Insulin curve for Calley

Status
Not open for further replies.
Kris10mo

Kris10mo

Member Since 2014
I took Calley to the vet this morning for an insulin curve. The vet measured her first test before any meds or food at 6am with a reading off the charts....so over 500. The next reading two hours later after first shot of 8 units, was down to 425, and another two hours was down to 230. The vet was about to do another reading and then another one at 4pm. So the vet said she was optimistic about her levels.

Question... how would reusing the needles affect her insulin levels? I have been using the needles at least twice if not 3-4 times. I wasn't given a lot of direction from the vet on how to use the needles when I first started giving the shots six months ago. So I went by what the pharmacist told me.

Calley hasn't been keeping herself groomed at all for a long time now. I brushed her out for the first time in a few months and I must have gotten 10 hand full of fur out of her coat. :(

I just want my baby to be health and happy again.

Kristin
Kris10mo Posts: 4Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2014 2:12 pm
 
The curve does look promising.
Reusing the syringes should not have any effect on BG.
What insulin is Calley on?
What does Calley eat?
How was the 8-unit dose determined?
Have you considered testing Calley's BG yourself with a human meter?
 
Hi.

Calley is currently on Humulin. I was giving her 5units/2x daily .....building up when we started Humulin two months ago at one unit/2x daily. Prior to that Calley was on Lantus and she went as high as 9 units/2x daily and it never helped. She was diagnosed with diabetes in December 2013 so we have been working on regulation for 7 months now and it hasn't worked yet.

She eats Friskies Pate. She is always starving and pees like a race horse and drinks tons. She was peeing all over the house but since I put a litter box on the main level of the house she has been using it(I guess maybe she was too sickly/weak to use the stairs to the basement?)....though she tends to miss the box at least one time daily as she refuses to go far into the box. :(

The vet upped the insulin today for the curve. Why she picked 8 units- I don't know. This was a last ditch effort to see what could be determined before I made a decision to put her down. I would think 7 months of 2x/daily shots would have had her regulated. I just want her to go back to grooming herself and eating, drinking, and peeing normally. Will that ever happen?

Thanks all,
Kristin and Calley
 
As has been said on your other post, HUMULIN rarely lasts more than 6-8 hours in a cat. You might want to see about 3 times a day dosing.

Humulin is notoriously difficult to get a cat regulated.

Have you tested for insulin resistance or Agromegaly?
 
Calley was on lantus for five months and up to 9units twice daily to no avail. Vet thought trying humulin might bring better results. The curve tells me the meds are doing something but if they bring down the glucose levels, why is she still eating drinking and peeing so much still?
 
Probably because Humulin only lasts 6 to 8 hours before it wears off, leaving 4 to 6 hours with too little insulin and too much glucose in the blood.
 
Here are the answers from your other post

Generally, its a good idea to stick to 1 post on a specific question, rather than asking similar things twice.
 
Do you have any BG curves with the 9 units Lantus?

Kris10mo said:
Calley was on lantus for five months and up to 9units twice daily to no avail. Vet thought trying humulin might bring better results. The curve tells me the meds are doing something but if they bring down the glucose levels, why is she still eating drinking and peeing so much still?
Click to expand...
 
No....no curve was done while Calley was on the Lantus. The vet has said nothing about Humulin only being good for 6-8 hours. Why would she put Calley on that if it wasn't going to last long enough? Dosing three times a day is impossible for people who work. All this switching insulin can't be good can it?


Sorry about the double post. :(
 
The vet went with the old school, works great for dogs, insulin. Current treatment protocols recommend ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, and Levemir. Caninsulin/Vetsulin (same thing) don't last 12 hours for most cats either.

Since you are using Humulin N, you may find this instructional post on its use helpful.

It is absolutely critical that you be able to test her at home. Humulin hits fast, drops steeply, and often wears off within 6-8 hours. Some cats do OK on it; only home testing will show you how it is working in your cat.
 
Thanks for all the information. Calley seems better already today. Can an increase in insulin make a difference in just two days?

Calley isn't peeing tons in the box like she ha been. And I checked the house for pee and didn't find any accidents. I'm cautiously optimistic.

Kristin and Calley
 
Hi Kristen,

As Deb said (in your other thread?) hometesting isn't really hard to do and needn't be expensive at all. In fact it can save you money because you can do curves yourself and cut down on vet costs. :smile:

Hometesting could also give you a much greater sense of control over the situation.

As to regulation, well, some cats do take a long time to get into reasonable blood glucose numbers; mine certainly did. But, with good care, unregulated cats can still have a good quality of life.

If Calley still isn't grooming then you may need to continue to do that for her. As well as the brush you might try gently wiping her fur with a damp cloth (like a mommy cat washing a kitten!). Grooming her should help to make her feel better.

Does your litter box have low sides? If she's struggling to get into it then that may help. (I have actually used a large baking tray as a litter tray when my cats have been sick (never baked on it again though!)).

Chin up, sweetie. There are still things to try, and there is still hope that Calley will improve.

Eliz
 
How is Calley doing today?

Hang in there sweetie. We do think you can get Calley feeling better.

What food is Calley eating these days?

Sounds like you are not able to dose Calley every 8 hours while using the Humulin N. Just try the best that you can to learn how to home test. It's one of the very best tools we have in our toolbox to help us see how our cats are doing.

Have you seen the home testing tips?

p.s. I'm surprised the vet never did a curve while Calley was on the Lantus. It's very likely the dose was simply increased too quickly and you bypassed the appropriate dose for Calley.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top