Dosage

[rowena]

Misty’s vet wanted to increase her dose and I agreed that this was needed, but he initially said to increase from 1u of Lantus in the morning to 1.5u and stay on 1u at night. I told him she wakes me in the middle of the night at least once for food and he switched it to the 1.5u at night and 1u in the day. My question is whether it is usual to have different doses morning and night or whether it’s best to have the same am and pm. It seems to me that if she needs more insulin then she needs it consistently.

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

Lantus definitely works better when dosed consistently, same dose twice daily. I initially thought vet might be considering that many cats go lower overnight but with the vet changing his mind for overnight, seems that wasn't the rationale for his suggestion. Not sure what the starting dose was but 1u would be normal. We generally recommend dose adjustments in 0.25u increments so that the best dose is not skipped over. Even a half unit increase can be a bit much for some cats. Better to increase slowly and methodically than increase too much at once which can slow down progress.