I shot through with the insulin

Status
Not open for further replies.
D

desertmare

Member Since 2013
I don't know what if any actually went in him, but it looked like a drop of insulin came out behind where I injected Clooney. I'm wondering if I can/should give him just one unit so there's a little in his system (he's on 3 1/2, and still trying to find the dose that will keep him stabilized); I know I certainly don't want to end up with too much insulin, but I don't know how bad it is to end up missing a dose because I missed. I'm new, and stressed, and just discovered this site tonight while searching to see if I could find more info. We're now about two hours past his injection time.
 
hey there, welcome to fdmb.

the rule of thumb in a situation like this is no, do not give any more insulin. you can never know how much got in thus you risk overdosing kitty.

and since you're new to this, this is even more important to not give more right now.

i'm gonna post this then come back with some more questions and stuff :-)
 
I agree w/LynnLee...
alway safer going high over too low and you new,,,,so you'll be OK. just don't shoot. :smile:
 
ok, wanted to get that posted to you so you didn't shoot more because you were waiting.

fwiw, i did this very thing years ago on my kitty. it has provided much laughter over the years too because i'm a dork basically. way back soon after Mousie was diagnosed, she was sitting in a window when i went to give her her a shot (she's not the most cooperative kitty), anyhow, i successfully cornered her, got hold of her, pulled up some skin, inserted the needle and pushed and SPLAT! all over the window on the other side of her was my insulin! turns out i put the needle in and right back out that tent of skin i had grabbed. my fiance teased me forever about perforating my cat! but i went so far as to take the syringe and suck the drops back off the window just out of curiosity to see how much she may have gotten. either i didn't suck enough off the window or she got some of the insulin because what i had back in the syringe was not the amount i had originally drawn. i can't remember the exact amounts but it was something like 1/4 of the dose was missing :-)

now, since you're new to this we're gonna have some questions like what insulin? what are you feeding? did kitty have any other issues when diagnosed like ketones or diabetic ketoacidosis? how is kitty's overall health now? and i doubt you know about hometesting yet?

and being higher one night isn't going to hurt kitty as fast as being too low one night can. they didn't develop diabetes overnight and it can't be fixed overnight either so you're ok tonight. just start fresh in the morning
 
Thank you, both. Ok, no more insulin till morning. (and thanks for the story<g>)

Lynn,

he's on Humalin N, and the vet just had me raise the amount from 3 to 3 1/2 units as he's still drinking all the time and peeing copiously. (He came home on 2 units, and we've raised it half at a time a week apart). No keytone issues, but heart ones, he.'s on Enalapril for that.

Now I'll post, so you'll know I heeded your warnings and didn't give any more insulin. Then I'll finish~


[
 
The diabetes was found when He went in for his shots and check-up. I thought he was a healthy big boy; active, no issues, aside from being 'fluffy'~~ I knew he pee'd an incredible amount, but had no idea that was a symptom of diabetes or even that cats could be diabetic. (OK, call me an idiot). The vet heard a heart murmur, and did some more testing, the super high glucose showed up in his bloodwork. He went into heart failure shortly after (I thought I was going to lose him then!) and was started on the heart med and on Lasix so his lungs wouldn't fill with fluid again. He's no longer on that.

Food~ I'm feeding him Royal Canin Diabetic dry, which both he and my other cat love. He's a grazer, small bits often. He also liked the RC canned, but mostly licked it dry and left the chunks. The vet has given me a list of Fancy Feast cans that are good, so I'm going to try some of the pates. Before his diagnosis I was feeding Natural Instincts Salmon and Sweet Potato.

Testing~~no, neither vet ever mentioned the possibility of my testing him at home (maybe because he's taken great gouges out of experienced people testing him at their offices?). had no idea that it was an option till reading here tonight.
 
ok, i have to admit i see a few flaws in the treatment plan but those can be worked on. don't want to make too many changes all at the same time of course.

i do want to address one thing tonight though for sure. if you do in fact change the food, which in all honesty, the fancy feast would be better for him, you will need to start hometesting. why? because the insulin you are using is known as a harsher insulin for kitties. it tends to drop kitties quick and doesn't provide much coverage thru the day as it wears off nearly as fast as it kicks in. and the dose is up there a bit sooooooooooooo, if you change the food and leave the dose where it is, you could cause kitty to drop too low, which, you would catch if you were testing the levels yourself at home. make sense?
 
The insulin you are using only lasts 6-8 hours in a cat leaving 4-6 hours untreated. Be very cautious about any further dose increases from your vet, as he is apparently not up to date in feline diabetes management.

There are 2 options to manage this shorter acting insulin:
1: pick up the food 6 hours after the shot
2: give 1/3 of the total daily dose every 8 hours (2 shots of 3 units would become 3 shots of 2 units

There are insulins which last longer in the cat and are recommended: Lantus, Levemir, and ProZinc.
 
I did actually talked to the Vet (phone call) about Lantus a couple of days ago. (This because I just been given about a half bottle by best Friends/NMHPU) He went into a long explanation of the cells and how it works (which I'm afraid I didn't understand/retain most of), but the gist of it was that it's much better for some cats, sometimes helping them to get to where they don't need the insulin, but it's also much more expensive. And that if/when I change, we would go back to square one, start with one unit and see how he did, only gradually increasing so as not to send him into low sugar. Still no mention that I could test at home. So I had thought to probably finish the Humalin then switch, but after what I'm reading here, I think I want to go ahead and switch over. I'll call him back, ask about all of this, including the home testing.

Any advice from here on switching over? It sounds Like I should do that before changing the food. And changing foods, should that be gradual?

And on food, are there other options rather than Fancy Feast? Like from the 'healthier' , non-chemical-laden brands? I thought I was doing well by them before, with the grain-free food :(

Thanks!


BJM said:
The insulin you are using only lasts 6-8 hours in a cat leaving 4-6 hours untreated. Be very cautious about any further dose increases from your vet, as he is apparently not up to date in feline diabetes management.

There are 2 options to manage this shorter acting insulin:
1: pick up the food 6 hours after the shot
2: give 1/3 of the total daily dose every 8 hours (2 shots of 3 units would become 3 shots of 2 units

There are insulins which last longer in the cat and are recommended: Lantus, Levemir, and ProZinc.
Click to expand...
 
We really encourage you to start home testing since you are giving insulin. It will help make sure your cat is safe (too much insulin kills) You do not need your vet's permission to do this, either.

You will need
a) human glucometer - the Arkray brand is sold at WalMart under the ReliOn name. You may order it online from our shopping partner ADW, too (shopping link above on page). The Prime is the newest; many of us have used the Confirm or Confirm Micro (aka Glucocar01 and 01 micro at ADW)
b) test strips - make sure you always have a good 20 spares, just in case he goes low and you need to test every half hour to monitor him
c) lancets - 26-27 gauge are best for starting testing. as you get the hang of it, you may move to a higher gauge (thinner) lancet.

Also, we encourage you to test for urine ketones (blood ketone testing is very expensive)
Just pick up Ketostix or similare at your local pharmacy in the diabetic supplies section.
Instructions for doing this with a cat are in my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools.

Do you know what his glucose level at the vet was? do you know if he had any ketones present?
 
Hi and welcome! I've had fur shots where home testing showed that it was definitely a missed shot, that he did at least get some insulin, or that he definitely got the full dose, so when in doubt, NEVER give another shot. Only once have I ever given another shot and that's because the needle bent instead of going in and when I pulled it back, the syringe was still full with the right dose. So, not even sure if that counts as a fur shot in the first place. :lol:

desertmare said:
And changing foods, should that be gradual?

And on food, are there other options rather than Fancy Feast? Like from the 'healthier' , non-chemical-laden brands? I thought I was doing well by them before, with the grain-free food :(
Click to expand...

As LynnLee + Mousie mentioned, you don't want to change the food unless you're home testing because changing from dry to wet can drop their BG levels by a 100 points or more, so you want to be able to lower their dose appropriately to match.

When you do switch, since it seems they've been eating some wet already, it shouldn't be too difficult. Here are some tips for transitioning and you generally want to do it slowly (about a week or so) because too fast of a change can cause vomiting and/or diarrhea.

There are a TON of options available for food (look for anything less than 10%; the lower the better). A lot of people here feed Friskies (one of the least expensive) or Fancy Feast. Wellness, Merricks, Nature's Variety, and Evo are some other popular low carb brands. Note: it is recommended to only feed fish a couple of times a week. You can also make your own cat food if you feel so inclined.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top