New Insulin vial = strange levels

[AndrewB and Cleo]

Greetings all,

My cat Cleo (12 yrs old) has been a diabetic for 2 years and things have been going well. She also has chronic renal failure so it's been an interesting balance trying to treat both. At first I was able to get her otj after 2 months of insulin by diet alone. Yay! Then she had to switch food to a renal support diet thus diabetes came back 6 months later.

Anyway I have her on Lantus (relaxed regulation). Things have been going really well the last 6 months. I home test her and was able to get her down to a low of between 100-150 consistently. The dosage at that point (3 weeks ago) was 1.1 units twice a day, so not much. She weighs about 5.3 lbs so not a big cat.

I have been getting the Solostar pens from Costco. 3 weeks ago I was out of insulin so got another pen. I reduced the dosage slightly to 1 unit as the fresh stuff is usually more potent. I checked her levels and they had spiked to 500 for a low! This had never happened before.

I have been increasing the dosage slowly over the last 3 weeks and have given each new dosage a week to settle in. She is now up to 1.75 units and her low is around 350. She has never been on that high a dose.

I just got blood work from the vet and it does not indicate any infections. Her calcium is high (and has been for 6 months) at about 14. Last year it was about 9 so it has gone up. This can be cancer or something but I don't know if it would affect her blood sugar. She is also dehydrated so I'm starting her on fluids tonight so that will help.

So my big question is: Could I have gotten some bad insulin? It is doing something but not very much. I know how she reacts to insulin so I am afraid to increase the dosage much more without understanding why it is requiring so much more than normal.

I'm hoping someone can shed some light as to what is happening.

Thanks,
AndrewB and Cleo

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

Is there any chance her teeth are bad? Sometimes that can mean higher bg levels.

 

[AndrewB and Cleo]

I asked the vet specifically about that. He said she has some tartar but did not see any infections. Also she is eating well and doesn't seem to be in discomfort.

Thanks for a great idea! (got any more?) :idea:

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

Well, it does seem conincidental that her levels are higher with a new pen. Wonder if they will replace it?

 

[KPassa]

I would think that maybe you got a less potent/defective Lantus pen. But, it could also be some other underlying issue has coincidentally decided to rear its ugly head. Had you been testing often prior to switching the pen? What were the BGs in the days preceding the new pen?

 

[AndrewB and Cleo]

I was not testing often no because she was so regular. At least once a week.

The last time I checked her was two days before the new insulin and she was 135 for the low. I checked her a day after the new insulin and she was about 400. After that she went up to about 500 2 days later. I'm sure it was the old dose burning off over time.

 

[KPassa]

Easiest way to see if it's your pen is to get a new one and see if that makes any difference. If she goes back to normal, then you probably got a defective pen. It does happen, but not very often.

If it is your pen, you can contact the manufacturer directly for a new pen if the pharmacy won't switch it out for you.