Help! I’ve forgotten how long to wait after eating - Novalin N

Myrtlesmum

Myrtlesmum

Active Member
Hi, my cat Myrtle is going back on to isophane (Novalin N) after 2 years of remission.. I think I’m going to need to give her the first dose tonight but I have forgotten how long I have to wait after she eats to shoot. I picked the insulin up from the vet today and forgot to ask - he didn’t leave instructions as he knows I’ve done this before but didn’t factor in that my memory isn’t as good as it used to be! Can anyone help? I vaguely think it was 15-30 minutes? Thanks!

Edited: I ended up finding the sticky for this, it actually said 1 hour. I’m pretty sure I didn’t wait that long though last time? It would have been totally impractical in the mornings before heading off to work....
 
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for sure, something is going on with Myrtle, for that sudden increase in BG

since Catcat is on Vetsulin, can't really give advice, bumping this up so more experienced users can -- my gut feeling is that you might wind up with same schedule as those of us on Vetsulin, test, then feed a mini meal if appropriate (if you don't have to wait for BG to increase to ok-to-shoot value, in which case don't feed yet), we have been waiting 20-30 minutes to make sure food IS affecting BG before the shot

but listen to those who KNOW
 
I ended up waiting 45minutes after she ate, gave her another snack of chicken as she hadn’t had much dinner and then gave a skinny 1 of insulin. At 3 hours I tested and her bg had only dropped from 19.9 (358) to 15.8 (284). If she’s still at around the 19 mark in the morning as she has been the last few days, I’ll increase her dose slightly. Last time her diabetes was diagnosed she was also around the 19 mark and we started her on a dose of 1.5 but I wasn’t testing back then I need to update her spreadsheet but it’s 1am and I’m exhausted- I’ll do it in the morning
 
sleep well -- these sugarcats certainly do play hob with sleep!

mine is glaring at me, he wants the food that comes along with his midmorning test, and I keep telling him it hasn't been two hours yet since the last dose

it's quarter to nine in the morning and my body doesn't really wake up until 10 ...
 
With NPH, wait roughly half an hour to be sure the food stays down. NPH hits fairly hard when it onsets so does need a good food load. If you shoot and kitty throws up, you need to quickly get more food in or syringe feed some...and test more often. NPH doesn't hit quite as hard as Vetsulin but it's still a hard hitter.
 
Bama has been on Novolin N for nearly 5 years. I test, then immediately feed and shoot roughly 15 to 30 minutes after he started eating. I hold back some of his food for the actual shooting time so that he's nice and distracted and doesn't notice the shot. He also gets a small snack at +2.5 to +3 hours. I've noticed his BG tends to increase somewhat after eating and the insulin starts bringing it down about 2 hours after the shot. Nadir for him has been +5 to +6 hours.
 
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