Just started insulin.. terrible timing.. skipping a dose?

[Sophie10]

Hi everyone-

Just want to say you guys are amazing and the one thing that has been keeping me calm throughout this process of finding out my lil Sophie probably has diabetes. Just knowing you're all here for help has been incredibly comforting to me, so thank you.

We started my 7ish year old Siamese on insulin last night. She has been reading at high BS (ranging from 312 to 360) for the past week and our vet isn't sure if it is an infection/pancreatic issue, or if it is in fact diabetes. We are starting her on .5 units (yes, pretty small, our vet called it a "wimpy" dose twice a day, every 12 hours on the dot. I am going to be doing our first BG curve on Sunday. This is all incredibly bad timing because my husband and I have a good friends' wedding to attend on Saturday night, and I'm worried sick about what to do about her nighttime dose. I really wanted to ask you guys your opinion before I turned to my vet.

Because of my work schedule, I have to give her doses at 9:30am and 9:30pm, which means she'll be due for her 1/2 unit right in the middle of the wedding dinner/reception. So my question is what would you guys recommend doing? With the wedding being about 45min from my house, I can leave the reception, give the dose, and go back (knowing the bride and others at the wedding wouldn't be happy with me at all and wouldn't understand), otherwise I wouldn't be home until around 1am which I know will be too late to administer it. Do you guys think it's crucial for Sophie not to miss this dose, especially the night before we do her insulin curve (curve will start at 9:30am Sunday with her morning dose)? Any advice on this would be so very appreciated.. thank you all so much.

-Kristin & Sophie

 

[Maggies Mom Debby]

Re: Just started insulin.. terrible timing.. skipping a dose

Hi! And welcome to the board. You don't say what insulin your cat is on. That can make a difference in our answer. The different insulins have different durations, and some are more forgiving with timing then others.

But my first thought is to do the curve on Saturday, if possible. My second idea is to test when you get home, and give a reduced dose, maybe .5 unit.

I hope others with more experience will be here soon to help.

 

[Hillary & Maui (GA)]

Re: Just started insulin.. terrible timing.. skipping a dose

You have some choices:

1) is there anyone that could come over and give the shot?
2) you could just skip the shot and realize that she may be high come the morning.
3) you could leave and come back, but as you said that's not ideal.
4) don't attend the event?

If I couldn't get someone to come over, then I would probably just skip the shot. As long as you have consistently been giving insulin, missing one shot isn't the worst thing to have happen. You could just call it a fur shot....

 

[BJM]

Re: Just started insulin.. terrible timing.. skipping a dose

See if you can hire a Vet tech or trained pet sitter to stop by and give the shot.

And if you can't find someone, go right ahead and do what's right for your family member by taking a break from the festivities to attend to business. It doesn't matter if they understand it or not. If it was a sick baby, would they be upset? And you could just say you have some personal business to take care of (no details) and will be right back when you are done.

 

[Melanie and Smokey]

Re: Just started insulin.. terrible timing.. skipping a dose

If you are on a 12/12 insulin, is there anyway to start adjusting the shot times tonite by 15-30 minute increments so that my Saturday you'd be able to give the shot before you go? Then in the same increments move the dose back to your old time afterwards.

Another possibility is to test before leaving and if she's at a safe number, shoot a reduced dose early. This one is riskier because you could end up with overlap if you use a 12/12 insulin. I wouldn't try it if you were more than 1-2 hours early (unless you use a more flexible insulin like the Ps). If her high numbers are relatively reasonable (200-300s) then it may be better to skip a dose. But if skipping could mean a 500-600+, a reduced dose early might be better.

 

[Sophie10]

Re: Just started insulin.. terrible timing.. skipping a dose

Thank you so much everyone for your answers. You guys are the best. She is on ProZinc insulin. As far as our problem for this past Saturday, having someone come administer her dose was the most perfect advice. After reading your responses, I asked my father if he'd be willing to do it and so very thankfully he was happy to help We did the curve today and are seeing our vet again tomorrow for an ultrasound so I'm sure I'll be back here with any issues. Thank you all again :smile: