Changing insulins

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Victoria & Buttons

Victoria & Buttons

Member Since 2012
As I was talking to members in the main forum, one suggested I post in here. Im planning on changing my baby off of Caninsulin. Right now her dose is 2 UI morning and night. Her sugars are just too high and the insulin doesnt seem to be for her. My dad is a diabetic as well, and currently uses Levemir. I would like to try that, as its covered under his insurance and would save me some money.

I also posted in the Caninsulin forum too. What would you recommend our starting dose be? Is the pen better or syringes? My dad has the 3 mL pen refills in the fridge.

Thank you!
 
I just priced both, and from a longevity standpoint, it appears the pens are the most economic. However, I've also read that if it's kept in the fridge, you can get more life from the vial/pen than the materials state.

Interestingly, I priced at Walmart, Walgreens and a local pharmacy - Walgreens had the best price.
 
I got the pens.

With 5 there is a higher cost, but there is less to toss if one gets contaminated and they last 45 days (much longer if refrigerated and not in the door where they would get shaken) when first used. Our first one lasted two months. If you have a low dose kitty the pens would be more economical as you might not be able to use a bigger vial up before it goes bad.

Just a reminder- you don't have to mix anything with Lev- it comes how you shoot. And you can test, feed, and shoot all at the same time rather than waiting after feeding.
 
It looks like you just started home testing, right? And she is still eating some dry food? When was Buttons diagnosed with diabetes? What was her starting dose on caninsulin?

I am asking all the questions because her blood sugar will probably be changing (dropping) as you get her off of dry food and also as she "gets used" to having lower blood sugar. But right now she still has high BG readings.

It is possible that she is rebounding from too much insulin, but it could be the dry food causing such high numbers.

Starting dose with levemir should be .5u to 1u twice a day. I just don't know that .5u will be enough. Just be prepared that if you start at 1u and get her off dry food, her dose may need to be lowered. The only real way to know is by testing as you have been doing.

The pen refills and penfills are about the same. They both have a small rubber cap on the end - like a small vial cover - that you insert the syringe into and draw the dose just like from a vial. You can't use the penfils with their attached needles to dose a cat - if that was what you are asking.

Welcome and good luck!
 
Yes, I just started home testing. She was diagnosed with diabetes about the middle of May. I believe I started her insulin on May 26 give or take a day. Dry food is still left out, though I dont see her eating as much, but she probably still is. Her starting dose was 1.5 UI and then I took her in to do a curve and we uped it to 2 UI morning and night.

Thank you all for your help!

With Lev, I dont need to roll it beforehand either, right?

Would you suggest changing her insulin or waiting a bit longer? People in the main forum suggested changing because of Caninsulin being moreso for dogs, and not lasting as long, and with the way Buttons sugars are going, its probably not best for her.

And should I start out at .5 then, or 1? I dont want to do too much but i dont want too little either.
 
I would agree with changing. Caninsulin can be *made* to work ok, but lev is much easier to get even numbers with. I would start at 1u, but do you know what her BG was at the vet that made then diagnose diabetes? If it was in these same high numbers (upper 20s or so) then 1u would be a good starting dose. If it was actually lower, like 12-18, then I would start at .5u. Caninsulin should have been started at 1u twice a day as well, so it might have been started too high - and that can actually cause higher BG numbers (called rebound).

Are you working to take up all the dry food? I took a month to change Beau, and the rest of my cats, to all wet food, but I did take it all up eventually. He was on caninsulin (vetsulin in the states) at the time and it made a big difference in his dose. He went from 3.5u to about 1u in that month.

The other thing that you want to do is go to a pharmacy and get Ketostiks so you can test her urine for ketones until you can get her numbers better regulated. They are pretty easy to use - just stick them under her when she pees (in the urine stream) or dip into the puddle immediately after she finishes and before it soak all the way in (you might have to shoo her out of the box). Then you wait 15 secs and compare the color to the color chart on the vial or box.
 
No, I`m not sure what her sugars were when she was initially diagnosed, but when she went in for her first curve, a week or so after we started the Caninsulin, she said it started in the 20s when down to the teen and back up to about 25. So 1u to start? How would I know if thats too much, aside from obvious signs? Like will her sugars spike, or drop?

Yes I am working to take all the dry food out. Im transitioning her to Wellness right now (I bought a small bag) to see how her system reacts to healthier dry food and then I`m gonna switch afterwards to all wet.

I did just buy Kitostixs today, so we`ll see what happens. :)
 
You are just going to have to collect the data and see what it is. It is really hard to tell too much from too little insulin at first. I would suggest posting here and letting many eyes look at her numbers to get input on what to do next.

Be aware that any dry food is not a good food for a cat - any cat, but especially a diabetic. Because it has higher carbs and is dry it doesn't "match" the food they would eat if they hunted. While Wellness Core is lower carbs and doesn't have grains it still is dehydrating to digest it. I just don't think you will see much difference with it in her blood sugar or dosage.
 
Now I know its not much to base on considering this is the first insulin shot and testing, but 4 hours after I gave her the shot it came to be 23.1. Of course I`m happy because the insulin must be working, but is that too much of a drop too fast? Should I decrease the dose to .5? I did test her for ketones last night, and she was negative.
 
No, that is not too much of a drop (that's from 500 to 415 for us on this side of the border). Just let her settle on that for about 3 days, getting tests before each shot and a spot check or two when you can. Aim the stop checks for the +4 to +8 or 9 time frame for now. Maybe on Sunday you can get a few more spread out over the 12 hours?
 
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