetes so I tested his urine (we use the pellet litter which makes that easy) and it showed low glucose so I was stumped. I did a blood glucose Friday night though and it was 484! I gave him 2 units with dinner that night and the next two days he's been testing in the high 300s. He is still hungry and thirsty. Should it take a while for his sugar to come down again? Clearly 3 units was too much but 2 units doesn't seem to be quite enough. No ketones in his urine fortunately but I am worried about him.

Thanks for your help!
 
Do you have insulin syringes with half unit markings? Sometimes cats need half or even quarter unit doses. It's hard to measure those doses with a whole unit syringe.

Your spreadsheet hasn't been updated since 2022. Do you have any recent blood glucose levels to put in the spreadsheet?
 
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squeem3 said:
With Lantus, you hold a dose for at least a week before making any changes. Do you have insulin syringes with half unit markings? Sometimes cats need half or even quarter unit doses. It's hard to measure those doses with a whole unit syringe.

Your spreadsheet hasn't been updated since 2022. Do you have any recent blood glucose levels to put in the spreadsheet?
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I was just trying to figure out how to update it or find the instructions on how to update it but could not. I don't have syringes with half markings, I had trouble just finding his syringes, diabetic supplies in general have been in short supply in my area. Yes I can imagine a half or a quarter being extremely tough!

Thank you for your response!
 
If you have a Walmart nearby, you can look for these:
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Jill R said:
I was just trying to figure out how to update it or find the instructions on how to update it but could not.
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You'll need to log into Google Drive to be able to edit your spreadsheet.

If you're in the US, you may be able to buy insulin syringes online without a prescription. It depends on what your state law is. American Diabetes Warehouse is popular web site for all diabetic supplies. I know Chewy sells insulin syringes but only the pet / veterinary ones which tend to be a little more pricier than Human brands of insulin syringes. Amazon sells insulin syringes as well but probably through third party sellers.
 
Just an FYI --
There is no difference in a human and pet insulin syringe. A U100 syringe is the same regardless of what species is getting the injection.

If you just changed the dose of Lantus, you won't see a response for several cycles. Lantus is a depot type of insulin. When you change the dose, it takes a few cycles for the depot to "catch up" with the new dose.

I may be misinterpreting but from your post, it sounds like you have been holding Toots' dose for a long time. We encourage members here to home test several times a day both to ensure that it's safe to give a dose of insulin and whether the dose is dropping your cat into numbers that require the dose to be either increased or decreased. You may want to take a look at the sticky notes at the top of the Lantus forum. They provide a great deal of information about how Lantus works as well as th dosing methods we use.
 
I just looked at your spreadsheet. Are you giving insulin in the mornings only or you just didn’t record it? You really want to give the same dose every 12 hours since the insulin only lasts 12 hours.
 
Red & Rover (GA) said:
That the 2022 spreadsheet.

Tagging @Marje and Gracie @Bandit's Mom for help adding a year to current spreadsheet or setting up a new spreadsheet.
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Thanks, Kel.

@Jill R I’ll send you a private message so I can get editing rights and update the SS for you. Please check your inbox.

squeem3 said:
With Lantus, you hold a dose for at least a week before making any changes.
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It’s really important that you quality this as we have many members who lurk, read, don’t post. The correct advice is that if she is still doing SLGS, doses are held for a week unless the BG drops below 90. In addition, that goes for any insulin with SLGS, not just Lantus. Thank you :)
 
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