Microdosing with Lantus

S

Silvester17

Member Since 2026
We have a diabetic cat that has been on a 1 unit treatment for a few weeks and he has been quite stable but lately his glucose drops a lot (like 50+ mg/dl) just after just one unit (with a preshot glucose reading of 220 mg/dl). We started skipping insulin injections when his preshot readings are above 230 mg/dl... we seem to skip about 5-6 times (we used to inject him 2 times a day at 10 am and 10 pm). With 1 unit, his glucose moves between 100 and 150 for a day or two, then going up to 220 mg or so by day 3, then we inject him again and the cycle repeats... we are still able to monitor his glucose with Libre 3+ sensors so we have a lot of data covering the last 10 weeks or so...

We live in a village and our vet is not very familiar with diabetic cats, so we cannot rely on her help unfortunately anymore, now that the cat is so much closer to some form of partial remission...

At this point, we want to move down to 0.5 unit dose but we are unable to get any insulin pens with 0.5 increment... we also have another 4 new Lantus glargine pens (prefilled ones - disposable), so we would like to continue with these pens if possible...

Does anyone have any experience of micro-dosing with a Lantus pen like this? I noticed that if I press the button lightly, there is a tiny drop of insulin coming out, if I keep on doing it, there are about 7 drops coming (out of 1 preloaded unit)... Should I try to take a few drops out (say 3?), and to administer just the remaining 3-4 drops?

Any advice? Thank you!
 
You can micro dose but not with the pen. The pen only doses in whole units and not always the full unit due to some insulin loss.

Use insulin syringes with the pen instead. You just stick the needle into the rubber stopper and draw out the insulin. Don't inject air or extra insulin into the pen. There are pictures and a video a little ways down in this info thread: Sticky - Insulin Care & Syringe Info: Proper Handling, Drawing, Fine Dosing

You want to use U100 3/10 cc (30 unit) insulin syringes with half unit markings.
 
squeem3 said:
You can micro dose but not with the pen. The pen only doses in whole units and not always the full unit due to some insulin loss.

Use insulin syringes with the pen instead. You just stick the needle into the rubber stopper and draw out the insulin. Don't inject air or extra insulin into the pen. There are pictures and a video a little ways down in this info thread: Sticky - Insulin Care & Syringe Info: Proper Handling, Drawing, Fine Dosing

You want to use U100 3/10 cc (30 unit) insulin syringes with half unit markings.
Click to expand...
Thanks, but that is our problem. It seems we are only able to get preloaded Lantus pens with 1 unit increments (Solostar) or a pet one called caninsulin… we don’t want to switch to a new type of insulin as it took us forever to find what works (insulin, food, timing, monitoring)…

We have not been able to source glargine in vials, hence U100 is not really an option… unless I can use somehow the insulin that is inside the Lantus pens…

So I am trying to figure out whether we could just figure how to decrease the amount of insulin in a Lantus pen by counting drops that come out of it when we press the button…
 
But you can use the Lantus pens. You just need to use insulin syringes with it, not the pen needles. The pen is no different from the 10 ml bottle. It has a rubber stopper on the end that you stick the insulin syringe needle right into. By using insulin syringes, you can dose half and even quarter units. Many vets are unaware that you can use a pen with insulin syringes but it can be done as many members here can attest to.

49823503981_e7c9b23f0e_o.jpg
 
squeem3 said:
But you can use the Lantus pens. You just need to use insulin syringes with it, not the pen needles. The pen is no different from the 10 ml bottle. It has a rubber stopper on the end that you stick the insulin syringe needle right into. By using insulin syringes, you can dose half and even quarter units. Many vets are unaware that you can use a pen with insulin syringes but it can be done as many members here can attest to.

49823503981_e7c9b23f0e_o.jpg
Click to expand...
This is actually where we are confused… at the pharmacy, they said we can’t draw insulin out of a pre-filled Lantus pen (but that they don’t stock the Lantus vials!)

This is the pen we have, can we draw from it somehow as well?!

IMG_2073.jpeg
 
Yes! You can use an insulin syringe with that :) Many pharmacists don't know or are aware that insulin syringes can be used with the pen. They only know that pen needles are used because that's how Human diabetics use them.

Just take the cap off the pen. See the rubber stopper? That's where you stick the insulin syringe needle right into.

You'll need to get insulin syringes from the pharmacy (will most likely need a prescription if you're in the US), or online if you are able to. Many US members just order online from places like Amazon and even (Human) diabetic supply sites. A prescription or providing the vet's phone number may or not be needed online (Amazon doesn't need either), it depends on US state law. If you're outside the US, we can suggest online places for you to buy from.
 
squeem3 said:
But you can use the Lantus pens. You just need to use insulin syringes with it, not the pen needles. The pen is no different from the 10 ml bottle. It has a rubber stopper on the end that you stick the insulin syringe needle right into. By using insulin syringes, you can dose half and even quarter units. Many vets are unaware that you can use a pen with insulin syringes but it can be done as many members here can attest to.

49823503981_e7c9b23f0e_o.jpg
Click to expand...
I use pens also (with insulin syringes to draw the dose out)!!! And like them better than a vial, if you drop it, they don't shatter like a vial would. And I have several more pens from the box of pens in my refrigerator.
Easy to use, no problem at all!!
 
squeem3 said:
Yes! You can use an insulin syringe with that :) Many pharmacists don't know or are aware that insulin syringes can be used with the pen. They only know that pen needles are used because that's how Human diabetics use them.

Just take the cap off the pen. See the rubber stopper? That's where you stick the insulin syringe needle right into.

You'll need to get insulin syringes from the pharmacy (will most likely need a prescription if you're in the US), or online if you are able to. Many US members just order online from places like Amazon and even (Human) diabetic supply sites. A prescription or providing the vet's phone number may or not be needed online (Amazon doesn't need either), it depends on US state law. If you're outside the US, we can suggest online places for you to buy from.
Click to expand...
Thanks!!! Is there a particular length of a needle that you would recommend for using U-100 with cats?
 
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