need ADVICE about whether to give insulin...

[RockStar033]

Ok, so a lilttle update about our BG results from last night

10:00pm - 472 (pre shot)
+0 - Insulin + wet food
+30 - 462
+1.5 - 334
+2.15 - 248

This morning
10:45am - 543 (pre shot)

The Insulin(and maybe with the help of the wet food) dropped her 13 points within 2 hours, and we went to bed so it may have dropped a bit more after that. So normally at this time of night she is back up to around 450 - 540 pre shot.

We normally just fed her at shot time in the morning (11am) and then again in the evening(11pm). She was still on her little bit of dry food mixed with her Wellness(like a tiny handful of dry mixed with her wet last night). Today she has been totally off the dry food. And we fed her 1/2 a can at 11am, and half of that at 3pm, and plan to do 1/2 a can tonight at 11pm.

We JUST tested her, and her reading was 232. I'm scared to give her the 2u insulin at 11pm with her food because i'm scared she's going to drop too low when we go to bed!
Now, an incident happened tonight in which i'm not sure if it would have affected her BG..... The fire alarm went off around 8:30pm while we were cooking dinner and scared the wits out of her and she ran like a bat outta h*ll through the house and under the bed...... could being scared like that drop her bg because of the adrenaline? just wondering? we haven't seen a number like this pre shot, but we also haven't fed her mid day before today either.

Please advise about insulin..... i'm thinking of not giving it to her... or should i give her less? we have to go to bed after we give her the shot and feed her and i dont' want her crashing while we are sleeping!

Thank you

 

[Blue]

test again and if over 200, you should be fine to give insulin.

Remember that shots are 12 hrs apart so if you give a shot now, then the next shot will be 12 hours later, OK?

 

[RockStar033]

But the Caninsulin she is on drops her like 13 points at it's peak.... so if she's at 232 now... and i give her the 2u now... she has a possibility of dropping to under 50

 

[Blue]

I don't see how a drop of 13 is bad?
If the 2u brings the number down to below 50 - I don't see that happening.
Caninsulin is a harsh insulin that causes drops, but not much you can do about it.

Now if you are thinking last nite the numbers dropped 130points down from the high number, do't think that the numbers are going to drop the same amount from a 232 pmps number.
Even if it did drop that much, you would still be at 100.

I would think that you are ok with the 2u does.

 

[RockStar033]

i'm not doubting you, i'm just trying to understand.... in canadian conversion... she is at 12.9(232 converted to american) right now(normal is between 5 and 10).. i'm worried if i give her the insulin, and her number drops to less then 5(which 5 converted is 90)... is that not putting her in danger of hypo?

am i making sense?

*edit* - so in the american conversion, the inuslin dropped her 234 points! so if she's 232 now... it may drop her dangerously low.... sorry i forgot to convert the 13 points i mentioned earlier

 

[kimouette]

Hi there RockStar033!

The fire alarm went off around 8:30pm while we were cooking dinner and scared the wits out of her and she ran like a bat outta h*ll through the house and under the bed...... could being scared like that drop her bg because of the adrenaline?

Of course each cat is different, but in most cases the opposite happens! When a cat is very stressed his BG levels get higher. Which is why most cats will have high BG levels when tested at the vet's clinic than at home.

test again and if over 200, you should be fine to give insulin.

I have to agree with that!

Now here is a picture showing units of insulin to inject. PLEASE DONT FOLLOW THAT GUIDELINE IF IT TELLS YOU TO SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE INSULIN.. OR ATLEAST DON'T INCREASE DOSAGE WITHOUT ASKING!
Every cat responds differently to insulin, and with all the different sorts of insulin, there cant be ONE single guideline that applies to all cats in the world! But still, I want you to see that chart cuz it gives a good approximate idea of what dosage is considered to be ok for each range of BG values :


* International mmol/L values are on the right
As you can see every value above 151mg/dl (8.3 mmol/L) requires insulin. And also keep in mind that 5.5mmol/L before eating and 10mmol/L two hours after eating is the target range.

Now if it's been 12 hours since the last insulin shot and your cat is at 12.9, the above chart tells you to give 2 units of insulin. If you are worried about hypo, you might decrease the dosage to 1.5 instead of 2 units, but monitor closely after that. You might just find out that 1.5 doesn't give a BG drop the way you thought.

And for the 2389948 time, why not switch insulin and go with Lantus? Should I ask why not? or When? Your cat's BG levels are so different from day to day and hours to hours, it must make you feel really insecure and it's not very healthy for your cat either!

 

[RockStar033]

Can i make the switch by just calling in? or do i have to take her in with me? we have an appointment on Saturday to take her in.

i'm sorry, it made me nervous last night because she's nnever had a number that low since starting her unsulin, so i wanted to be sure i wasn't putting her in danger of hypo. next time that happens, i can decrease the dose a bit right? and then in the morning give her the full 2u?

 

[kimouette]

Can i make the switch by just calling in? or do i have to take her in with me? we have an appointment on Saturday to take her in.

If I were you I'd call her as soon as possible cuz your vet might have to place an order, which might take couple of days. If she asks you why you want to change insulin, be prepared to share the numbers you have, I hope she knows that Lantus could make it easier for you to avoid the roller-coaster effect caused by the fast acting and not long lasting effect of Caninsulin!

i'm sorry, it made me nervous last night because she's nnever had a number that low since starting her unsulin, so i wanted to be sure i wasn't putting her in danger of hypo. next time that happens, i can decrease the dose a bit right? and then in the morning give her the full 2u?

It's normal to worry about hypo! And it's actually a good thing that you are aware of that danger. Of course you can decrease the dose. That's one of the main reason we test our cats : we want to be able to adjust dosage to avoid hyper and hypo as much as possible. But like I said, if you decrease the dose, make sure to test at +1 and +2, so that you know how much each dose affects your cat's BG levels.
A spreadsheet would be very useful for that purpose!