Newbie, Question about insulin timing

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aymazing

Member Since 2012
My 9-year old torbie Jada and I are brand new to diabetes treatment via insulin. Jada was diagnosed diabetic last summer (2011) and we've spent the last year trying to manage with high-protein canned food, but finally had to give in and start with insulin. It's going well so far (today is one-week anniversary on ProZinc, 1 unit AM/PM -- although after first vet visit we're upping to 1.5 units in PM), but I'm curious about the timing leeway when administering the insulin. Our vet (and other reference) say "as close to every 12 hours as possible," but is there any leeway on that? I ask only because we're still adjusting to having to be home at very specific times, and I'm afraid I'm just not great at remembering just yet. I do have an alarm on my phone to remind me, but I'm afraid I will space out and the alarm will go off when I'm out of the house.

Thanks in advance for your help.
Amy & Jada
 
You're on ProZinc, so its a bit more flexible, but sticking as close as possible to 12 hour dosing optimizes how the insulin works.

When starting out, it is better to go for as much consistency as possible, until you learn how your cat responds to insulin.

For anything other than 12 hour dosing, you may have to adjust the doses and food, morning and evening, and that can be tricky until you know how your cat responds, day and night (many go lower at night), with regard to food (some spike after eating, some don't), and activity levels.
 
Can we talk you into hometesting? We figure we would never shoot insulin into our 2 legged children without knowing that it was safe. We do the same for our 4 legged ones. It's not hard; we have taught hundreds of people over the Internet and would love to help you.

Once you test, you can be sure every dose you shoot is safe, and you can see how the insulin is really working. We don't like tests done at the vet - we think they can be inaccurate. Stress raises bg levels and most cats are very stressed at the vet.

As BJ said, ProZinc is flexible and you can shoot off the 12/12 schedule if necessary. But it would only be advised if you knew the blood glucose levels and are sure it is high enough to shoot and going up, not down. You can't be sure of either of those until you test.

Let us know how we can help.
 
Thanks for the replies so far. I'm just waiting to get my home testing kit in the mail (thanks, FDMB!) and then plan to start doing home testing myself. In the meantime, I'm following the vet's instructions and watching Jada like a hawk. :) I've been very fortunate with her so far in that she's very food-focused, so as long as she's in the middle of a meal, I can poke/stick/annoy her with a good degree of flexibility.
 
Great! You can get her used to the idea by designating a place where you will do the tests. Take her there, mess with her ears a little, give her lots of praise and a treat. Then she gets to leave. After a while, add warming her ears with a rice sack or pill bottle filled with very warm water. Again, praises and a treat.

Once you get your kit, she will be ready to go!
 
Just wondering what her numbers have been like, and what prompted the vet to up the dose to 1.5? This was based on tests done at the vet, right? What kind of numbers have you been seeing so far?

Welcome to the board!
Carl
 
Last summer she was in the mid 400s, last week she was at 360, and yesterday she was at 325. The vet said she wanted her below 300, hence the increase to 1.5 units at the PM dose.

Thank you for the welcome, and for the advice!
 
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