Lantus pens - any info please?

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Julie and Alice

Julie and Alice

Member Since 2014
Hi folks,

I seem to be having difficulty with getting a consistent dose of Lantis due to the small measurements on the syringe. I have looked at the photos, video, used turmeric to colour the water & agonised with my hubby whether we are on the 0.75 or above or below it! My vet said that the pens always give the same dose when I asked her. At the time that was no use as still changing doses. We are still trying to find the right dose but would be interested for the future should we ever settle on a dose!

I have looked at the stickies but the links don't seem to be working & takes me to an 'error' page.

Appreciate being pointed in the right direction, thankyou.

Julie
 
The site has been flaky for days

Do your syringes have half unit markings?

Check out this photo that shows how 0.25 looks - (you can imagine how 0.75 looks using this) - http://s214.photobucket.com/user/jillsphotos2/media/Lantus Group/025unit-1.jpg.html

the key thing thought is consistency - as long as you think you are giving the same dose each time it doesn't matter. Chances are you will be going to 1 unit soon anyway - the dose isn't taking her low enough

Wendy

Ps you are testing her urine often for ketones right?
 
Thanks Wendy,

I think I probably am dosing at 0.75u, just a fraction of light below. Yes we have the half unit markings.

I wondered about the pens. Are they pre-set? I don't know anything about them.

I was giving Alice the one unit. It seems slightly too much some nights as she needed food & glucose twice to keep her above 5. Also she seems to 'bounce' easily, it seemed that the higher the dose, the bigger the bounce. The same was true of Caninsulin when first diagnosed. I am trying to let her adjust now & hope she will stop bouncing :YMSIGH:

Thanks again,

Julie
 
Julie and Alice said:
I wondered about the pens. Are they pre-set? I don't know anything about them.
Click to expand...

The pens have a "dial-a-dose" feature that only doses whole units. This does not work for cats since we dose in increments of .25u. Instead, we treat the pens as if they were a mini vial and still use syringes with them.

Julie and Alice said:
I was giving Alice the one unit. It seems slightly too much some nights as she needed food & glucose twice to keep her above 5. Also she seems to 'bounce' easily, it seemed that the higher the dose, the bigger the bounce. The same was true of Caninsulin when first diagnosed. I am trying to let her adjust now & hope she will stop bouncing :YMSIGH:
Click to expand...

Mikey is like this and is super-sensitive to dose changes. Instead, what I do are "fats" and "skinnies" in between doses. For example, right now, he's on 1.5u. I'm planning on increasing his dose this weekend (he'll probably end up at 1.75u). First, I'll give him a fat 1.5u (slightly over the .5 line) and then a skinny 1.75u (a little less than halfway between 1.5u and 2u) and then eventually he'll be at 1.75u by about next week. This keeps him from bouncing too extreme and also from dropping too low, which he sometimes does if I increase the dose too much, too fast.
 
Oh, ok. That makes sense thank you. Yes Alice seems to be super sensitive to dose. Its a difficult task but it seems that is how it has to be.
Thanks for the help. All the best with Mickey!
Juliex
 
It's basically like "easing" them into the next dose. Some cats seem to do much better and are much more stable with dose adjustments if you go slowly.
 
Oh, lovely to see what Alice looks like. What a sweetie-pie!
(And of course it's always nice to see another member of the Black Cat Club! :-D )

Eliz
 
Thanks KPassa & Liz,

'Easing the dose' up seems to confirm what I felt. Vet rang today & suggested I increased the am dose to 1 unit & keep the pm dose at 0.75 units. I've been told that with Lantus the dose has to be the same for both. I'm wondering if it might be worth a try though or just give her a bit longer. She did consent to me waiting a couple of days if I wanted too.

Thanks for kind comments Eliz :smile: Alice is a sweetie but have to confess that a couple of times I've mixed up another cat for her. It was only because the other cat ran away rather than to me that I knew the difference! Bertie looks a nice hunk of pussy too! I've told Alice that she has a cousin in the 'Black cat club'. She said "Me - ow?"!

Beddy byes time again....looking promising!

Juliex
 
Sometimes, we slight smudge up or down a dose and call it a 'fat' or or 'skinny' dose respectively.
 
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