Needing dosage help please

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Ashleigh Harman

Member Since 2022
Since having to put Chanel back on to ZD Pate for an allergy flare up, her numbers have been all over the place. The vet advised a different dose for morning and night as I can't administer anything else but full units as I don't have access to the correct needles where I am. I can't tell whether the bouncing is because it's not enough or too much. She definitely needed higher than 1u though as she was just climbing after having to put her back on the prescription diet. 2u seems to send her crashing every couple of days of consistent doses to a number below 10 (no shot). Really needing some help as I'm fearing all this unregularity and constant dosage change is doing so much harm to her.
 
Can you post a picture of syringes? It should still be possible to estimate smaller doses.

But you are correct - glargine is a depot insulin and really does need consistent dosing, otherwise the depot is constantly in flux and unpredictable.

As for the z/d - have you tried any other foods? Raw feeding? Novel protein? Do you happen to know what she's allergic to?

Going to tag @tiffmaxee @Bandit's Mom and @Katherine&Ruby
 
There are all sorts of additives in commercially available food that can cause allergies. Have you tried making your own food with either cooked or raw meat? All you need to do is either cook lightly some raw meat and add a meal completer. Besties is available in Australia: https://bestiekitchen.com/products/...ng-supplement-for-cats?variant=31561920184363

If you aren't able to get syringes smaller than one unit, you can use a digital caliper like this one that you can get at a hardware store: https://www.amazon.com/VINCA-DCLA-0...rsion/dp/B017KUC6XQ?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20. You figure out how large 1 unit is on your U-100 syringe, and then divide that by ¼ to get the measurement for .25 units. So, for example, if 1 unit is 1 mm on the caliper, then 1.25 units is 1.25 mm on the calipers. Here is a great condo on how to do it: https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dosing-with-calipers-updated-w-videos.79851/
 
So far we have tried cooked at home and store wet food chicken, and store raw wet food Venison (ziwipeak). I am currently trialling tuna, but its only day 1. I have been given u40 needles which I have been advised can't be used with lantus, Australia doesn't have u100 options and online won't ship to my location. My only option seems to be the pen needles given to me by the vet, took these to the chemist and they have advised they don't have any needle options for us with what we are trying to achieve.
 
@Bron and Sheba (GA) is in Australia and attests to being able to get the right syringes, but you aren't the only Australian recently who has said it's been impossible. Lantus is an insulin made for humans specifically, so if you can get the insulin, you should be able to get the right syringes to use with the insulin.
 
Just want to check that I am the only one or im not the only one? Would it have something to do with me being in WA at all? The needles I have been given by the vet and offered by the chemist are all click on needle heads for the pen. But the pen only allows to administer 1 whole units at a time. The one syringe the chemist had to offer us said it measured 0.5ml into 0.005ml and that it would barely show up and be difficult for us to draw the correct dose so didn't think we should take the risk.
 
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Ashleigh Harman said:
Just want to check that I am the only one or im not the only one? Would it have something to do with me being in WA at all? The needles I have been given by the vet and offered by the chemist are all click on needle heads for the pen. But the pen only allows to administer 1 whole units at a time.
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I see. It's because the pens are made for much larger humans, so dose increases and decreases by whole units are safer. I'm not sure where WA is, but I do know that there was one caregiver here from Australia who had U100 syringes but she could only get them with 1 unit markings. I am not sure where she lives exactly.
 
You can definitely get U100 3/10 30 or 31 gauge 6 or 8 mm insulin syringes here in Australia which are the ones you need. However you can’t get the ones with the 1/2 unit markings on them here. They have to be sourced from overseas. I did have a source in the UK but someone,…..maybe you….said that they are not posting to Australia at the moment. I think I sent you another source the other day. Did you try that one.?

I am sure you can buy the insulin syringes I mentioned above in WA as we have had several people, from WA and they have never said you can’t get the syringes there. I will try and think of someone I can tag from WA to help out.
Failing all else I can buy you some syringes here in NSW and post them to you.

I used the above syringes and had no trouble getting the 1/4 unit doses. I used a magnifying glass when drawing up the doses.
 
Thank you, yes both sites are not shipping to me. My partner has dropped in at multiple vets across Perth today and has been given two needles only by a vet hospital, I think it may be the 3/10 but I will double check when he gets home. If I am able to use these needles and manage to get my hands on more, what dosage would be recommended given her bouncing at current?
 
Ashleigh Harman said:
Thank you, yes both sites are not shipping to me. My partner has dropped in at multiple vets across Perth today and has been given two needles only by a vet hospital, I think it may be the 3/10 but I will double check when he gets home. If I am able to use these needles and manage to get my hands on more, what dosage would be recommended given her bouncing at current?
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Post a photo of the syringe. You will need to copy and paste it.
Did you try any chemist shops that supply insulin syringes? I just googled insulin syringes for WA and it said they can be bought at pharmacies.

Ashleigh Harman said:
The one syringe the chemist had to offer us said it measured 0.5ml into 0.005ml and that it would barely show up and be difficult for us to draw the correct dose so didn't think we should take the risk.
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This is not the correct syringe.

are you saying that the two links I gave you in post 9 won’t post to WA?
 
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Yes, it has those numbers. Doesn't seem to be available from any of the chemists we've been to but I can get them from the sites you provided. Now just have to work out the correct dose to give her, I haven't received any advice on this yet.
 
As you know Lantus works best if the dose is the same for the am and the pm dose. It helps the depot settle and you should start getting more consistent numbers.
I would recommend you increase the dose to 1.25 units for both the am and the pm dose and stick to this and try and get some tests in during the am and the pm cycles.
If you are having trouble getting tests in during the pm cycle, try and get at least a before bed test each pm cycle. This will give you an idea of where the cycle is going. If the BG is much lower than the preshot I would set the alarm and get another test in a bit later to see it hadn’t dropped too much. The dose is based on the nadir or lowest point in the cycles so it’s important we can see that data.
How does that sound?

edit..To get the 1.25 dose……..you will need to mentally divide the space between the 1 and 2 units into 4….try in half first and then the bottom half in half again. If you have a magnifying glass it is easier.
Hope that makes sense.
 
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