Perhaps need fresh insulin and need advice with dosage again. Let me get it right this time!

[rbrumbaugh82]

Okay so this insulin that I got from a friend on here says that the insulin was purchased on Aug 29, 2014. I received the pens in just a box with no cold pack so not sure if he even had them refrigerated and if so why they weren't shipped with an ice pack? Either way, I had 2 unused pens from what I could see and its been approximately 8 months since he purchased these pens. I am beginning to wonder if despite that they pens appear to work somewhat to bringing his numbers down a bit if the efficacy has worn off? I wonder if I had a fresh batch of Lantus and started on 3 units if that would work better then? I have him on 5 units now and some may say that is too much. Let me remind that I do have a 21 pound cat and most people using Lantus probably deal with a 10-15lb cat so not sure if it requires me to use more insulin on him? When I went back to 3 units the other day it didn't seem to do much even if it was just for a day or two. So what should I do everyone? Do I get a new batch of Lantus and in the meantime resort back to 3 units/2 times a day or 2 units/2 times a day and let it readjust into his system for a week or so to find out if his body does better with the lower dosage? I just want to do whats best for him and I won't run this across my Vet because I am in the process of switching Vets since the one I have now doesn't seem to care much about him anyways.

 

[Larry and Kitties]

I doubt the unused pens are bad. However, it they were stored at room temperature or higher for prolonged period of time they could be bad/less effective.
To ways to test:
- Use the same insulin on another cat who is on Lantus
- Get another pen/vial that is new and stored correctly or use Lantus from the same/pen or vial that is know to work on another cat.

 

[rbrumbaugh82]

Well I can't do option 1 since there are no other cats on insulin. SO probably have to buy a new one unless someone on here has unused Lantus Pens that they just bought and don't need anymore.

 

[jmalasiuk]

Have you ever posted on the Lantus and Levemir Board since you switched him to Lantus? There are some very experienced eyes there of people who could probably make much better sense of the numbers on his spreadsheet that I can, and they can coach you through on a day to day basis if you post there regularly.

I had to learn to just wait and see with Tonka's doses, since it takes a few days for the depot to either fill up or deplete (depending on whether you're increasing or decreasing). When he was first diagnosed, I had to work out of town on many 14 to 21 days shifts and my pet sitter wasn't comfortable with testing him (although she did an awesome job of tracking his water consumption/litter use/energy etc.), so by default, we were going on the ultra-Start Low and Go Slow approach, with very little good effect. Once winter hit and I could test him more regularly, I started posting on the L&L board. Between the advice from the board members and my vet (who is one of the good ones), I finally started going with more incremental dose changes and letting him sit at them for longer before panicking and changing his dose again. He finally hit his "break through" point and got better regulated and started coming down soon after that. Some cats don't ever hit that point, but the folks on the board will help you figure out the best dose for him to get him healthy.