Lantus is used once a day in beans

why not cats?

Effects of Lantus
Studies have shown that a single daily dose of Lantus provides a steady level of insulin for 24 hours, without any significant peaks. Theoretically, this may help reduce the chance of dangerously low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).

Lantus is a long-acting insulin medication. Although it is a solution (liquid) before injection, once Lantus is injected, it forms small particles that dissolve slowly and evenly over time. As a long-acting insulin, Lantus helps to work as a "basal" insulin, which means that it provides a steady background level of insulin to help control blood sugar throughout the day. For controlling a spike in blood sugar levels after meals, other types of insulins may need to be used in addition to Lantus.

Once you start using a Lantus pen, you must not keep it in the refrigerator; it must be kept at room temperature. All forms of Lantus are good for up to 28 days once they are opened, after which you must discard any unused portion.

The two long acting insulins are Levemir (detemir) or Lantus (glargine). Levemir is shorter acting, with a peak 9-12 hours. Lantus generally has no peak in the first 24 hours, and its action may take 3 days to complete. Therefore anyone with a slightly irregular lifestyle in theory will be better off using twice daily Levemir rather than once daily Lantus. At present, this decision is usually made by diabetes doctors and nurses.

If you do use once daily Lantus, and your glucose levels fluctuate, then you should consider twice daily Levemir instead.


How do Levemir/Lantus work

Generally Levemir is used twice in this regime, Lantus is used once a day. These insulins are 'long acting', and provide your body's basal insulin needs just to keep you alive. This enables your body get its energy when you are not eating. Generally twice daily Levemir (detemir) will lead to better diabetic control, and is part of the DAFNE regime, and the adjusting insulin dose pages on this site. The Levemir/Lantus dose will be about 50% of the total insulin dose.

Levemir/Lantus can be given any time of day, but it is best to give it them at the SAME TIME OF DAY each day. If given twice daily, there should be about a 12 hour gap.

 

Hey George, cats metabolize insulin twice as fast as beans, so once a day dosing is rarely effective in them. Little stinkers!

 

That is good to know..Thanks for your input, Melissa.

 

melissa is wise. on a regulated cat you can see the dose "wearing off" as the curve rises at the end of the cycle.

if you haven't looked at the "new to the group?" sticky, george, it's full of helpful info.

 

how are you and Andre doing?

celi & binks

 

George, wherever you got this info from, it does not really work dosing once a day--Many have tried & it doesnt work--Also Every Cat is different-ECID and each cat metabolizes insulin differently-- and more quickly than humans!
It will help all newcomers if they would read the stickys at the top of the page, they are chocked full of info and explain a lot...Enjoy your day!

 

Hi All

I know about the stickies..but when I see conflicting info I bring to your attention....just in case

as an example, this quote from a Lantus site.

"Once you start using a Lantus pen, you must not keep it in the refrigerator; it must be kept at room temperature."

 

This is also in reference to human use...I believe it has to do with the needles they use with the pens and the way the pen is pressurized. Since we use syringes to draw the insulin, we need to keep in the fridge to extend its life as long as possible.

One other thing to keep in mind...using Lantus in cats is considered "off-label", so the Lantus site is going to have some info that is not applicable to our kitties.

 

Also, with human dosing protocols, having a pen last for more than a month is likely not to happen. For this reason, the insulin is not recommended for refrigeration (likely in part due to the fact that injecting cold liquids into your body isn't pleasant) and humans keep it at room temp. You'll find that if you were to keep your pen at room temp, it would peter out by the end of a month.

 

I must have an "over achiever" problem child cat(2)_steam ohmygod_smile

 

if you see conflicting info between the lantus.com site (or other sites) and here, i would trust here. all the info on the lantus.com site has been looked at, talked over and synthesized into what you see here and how it applies to cats. jill has done a fabulous job with the stickies at the top of this forum - they are well-organized and she keeps them up to date with any recent information.