Dosing switching from Vetsulin to Lantus

[Michele and Coco Chanel]

Hi, my cat was diagnosed 6/28/21. Her BG at the time was 391. Lab work in February showed BG of 223. Vet said most likely high from stress; no sugar in urine.

At the time of diagnosis, vet prescribed Vetsulin, 1 unit, 1x a day only (40-unit syringe). I'm struggling with the learning curve with testing - multiple pokes (my poor kitty), but hopefully you can see my spreadsheet, if I uploaded it right.

I have switched vets and am waiting for my Lantus order from Canada. I will be switching to a 100-unit syringe, and the vet has set the dose at 2 units, 2x a day.

I know there is an adjustment from a 40-unit to 100-unit syringe. From what I've read, the ratio is 2.5. So theoretically, I guess, with the 100-unit syringe, I'd be dosing at 2.5 units. Is that right?

My cat's numbers really aren't in the ideal range, so it seems the dose should be increased. However, 4 units a day seems like a large increase. I double checked with the vet because I thought maybe he didn't realize it was 1 unit every 24 hours, but he said that's the correct dose.

I don't feel like my current testing is going to be reflective of what will be happening with 2x day injections with Lantus. The medication shipped today. It's air, and I thought I'd get it Tuesday, but estimated arrival date is next Friday, 8 days.

Any suggestions on if there's a better time to test for more helpful numbers, given the 24-hours between injections, in anticipation of starting on the Lantus? Also, once I start on Lantus, how often should I be testing? I read about having a hypo kit ready.

Also, once I get the 100-unit syringes from Chewy, should I split the Vetsulin dose of 1 unit into 2 injections a day while I wait for the Lantus? Increase the dose slightly?

Thank you for the help.

My cat is off all dry. I was so excited because she seemed to really like the Lotus raw, but true to course, she's decided now that I've bought several tubs, maybe she's not so into it after all. :-(

Thank you!

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Hello and welcome to the LBL forum. When we switch from another insulin to one of the depot insulins, we look at how the cat was doing on the previous insulin and don’t do any multiplication of dose. Lantus is more concentrated. I would start with 1 unit twice a day.

In the mean time, you could consider Vetsulin twice a day. Vetsulin typically lasts a lot less than 12 hours in the cat. Lantus is a much better choice as it lasts much longer. You need to test before each shot to make sure it is safe to give insulin, and ideally another test in the middle somewhere to see how low the dose is taking Coco.