Fog123
Member Since 2021
Hi,
New here, first post.
My two questions:
1. Are we accidentally dosing too high?
2. Should we be doing something prior to a vet visit on Friday?
See below for more information.
We are currently fostering Pookie, a 10 year old cat that was abandoned by owners because he wasn't using the litter properly. The shelter determined that he was diabetic (glucose levels around 20 mmol/L) and prescribed 1 unit 2x daily of Lantus SoloStar Glargine which comes in a 300 dose injectable pen. He was at the shelter for about three weeks. We took over as a foster with another organization about a week ago and were given U40 syringes (something I only realized today) and told to pull up to the 10 line for each dose. He's been on insulin maybe just over a month.
Within a couple of days he went into hypoglycemic seizures (very scary). There is no money in our organization for significant vet bills so we coped as best as we could with only a phone consult but we are now paranoid about giving too much. We gave him maple syrup and he came around and promptly started asking for treats. The next day we arranged for an AlphaTrak2 unit and when we tested his blood it was at 1.4 mm/L. Within 24 hrs his glucose level was back up to 20 mm/L. We drew insulin up to the 5 line on the syringe rather than the 10 line and gave him that.
We are learning how to draw blood (poor guy is very tolerant) and have been testing once or twice daily. Generally in the mornings he is around 7-8 mm/L and by the evening he is back up to 20. We have been injecting in the evenings only and giving him up to the 5 line. He has been in the 4s a few times in the mornings and in the 7s a few times at night. We tend to skip the dosage when he's low like that.
I can't find anything on using a U40 syringe to draw from the Lantus pen, so today I'm freaking out a bit and wondering if we've been giving him 5 or 10 units instead.
A potential owner is taking him to the vet on Friday to be assessed for the type and severity of diabetes. She's not afraid of a diabetic cat. Should we be doing anything different prior to the visit?
He's fairly asymptomatic - he does drink and pee a bit more, but not hugely so compared to our other cat. He's happy and affectionate. Overall I'd rather let him be high for a few more days or weeks until he gets adopted out. And he hasn't shown any litter box problems with us, so I wonder if he was just so sick before being given up.
The only wet food that he likes is Friskies pate, and I was relieved to see that it's actually not bad for him. We feed him in the morning and then a couple of times a day and then a big feed at night. He has dry food available to him overnight.
Thanks for anything you can offer. We're very new to this.
New here, first post.
My two questions:
1. Are we accidentally dosing too high?
2. Should we be doing something prior to a vet visit on Friday?
See below for more information.
We are currently fostering Pookie, a 10 year old cat that was abandoned by owners because he wasn't using the litter properly. The shelter determined that he was diabetic (glucose levels around 20 mmol/L) and prescribed 1 unit 2x daily of Lantus SoloStar Glargine which comes in a 300 dose injectable pen. He was at the shelter for about three weeks. We took over as a foster with another organization about a week ago and were given U40 syringes (something I only realized today) and told to pull up to the 10 line for each dose. He's been on insulin maybe just over a month.
Within a couple of days he went into hypoglycemic seizures (very scary). There is no money in our organization for significant vet bills so we coped as best as we could with only a phone consult but we are now paranoid about giving too much. We gave him maple syrup and he came around and promptly started asking for treats. The next day we arranged for an AlphaTrak2 unit and when we tested his blood it was at 1.4 mm/L. Within 24 hrs his glucose level was back up to 20 mm/L. We drew insulin up to the 5 line on the syringe rather than the 10 line and gave him that.
We are learning how to draw blood (poor guy is very tolerant) and have been testing once or twice daily. Generally in the mornings he is around 7-8 mm/L and by the evening he is back up to 20. We have been injecting in the evenings only and giving him up to the 5 line. He has been in the 4s a few times in the mornings and in the 7s a few times at night. We tend to skip the dosage when he's low like that.
I can't find anything on using a U40 syringe to draw from the Lantus pen, so today I'm freaking out a bit and wondering if we've been giving him 5 or 10 units instead.
A potential owner is taking him to the vet on Friday to be assessed for the type and severity of diabetes. She's not afraid of a diabetic cat. Should we be doing anything different prior to the visit?
He's fairly asymptomatic - he does drink and pee a bit more, but not hugely so compared to our other cat. He's happy and affectionate. Overall I'd rather let him be high for a few more days or weeks until he gets adopted out. And he hasn't shown any litter box problems with us, so I wonder if he was just so sick before being given up.
The only wet food that he likes is Friskies pate, and I was relieved to see that it's actually not bad for him. We feed him in the morning and then a couple of times a day and then a big feed at night. He has dry food available to him overnight.
Thanks for anything you can offer. We're very new to this.
Last edited:
to whoever did that demo for you on the initial dosing and gave you those syringes, but it's sadly a story we've heard before (people are rushed, people make mistakes, and insulin can be very powerful in a tiny cat's body).
. Her suggestion, to not change the food, is the more conservative way to go, and in thinking about it some more, I think she's right and I jumped the gun a bit. I got a little overexcited about the news that the syringes were U-100, but it doesn't change the fact that he's still got a large Lantus depot in play for the next day or two.

