Just gave my cat 4x as much insulin as usual

Charlotte + Dino Baby

Charlotte + Dino Baby

Member Since 2019
I’m pregnant and suffering from extreme fatigue. I just woke up to give my cat her insulin and drew it into the syringe. Without thinking I injected her without pushing out the air bubble or even looking at the draw. I immediately realized my error when I felt the plunger go down much further than usual. I’m in shock right now, I just threw up. I have no way of knowing how much I gave her, except for that usually I draw out around 3-4 units and she’s supposed to get 1. I’m terrified I’ve just killed her, is there anything I can do??? Vet is closed and she’s close to needing to be put down, (she also has CKD and has been throwing up heavily for the last few weeks) but I was waiting for my husband to get back from a long trip because he wanted to see her. So, going to the emergency room is not happening but I don’t want her to die this way, by accident. Please help!

Edit: when I tested before the shot her reading was “Hi”
 
Test her at +2 which is when the onset of Lantus typically is.
Do you have enough tests strips, high carb food and karo/honey in case you need it?
 
I have testing supplies and honey, I want to run to the store right now to buy a high carb food, what’s the best one to give? I can’t remember as nothing like this has happened in years
 
Charlotte + Dino Baby said:
I want to run to the store right now to buy a high carb food, what’s the best one to give?
Click to expand...
The most commonly used one here is Fancy Feast - Gravy Lovers - Gourmet Beef Feast in Gravy which is 20% carbs. Fancy Feast - Medleys Tuscany are 20-24% carbs. K/D foods would be even higher in carbs.
 
Okay, she ate quite a bit of the food you recommended (probably half a can, but she eats the gravy only and leaves the solids) and seems to be acting normal right now. We’re 10 mins away from +2 and she just tested 535. Will continue to test every 30 mins. I have 2 tsp of Karo loaded into an oral syringe, when is the best time to give it to her? Is there a number I'm waiting to see?
 
The carbs are in the gravy so you can add it to her regular food if she won’t eat the pieces next feeding. Onset is around +2-3 for most cats. You can test in an hour rather than 30. Save the hc for when she starts to drop now though.
 
tiffmaxee said:
One request. Please remove the 911. Put it back if she gets too low.
Click to expand...
Okay thank you, I’ve removed it. I wasn’t sure if she was going to go from Hi to suddenly having a seizure or something; she’s never gotten more than 1 unit before and I’ve never heard of anyone overdosing by this amount.
 
We have seen it here. The reason I asked you to remove the 911 is that if she starts to drop and those of us scanning just see the subject and have already looked will not realize there’s a change quickly to help you. I totally understand how scared you are and I would be too. Keep posting updates as you test. Add a question mark prefix if you have a question and the 911 if needed. :bighug:
 
Please don't fill her up yet. You may need her to be hungry later on. Do you have any Cerenia around the house? I'm worried about her vomiting food she is eating.

One huge favour to ask, since your spreadsheet is out of date, please keep a running tally of what was done when. Here is my first cut at it - please correct as needed.

AMPS Hi - Dose unknown, likely 3-4 units. Amount and type of food eaten then?
+1.5 (when back from store?) - 1/2 can (what type of food), just the gravy
+2 - waiting for this test, please update.
 
Thank you so much for the reply, I’ll build on what you have below. No Cerenia.

AMPS Hi - Dose unknown, likely 3-4 units. I didn’t feed her then because I didn’t want her to fill up on her normal food which is very low carb, I just posted here and the left right away for the store
+1.5 - 1/2 can FF gravy lovers beef feast, just the gravy
+2 - 535
+3 - Hi
+4.5 - Ate about 2 tablespoons of FF gravy lovers (gravy only)
+5 - 423

I will edit throughout the day to continue to add tests and feedings to this!! I’ll also note if she vomits. I’m hoping that doesn’t happen, vomiting usually happens overnight.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for that log update. Good call on not feeding right away. Is the vomiting with food, clear and foamy, or bile (yellow/green/brown liquid)?

Since she's so high, you can probably go an hour until the next test.
 
Her vomit is brown, definitely mostly undigested food, but slightly darker brown than her food. The food we use (Steve’s Real Food Frozen - both the Raw Pork and Raw Beef formulas) are the only thing I’ve found in years that usually don’t make her vomit, she usually only vomits a couple times a month. Lately though it’s been every couple days. Any other food that has been prescribed by the vet or recommended here she either won’t eat at all, or it makes her throw up 2-3x a day. Steve’s is too high in phosphorus for her CKD, but at some point I just had to settle on something she will eat regularly and can keep down because if she doesn’t like the food she will go days without eating and nothing is more concerning than that :(
 
Is she eating Steve’s that’s for dogs and cats. If feline only where do you buy it? I feed my two Small Batch and Primal. We are neighbors.

She definitely can’t go days without food.
 
I noticed the signature said S&C rabbit morsels, those I think are also higher phosphorus? When Neko got CKD, I mostly fed raw made with a premix (EZComplete was one of them) as that made any protein low phosphorus. You need to look for raw made with eggshells instead of bone.

Interesting that the vomit is mostly overnight. I was wondering if she needed more frequent but smaller meals.
 
tiffmaxee said:
Is she eating Steve’s that’s for dogs and cats. If feline only where do you buy it? I feed my two Small Batch and Primal. We are neighbors.

She definitely can’t go days without food.
Click to expand...

It’s the cat specific version of Steve’s; I have a specialty pet food store in my area (chuck and don’s) order it in for me. When she was diagnosed with CKD I had to switch her Stella’s rabbit because you’re right, the phosphorus was extremely high.

I unfortunately can’t control when she eats and have had to give myself grace in that area because I tried so hard for so long but eventually admitted defeat. She eats small portions throughout the day but likes to eat the majority of her calories between 12am-4am. Usually not an issue, she eats a ton and no vomiting, and I’m happy to have her get a good dose of calories in since she’s so tiny but yes I do think when she’s not feeling well her instinct to overindulge at her normal time is likely what’s causing her to puke.

I wish I had gotten into making her own food when I first got her diagnosis so it was second nature by now but at this point I’m very pregnant with two other animals and a really high pressure job in entertainment so it’s just not in the cards for us at the moment

This response was meant for @Wendy&Neko as well!
 
Charlotte + Dino Baby said:
AMPS Hi - Dose unknown, likely 3-4 units. I didn’t feed her then because I didn’t want her to fill up on her normal food which is very low carb, I just posted here and the left right away for the store
+1.5 - 1/2 can FF gravy lovers beef feast, just the gravy
+2 - 535
+3 - Hi
+4.5 - Ate about 2 tablespoons of FF gravy lovers (gravy only)
+5 - 423

I will edit throughout the day to continue to add tests and feedings to this!! I’ll also note if she vomits. I’m hoping that doesn’t happen, vomiting usually happens overnight.
Click to expand...
Rather than editting this post throughout the day, could you just copy the above and add to a new post. We get notifications for new posts. I would have otherwise missed the edits.

Good to see she's coming down a bit. For the moment you could probably stick with her regular food and save higher carb for if she starts diving. You will have to keep tabs on her throughout the day. A Lantus overdose can last more than 12 hours.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Rather than editting this post throughout the day, could you just copy the above and add to a new post. We get notifications for new posts. I would have otherwise missed the edits.
Click to expand...


okay thank you that makes sense! Here’s where we are:
AMPS Hi - Dose unknown, likely 3-4 units. I didn’t feed her then because I didn’t want her to fill up on her normal food which is very low carb, I just posted here and the left right away for the store
+1.5 - 1/2 can FF gravy lovers beef feast, just the gravy
+2 - 535
+3 - Hi
+4.5 - Ate about 2 tablespoons of FF gravy lovers (gravy only)
+5 - 423
After this I hadn’t put out any more fancy feast but she’s been grazing the last few hours on the solids that she had initially left behind
+6 - 380
+8 - 336
+8.5 - I put out a plate of her regular food for her but she’s mostly napping now, I’m going to keep testing but I think we are in the clear. I can’t believe how effective that food was! Thank you all SO much for you help, from the bottom of my heart.
 
How much can you monitor tonight? How late? I did notice you mentioned extreme fatigue your first post. I'm a little worried about her trend downwards today and whether she'll continue dropping in the PM. At +11, I'd not feed her anything until shot time.
 
I’ll be up monitoring for at least another few hours! Based on my past experiences with her she’ll likely keep dropping till around +14, but I’ll test to be sure. I don’t plan to shoot again until the numbers begin to rise.
 
You should be fine to shoot if she flattens out as well. If you end up shooting late tonight, you have to shoot 12 hours later for the AM. Another option, provided she doesn't get ketones, is to skip tonight, drain some of that extra dose from this AM, and start from fresh tomorrow morning. If you do that, you'll still have to monitor until she flattens out.
 
+13.5 and she’s at 206 but she is absolutely refusing to eat her normal low carb food; this is normal, any time I’ve ever had to give her high carb food she goes on a hunger strike for gravy for a while. I plan to leave her normal food out overnight, skip tonight’s dose to be safe and shoot when I wake up at 6:30am tomorrow and continue monitoring. Thank you again, I hope you have a great night :bighug:
 
I’m glad the day went well without a big drop. Have a relaxing evening. For food strikes I have found my cats will sometimes eat Gerbers 2nd 100% protein baby food. Ham was a favorite. I wish they still made veal. It was always a big hit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top