Help with numbers and Humulin.....

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Shelly & Jersey (GA)

Shelly & Jersey (GA)

Member Since 2014
Hi all,

Some of you may have read my first post on this board, so I'll try not to repeat myself too much here. I'm in the process of switching vets, but 'm not going to be able to get Jersey to a new vet this week as I had anticipated due to a snow/ice storm. I didn't feel right about withholding insulin from her for another week, so I used the Humulin-N that my previous vet prescribed for Jersey. We gave her 1 unit on January 23rd, and her bg dropped to 63 within two hours. Based on that experience, I gave Jersey 1/4 of a unit this morning. Her bg went from 346 to 69 within 3 hours and fell to 58 at +4 (even after food). I will be testing her again momentarily.

At this point, I apparently don't know how to dose my cat with Humulin, which I know is not the preferred insulin for cats (for this very reason, among others). It's simply all we have to work with at this time. Do any of you have suggestions for us on dosing? We're really struggling with the next step.....

Thank you all so much for your help!
Shelly
 
It may be that Humulin just won't work for her if she is one who has a harsh onset with it. One thing you could try is to give her, literally, a drop of insulin. Pull up the .25 of colored water and push slowly out, seeing how many drops are in .25. Then to give a drop, pull up that same amount of insulin and count out the drops until you get to one left.

I wouldn't dose under 200.
 
I want to check a couple of things first with your technique and supplies.

First, would you tell us which insulin syringes you have to use? Want to make sure you have the right needles, made for U-100 insulin, not for U-40 insulin. Do you have 2mL, 1mL, 0.5mL or the correct 0.3mL (3/10 cc) insulin syringes?

Second, you need to gently roll this cloudy type insulin, to evenly mix the suspended particles back into the liquid. Are you doing that each time you withdraw the insulin? If you don't you could be changing the concentration in the remaining insulin in the vial.

Third, draw the insulin out very slowly, to minimize bubbles in the syringe. If you have some bubbles in the syringe, turn it needle pointed towards the ceiling and tap the syringe barrel with a couple of fingers, a few "flicks", to force any bubbles to the top of the syringe. Then slowly twist the plunger to squeeze the bubbles out the needle. Make sure you have enough insulin left in the syringe to give the proper dose.

It's possible if you have bubbles, that the dose could be inconsistent from shot to shot.

Sue's explanation of getting a drop of insulin is a good idea. You can use a previously used syringe with the colored water to practice squeezing out the drops. Sometimes, it's easier to "push out" the same sized drops of liquid of you give the plunger a little twisting motion instead of a push.
 
If you have made a food change and/or treated any infection .... maybe she doesn't need insulin.
 
Thank you all for your replies. As always, they are sincerely appreciated.

Thanks for the great advice, Sue. I will definitely practice my "drops" technique tonight. Just thinking about shooting under 200 makes me queasy. :o We definitely won't do that!

Deb, thank you for asking about my technique and ensuring I'm doing this properly. I am using 3/10 mL U-100 insulin syringes. We always roll, but never shake, the insulin prior to using. I do follow the protocol you described for removing air bubbles. My husband and I gave insulin shots to a sugar kitty 10 years ago, but I have definitely aged since then. As a result, I always make my husband double check my draws. It's always possible that we're both off (since he has aged, too), but I definitely like to have another set of eyes checking my work. I'll absolutely use your tip about twisting the plunger; I was wondering how I could consistently squeeze out the same-sized drop each time. This will help tremendously.

BJM ~ We did make a food change on January 12th, but haven't made any changes since then. Besides the diabetes, she appears to be a healthy kitty; at least, we don't know of any infections. I'm hoping, with some of the lower readings we've gotten over the past few days, that you're right. Hopefully she'll be OTJ soon!

Again, thanks to everyone for their help!
Shelly
 
Thanks for letting us know your technique is good and you have the correct syringes. Sometimes, checking little details like that finds an issue, but not in your case.

Since the 0.25u can drop Jersey's BG level almost 300 points in 3 hours, just a little bit of insulin is looking like a better idea.

Another thought for you. Sometimes, splitting up the food into more feedings can help. With the Humulin N, you might consider breaking up the meals into two feedings. Feeding half the food the 30-60 minutes before the shot and the other half of the food 1 hour after the shot.

That way, that second feeding can help to slow the drop after the insulin kicks into action and hopefully keep the numbers raised a bit out of those 50's and 60's.

Lot's of folks make notes in the SS Remarks column about what food, how much and when they feed.
 
Thank you for your advice, Deb. Since I've been off work due to snow this week, I have been able to increase Jersey's feedings, which seems to have kept her out of the 50s (or perhaps the reduced dosage has....). Luckily, we'll be switching to Lantus next week, so I won't have to worry - as much! :-D

Shelly
 
yay! glad u get to switch to lantus. thats what i am hoping to do :)
larry doesnt have the fast onset for some reason. sometimes he only drops 100 or so in 2 hrs. i dont get it at all. my concern is how it wears off after 8 hrs and then hes suffering for 4 i guess. really sad.
good luck to u both!
 
Thanks for your encouragement, IloveLarry. The saying is true - ECID. My poor Jersey dropped hundreds of points within a couple of hours, and then started climbing within 4 to 6 hours. I know exactly what you mean about the short duration of the insulin! Since I lost a diabetic cat many years ago due to what I believe was hypoglycemia (while she was boarded at the vet's office), the big drops on Humulin terrified me.

I hope things go well for you and Larry, too!
Shelly
 
ECID?
yea big drops, or any low drops would scare me. not sure why hes reacting diff to N than most cats i hear of do.
 
ECID = Every Cat Is Different

It's why we strongly suggest everyone home test if they possibly can. Because the same insulin can affect different cats differently. Some cats have a faster onset. Some cats have a longer or shorter duration of action for a particular insulin. ECID.

Different foods with varying carb contents impact some cats more than others. It's why some cats do better on ultra low carb foods, <5% carbs and others are ok with 8-10% carb content. ECID

Some cats are prone to ketones and other cats never get them. It's why we suggest regular home testing with ketone urine test strips. ECID.

Cats play different amounts, eat different amounts, sleep different amounts. ECID. It can all affect the BG levels.

Some cats have other complicating health conditions and we like to know that so we can make the best suggestions possible taking all the information we can get to help you help your cat better. ECID.
 
When you do switch Jersey to Lantus next week, please be sure to make a note of that on your SS. You can combine cells horizontally to note the new start date and the new insulin.

Look at Wink's SS for one example of how to note this.
 
:-D ok i get it @-) ECID :shock:

btw that pic of wink is so cute. he looks so suspicious and as if hes winking with both eyes. (larry does that) its hysterical/adorable. i had forgotten til he strtd getting better. i call him romeo larry :D if he were human, he would have girls everywhere. he is suchhhh a charmer.
wink looks like one too!

ECID almost caused my OCD to go into OD. heeheehee ECID
 
IloveLarry ~ I saw Deb beat me to it when explaining "ECID."

Deb ~ Thanks for the reminder about the SS. I will definitely make a clear notation/break when we switch to Lantus. I have also started keeping track of food. The cats acted like they were tired of Wellness this week, and I bought several different brands (all low-carb according to the list) that I'm now trying out. We've actually seen three really good non-insulin numbers in a row. I'm not sure if that's because of the food or the insulin, but I'm now keeping detailed records of everything to try to figure out what might be helping the most.

Shelly
 
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