Feeding and dosing advice needed

[CarolandTigger]

When we first started on this journey with Tigger 4 months ago, we agreed on and 8am/8pm schedule. He gets Vetsulin 2x day. So I give him a can of Fancy Feast in the AM and PM,followed by his insulin. Well, "life" gets in the way, and the schedule changes. If We get up early..7am, cat gets fed and dosed at 7. Or we accidentally oversleep and cat gets fed and dosed an hour later. Or is crying for food at 6pm, but we try and hold off till 7-8. If we are not home, it really screws everything up.
So my question is: when do you feed/dose your kitty? What works best? In other words...Can I feed him his dinner at 6pm...but not give the insulin till 9pm, as long as I give him a little more food at 9pm with the insulin? Rather than having to then feed and dose exactly 12 hours later at 6am...when we are not up? This sounds confusing...sorry!

 

[BJM]

We have a Caninsulin/Vetsulin guide you may find helpful.

 

[Critter Mom]

Hi Carol

At minimum you should not feed in the 2 hours prior to the preshot BG check (so the result won't be food-influenced). In general the recommendation here is not to feed a cat later than +8 with Vetsulin since the dose will pretty much be pooping out at that stage in most cats and their numbers will be already rising even before additional dietary carbs are given.

With Vetsulin you need to do the preshot BG check then make sure Tigger has a fairly substantial feed not more than 30 minutes before you give the injection in order to load his body with sufficient carbs to cope with the onset and subsequent sharp drop in BG characteristic of that insulin.

As an in-out insulin there is a little bit of wiggle room with Vetsulin dose timings (unlike depot insulins which work better with highly consistent dosing in order to keep the depot topped up), but it's a small window, not a barn door. If there are times when you skip a dose you can go back to your regular shot time when the next dose is due, but whether skipping is feasible at all depends on Tigger's health status.

I've not used sliding scale dosing techniques with Vetsulin. I don't know whether they are possible. Perhaps other members may have further input on this.

I can't access Tigger's spreadsheet ("problem loading page"). It would help us to advise you better if we had a better idea of what his blood glucose levels and patterns are influenced by Vetsulin. Also can you let us know whether Tigger has ever tested positive for ketones, and whether you regularly test for ketones.


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