Pet sitter gave 5 units instead of .5 - need Help!

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MrW

Member Since 2012
I left Mr. Wendall with a highly recommended pet sitter who was "knowledgeable" about insulin. Her own cat had been diabetic and treated with insulin. She was only cat sitting for a few hours in the evening. To make a long story short - she gave Mr. W 5 units of lantus instead of .5 units for his evening dose. When I tested him in the morning(7am) his glucose was at 20. He was asymptomatic - acting normally. I was able to bring him up to 79 within an hour and a half. And he was at 240 by early afternoon. I monitored him closely yesterday and he appeared fine.

This morning his bg was 330. My question is how to I dose him moving forward? Do I continue giving him his .5u bid? Life has been a bit hectic lately and I haven't been able to update his chart. But he's been receiving .5u bid for the past couple of weeks. His bg's have been hovering between low 200-mid 300's. I'll try to update his chart later today.

Thanks in advance!
 
Oh my!

This happens way too often with subs.
I think we should all adopt the policy to mark a couple of syringes with sharpies for sitters since they seem to have basic math problems. :roll:

I don't have an answer for you but someone will come along soon.
I'm so glad you were able to bring up that 20.
That must have been a very scary few hours.
 
Glad that you're able to bring him up but note that Lantus is a long acting insulin which means it will bring down the bg for long hours. Can you let us know when was the 5u Lantus injected? This is how many hours after the inject?
I cannot give dose advice but Im sure somebody will come along for good advices for you. Hang in there!
 
I don't have dosing advice either but the effects of an overdose can last for a couple of days. You will need to monitor closely. Well done to bring Mr. Wendall up so quickly!
Liz
 
When is his next shot? Cats can be super sensitive to insulin after they've had a symptomatic hypo. Since MrW was asymptomatic, he may not be.
If he's in the 300s, I would shoot his regular dose, as long as you are around to monitor him. That 5 units in his shed may take a while to work it's way out. Will you be home with him today and tonight?

I'm glad you caught that 20 and good job bringing him up.
 
Thank goodness you didn't wait to test!

There's no exact way to know if Dyana's observation will hold for your cat. Cat's can be supersensitive to insulin after this kind of mistake. However, if I'm understanding, it's been a day since your petsitter screwed up. I think going back to your usual 0.5u dose should be fine but I'm reticent to make a recommendation on a couple of counts. Mr. Wendall's spreadsheet isn't up to date. It also looks like you've seen some low numbers on the 0.5u dose -- at least in July. It's very difficult to make a suggestion that will keep your cat safe in the absence of good data.

Whatever you decide, I would monitor carefully.

FWIW, even though I use a vet tech for my petsitter, I leave a sample syringe for her that's filled with colored liquid so she has a visual for the dose.
 
Thank you all SO much for the words of wisdom - across the board. In the future I will be leaving a sample syringe showing the amount of insulin to be given, as well as marking the syringe to be used with a sharpie. I will be covering all bases.

So, he received the 5 unit dose on Thursday night at 7pm. I normally dose him 7am and 7pm. He received no insulin Friday. This morning with his bg being in the 300's I was told by his doc to give the .5, but to monitor closely. I will be checking his bg throughout the day for the next few days. He was 204 at 12:20pm today.

You all are so awesome...I have to say I learned most of what I know here! I had my hypo kit together and was able start treating immediately. Luckily, he was in a good space so it helped me to stay out of panic mode.
 
Since the emergency is over, can you edit your first post's Subject Line to remove the 911 icon? We usually use the 911 for now emergencies, to get every eye and person possible there in a hurry to help you out. Also, while you're there, if you could edit the Subject Line of your first post to add the latest test number, that way we all know how he is doing.

I'm glad you'll be around to monitor closely, today. Please keep working on that spreadsheet, so we can help you more ;-)

Sorry for all the work and instructions. I hope you both are enjoying your Caturday :-D
 
Scary :o Glad your cat is better now. Have you talked with the sitter and let her know that she gave too much insulin?


rhiannon and shadow said:
I think we should all adopt the policy to mark a couple of syringes with sharpies for sitters since they seem to have basic math problems.
Click to expand...

I agree and even show the pet sitter how to mesure the amount of insulin the cat needs just to be sure. And it's a good idea to write in big bold lettering exactly how much insulin the cat needs and at what times. If it's a dose like half a unit or a quarter of a unit, instead of writing ".5" clearly write "0.5" instead so that the decimal point isn't missed. Even with doses like 1.5 or 2.75, make sure that the decimal point is there and impossible to miss. I'm guessing that's why the sitter accidenally OD'd MrW; she missed the decimal point and just saw the 5.
 
I am so thankful you caught this and that you weren't away on a longer trip.

I saw a post a month back from someone who was on her year aniversary of losing her cat because her roommate /sitter
overdosed her cat. That one still makes me cry just thinking about it and I wasn't here a year ago when it happened.
 
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