Dosing Advice

Status
Not open for further replies.
Julie & steve j

Julie & steve j

Member Since 2018
Hi, I'd welcome some advice please. My cat has been on Lantus since middle of January. He is currently on 3.5 IU day and 3.0 IU night and has been for the past 3 months. His glucose readings are generally between 20-30mmol. His last fructosamine test 2 months ago showed a reading of 540. My last conversation with the vet resulted in me keeping him on his current level of insulin as the vet is concerned that his numbers drop considerably when increasing by 0.5 IU. Both with Lantus and previously with Prozinc his numbers dropped to low single figures every time the insulin was increased. I have discussed with the vet about making smaller increases 0.25 IU as recommended by members of this site, however, the vet is not happy to try and increase by 0.25 as the markings on the syringes increase by 0.5IU. Can anyone advise as to how they increase by 0.25? Is it just guess work or are there syringes available with 0.25 markings? I'm currently using U100 0.3 ml syringes. Additionally, can anyone advise as to whether diabetic cats are more prone to infections? This year Benny has had Periodontal disease, a bladder infection and an ear infection. Thank you for any advice, it would be appreciated.
 
There are NO syringes marked with 1/4 unit or finer increments. We just estimate 1/4 unit increments.
Because of sugar in the urine of unregulated cats they tend to more frequently get UTIs. Similar may apply to Periodontal disease:, however, diabetic cats are usually older where all cats typical have Periodontal disease. I do not think there is a correlation with ear infections.

I note that Benny's SS is not up to date. If you want dosing advie were need BGs like which shood be included in the SS.
 
You can get syringes with half unit markings


30-unit-insulin-syringe-markings.jpg
 
The 0.25 is the last pic of the syringe.I see you have the half unit syringes, good

Pictorial guide using a U-100 syringe marked with half units:
49823504036_be8b19dcbc_o.jpg

49822973598_f0540f7a37_w.jpg

49822973683_0559ae843a_o.jpg
 
Many thanks for your responses, I really appreciate the advice :cat:. I'll update the spreadsheet. My vet is concerned about the margin or error with increases of 0.25.:stop:
 
Julie & steve j said:
My vet is concerned about the margin or error with increases of 0.25.
Click to expand...
For cats even 0.25U more can be too much. We have had instances of increasing the dose by as little as 0.125U.
Yes, measuring the dose in such small increments is difficult. We say it's more important to be consistent than accurate. A lot of us use callipers to measure the dose to get accurate dosing.
Dosing with calipers

Julie & steve j said:
He is currently on 3.5 IU day and 3.0 IU night and has been for the past 3 months.
Click to expand...
Lantus works best when dosed the same amount morning and night. Is there a reason you have different doses?


If you can update your SS (for at least the last 2 weeks) and post on the Lantus Forum, we could help you with dosing advice.
 
Could you please change your signature to Lantus and the date you started Lantus
That's the first thing members look at
Also please update your spreadsheet with the units you have given day and night
There is nothing since 3-17 for the night cycles

Thank you
As Bandit's mom asked

If you can update your SS (for at least the last 2 weeks) and post on the Lantus Forum, we could help you with dosing advice.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top