? Can half a unit of insulin cause hypoglycemia

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Lisaloowho13

Member Since 2023
Harlows numbers have been looking great lately on .5 units of his insulin. These past few days for some reason I’m having a really hard time getting his ear to bleed for his amps and pmps and it’s gotten to the point he’s growling at me and almost scratched my eyeball when he swatted me :( he’s tested as low as 112 amps this week and I skipped the shot then. This morning and evening I was not able to get a pre test. Should I be worried about .05 making him go hypo? I’m sorry if this is a stupid question I’m just worried. I attempted to test again an hour after the shot and he ran from me and won’t come out from under the bed now.
 
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Lisaloowho13 said:
Harlows numbers have been looking great lately on .5 units of his insulin. These past few days for some reason I’m having a really hard time getting his ear to bleed for his amps and pmps and it’s gotten to the point he’s growling at me and almost scratched my eyeball when he swatted me :( he’s tested as low as 112 amps this week and I skipped the shot then. This morning and evening I was not able to get a pre test. Should I be worried about .05 making him go hypo? I’m sorry if this is a stupid question I’m just worried. I attempted to test again an hour after the shot and he ran from me and won’t come out from under the bed now.
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There is a difference between 0.5u which is 1/2 unit and 0.05u which is 5/100 unit. I’m not sure which you are giving. The SS has 0.05u. If he’s on 0.5u, could you please fix his SS as that is a big difference.

But, any dose of insulin can cause a hypo.

You might need to burrito him to test him.
 
As @Marje and Gracie said, any dose of insulin can cause a hypo.

I found with my cats that it was often harder to get blood when their BG was lower, and they tended to bleed easier when BG was higher. Those were the diabetics I tested frequently, so their ears were “used to” bleeding. Because of that, I could often have a pretty good clue what to expect. With a non-diabetic or newly diagnosed cat, it might not be as telling.

Vetsulin can be a pretty harsh insulin for cats. And given you’re using an AT3 meter, you really don’t want to see numbers much under 70 at the lowest point in the cycle. (Normal BG on a pet meter such as an AT3 is usually quoted as 70-130). If you see references to cats dropping down to 50’s on this site, it’s likely because the person is using s human meter, which runs lower than a pet meter, so don’t let that confuse you.

If you’re actually shooting 1/2 (one-half) unit, and if using the SLGS method, I’m curious why perhaps you haven’t reduced dose to 0.25u given that BG has dropped below 90 several times on the current (presumed) half-unit dose??

Also, you are using u-40 insulin syringes, correct?

If the insulin is making the cat’s BG go low or making the cat feel bad, sometimes they’ll correlate the two and hide or become aggressive. That’s why BG testing is so important.
 
JL and Chip said:
As @Marje and Gracie said, any dose of insulin can cause a hypo.

I found with my cats that it was often harder to get blood when their BG was lower, and they tended to bleed easier when BG was higher. Those were the diabetics I tested frequently, so their ears were “used to” bleeding. Because of that, I could often have a pretty good clue what to expect. With a non-diabetic or newly diagnosed cat, it might not be as telling.

Vetsulin can be a pretty harsh insulin for cats. And given you’re using an AT3 meter, you really don’t want to see numbers much under 70 at the lowest point in the cycle. (Normal BG on a pet meter such as an AT3 is usually quoted as 70-130). If you see references to cats dropping down to 50’s on this site, it’s likely because the person is using s human meter, which runs lower than a pet meter, so don’t let that confuse you.

If you’re actually shooting 1/2 (one-half) unit, and if using the SLGS method, I’m curious why perhaps you haven’t reduced dose to 0.25u given that BG has dropped below 90 several times on the current (presumed) half-unit dose??

Also, you are using u-40 insulin syringes, correct?

If the insulin is making the cat’s BG go low or making the cat feel bad, sometimes they’ll correlate the two and hide or become aggressive. That’s why BG testing is so important.
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Yes I'm shooting 1/2 unit. Sorry about the mix up. I haven't gone down to .25 because he has a vet pen and its not an option on his pen. I'm calling the vet this morning to ask if I can get syringes to use. The vet told me if he keeps testing in the low 100's he wont need insulin, but from everything I've learned on here he needs to be consistently in green before considering not using insulin anymore. He tested 110 mg/dl this morning so I'm going to skip and retest midday, and before his pmps and use .25 dose. I also saw I can get the syringes on amazon if my vet doesn't have them
 
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