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Jeff Brandon

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I am new to the forum. We have a 13 year old female cat who has been on Vetsulin for over a year. On Wednesday of this week the vet put a Freestyle Libre 2 sensor with a reader on her. Her readings have been fine up until today checking every 8 hours. Today her readings went to 97, 79 and 53. She is acting just fine, eating, drinking and using her cat litter box. I think I may have a bad sensor. I have been researching them, and it is not uncommon. Of course our vet is closed and doesn't reopen until Monday. Any help, or advise, would be appreciated. Thanks
 
Hello and welcome.

If a kitty on Vetsulin goes below 90, the dose is too high. What dose are you giving? You should reduce the dose by 0.25 units.

One thing we recommend to people using the Libre, is to get a hand held blood glucose meter as backup, and learn to test with it. Sometimes the Libre tests quite a bit lower in normal blood sugar numbers. Information on how to blood test in this post: Hometesting Links and Tips

There are few other things we'd like to hear about you. More information in this post:
New? How You Can Help Us Help You!
 
Here is a link to how to use Vetsulin
Are you feeding 30 minutes before you give the dose of vetsulin?
If the BG dropped to 53 I would be inclined to reduce to 4.5 units.
The sensor is most like not bad but at low numbers it can be unreliable. That is why it’s a good idea to get a handheld meter such as a ReliOn premier meter and double cheek. However in the meantime I would reduce the dose to be safe and keep testing.
Are you also offering snacks during the first half of the cycles as well as the 2 main meals? A snack is a teaspoon or two of normal low carb food.
What food are you feeding?
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Here is a link to how to use Vetsulin
Are you feeding 30 minutes before you give the dose of vetsulin?
If the BG dropped to 53 I would be inclined to reduce to 4.5 units.
The sensor is most like not bad but at low numbers it can be unreliable. That is why it’s a good idea to get a handheld meter such as a ReliOn premier meter and double cheek. However in the meantime I would reduce the dose to be safe and keep testing.
Are you also offering snacks during the first half of the cycles as well as the 2 main meals? A snack is a teaspoon or two of normal low carb food.
What food are you feeding?
Click to expand...
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Here is a link to how to use Vetsulin
Are you feeding 30 minutes before you give the dose of vetsulin?
If the BG dropped to 53 I would be inclined to reduce to 4.5 units.
The sensor is most like not bad but at low numbers it can be unreliable. That is why it’s a good idea to get a handheld meter such as a ReliOn premier meter and double cheek. However in the meantime I would reduce the dose to be safe and keep testing.
Are you also offering snacks during the first half of the cycles as well as the 2 main meals? A snack is a teaspoon or two of normal low carb food.
What food are you feeding?
Click to expand...
I feed her right after I give her the dose of Vetsulin. She gets a half can of Fancy Feast wet food after Vetsulin and then has Fancy Feast dry food down to eat when she wants. I cut the dose back to 4.5 this morning. She is still acting just fine. Ate well and is drinking and using her litter pan. Shows no signs of any problems. I will call my vet first thing in the morning. Thank you.
 
Please wait 30 minutes after feeding before you give Vetsulin. It is a harsh insulin and hits quite hard and fast and your kitty needs food aboard before the dose.
 
My experience with Libres is that they read significantly lower than a ear stick with human meter at the low BG your Libre reported.
Do you plan on learing to do earstick yourself?
 
Jeff --

There are a couple of points you may want to consider. First, the dry Fancy Feast food is very high in carbohydrates. We recommend a low carb, canned food diet for diabetic cats with low carb being under 10% carb. Fancy Feast dry (chicken and turkey) is approximately 36% carb. There's a very good chance that if you transitioned your cat to a wholly canned food diet that your cat would need less insulin. If you need an option for a dry food, either Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein or Young Again Zero Carb (it's not zero carb but it is low) are possibilities.

Given Vetsulin's short duration, you may want to check your cat's blood glucose earlier in the cycle than 8 hours. Usually nadir (lowest point in the cycle) is around 4 or 5 hours after you give a shot.

Vetsulin is a less than optimal insulin for managing feline diabetes. The American Animal Hospital Assn stopped recommending it in 2018 due to it having an inadequate duration to last the entire 12-hour insulin cycle. In their guidelines, the AAHA recommends either Prozinc or glargine (Lantus) for the treatment of feline diabetes.
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
Jeff --

There are a couple of points you may want to consider. First, the dry Fancy Feast food is very high in carbohydrates. We recommend a low carb, canned food diet for diabetic cats with low carb being under 10% carb. Fancy Feast dry (chicken and turkey) is approximately 36% carb. There's a very good chance that if you transitioned your cat to a wholly canned food diet that your cat would need less insulin. If you need an option for a dry food, either Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein or Young Again Zero Carb (it's not zero carb but it is low) are possibilities.

Given Vetsulin's short duration, you may want to check your cat's blood glucose earlier in the cycle than 8 hours. Usually nadir (lowest point in the cycle) is around 4 or 5 hours after you give a shot.

Vetsulin is a less than optimal insulin for managing feline diabetes. The American Animal Hospital Assn stopped recommending it in 2018 due to it having an inadequate duration to last the entire 12-hour insulin cycle. In their guidelines, the AAHA recommends either Prozinc or glargine (Lantus) for the treatment of feline diabetes.
Click to expand...
Went to the vet today. Sensor was bad. We will be switching to Lantus. Thanks for your advise.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Very glad to hear you are switching to Lantus.
Once on Lantus there is no need to wait 30 minutes after feeding.
It would be very helpful if you could get the spreadsheet and signature set up please Jeff. If you need help we can help you.
Here are a couple of links to look at
THE BASICS

DOSING METHODS FOR LANTUS
Click to expand...
I am currently giving 5 units of Vets join every 12 hours and the Vet prescribed 2 units of the Language every 12 hours. Does this sound right?
 
@Jeff Brandon
We recommended you reduce the dose from 5 units to 4.5 units on Monday. Did you do that.?
The 5 units was too much.

Do you think you could get our spreadsheet set up and some data added so we can see what’s been happening please.? We can’t advise on dosing unless we can see data.
When swapping from one insulin to another the dose from the previous insulin is taken into consideration. So the dose of Lantus would be closer to 4 units than 2 units. HOWEVER we need to see some blood glucose data from the last week before we can really advise you.
 
Please also be sure to check the proper units and syringes! Lantus is a U-100 insulin, and I know some of the others are U-40 (though I don't know if Vetsulin is one of them). They require different syringes for what is considered a unit.
 
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