Insulin on empty stomach?

[Michele and Coco Chanel]

I'm brand new here. I've been scouring the information from Dr. Pierson for hours. My cat was just diagnosed two weeks ago. My vet prescribed vetsulin, 1 unit once a day. Her BG is 390. He said to give it on an empty stomach and wait an hour, then feed, and to just watch for signs of hypoglycemia.

I had always heard to give insulin with food. So I was a little shocked. I said I couldn't understand giving the injection without knowing if my cat will eat. What if she didn't eat? Again, they just said look for hypoglycemia and bring her in if she gets gets lethargic or weak.

I asked about testing because we had a dog about 30 years ago who was diabetic, and we always tested him with urine strips, and I couldn't imagine how you did that with a cat. The vet said it's different with cats, and they don't need testing.

That's when I started doing research. Even the insert with vetsulin says to be sure they eat, though it says to follow vet's recommendation. I've been going to this vet for a couple years. My other vet, where I had gone for 20 years, is about 30 miles away, and car rides are so stressful for my cat, so I went to the vet that's closer.

Anyway, I ignored the advice about giving on an empty stomach. I gave her 1 unit after I could see she was eating. Three days went by, and everything was good until the 4th day, which was a week ago Saturday. She ate breakfast, but then I noticed in the afternoon she was just really lethargic. She would not eat.

I thought, Great. It's a holiday weekend. My vet is closed. The closest emergency has about a 4-hour wait. I thought if she still didn't eat Sunday morning I would take her to the ER regardless. Fortunately, Sunday morning she was her hungry self and seemed back to normal.

I know I shouldn't have done this, but I decided Sunday not to give her insulin any more until I could get into my old vet, which my appointment is tomorrow. I wasn't sure at that point if stopping insulin cold turkey was the right thing to do, but from what I've read, it seems to be, when in doubt, not to give insulin. I know that's a blanket statement.

I now have her on all wet, Fancy Feast. I am hopeful my previous vet has different information for me and can show me how to test. I will be getting a BG monitor. I've seen videos here, so I'm sure I can learn, but it would be nice to be shown in person.

Anyway, has anybody here been told to give insulin on an empty stomach? Is this something new? I can tell from this message board, it seems to be insane to not test.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Good for you on researching how to help your kitty! And switching to all wet food. What is kitty's name?

Your vet is wrong. With Vetsulin you want to make sure she's eaten, before giving the insulin. Your vet is also wrong about the home testing. Cats are unique in their ability to possibly go into diabetic remission, that means their dose needs can change. And you'll only detect that by testing. By the way, your vet is also wrong to prescribe Vetsulin. In other countries it's called Caninsulin - great insulin for dogs. My kitty was on it briefly and it didn't last long enough in her system. One of the reasons Lantus, Levemir, or Prozinc are much better insulins.

Your vet also won't know if you go and get some home testing equipment and start testing on your own. We can help you with that. Many people here use the Relion Prime from Walmart - if you have one near you - because the test strips are amongst the cheapest. Those are what you'll go through the most.

If you are going to go shopping for a meter, also pick up some ketone testing sticks. It's important to make sure ketones are not an issue if you are stopping insulin. The fact that she's eating is a good sign though.