O.K. so far, I've been trying to get Emmy to eat right before her shot, so I wake at 7:45am, It takes me that long at her bowl to eat something. But, lately she has been getting up and eating at like 6AM, so feeding her again at 7:45 is getting more difficult. If she eats at 6, do I have to feed her again or can I just give her insulin, this may sound like a dumb question. I have stuck in my head that she must get her insulin with food...like medicine???
Question about insulin and feeding
- Thread starter jennyb
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Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)
The numbers in your amps column....are those numbers from tests before the 7:45 meal, but after she's eaten at 6?
Are you only giving one shot per day?
Carl
Are you only giving one shot per day?
Carl
Tara & Buster
Member Since 2012
Basically, you want to test, feed, shoot. You want to withhold food 2 hours before testing/shot times so the numbers don't reflect any food influence. You also want to be using a dose you can safely administer twice a day. Cats metabolize the insulin twice as fast as humans, so it needs to be consistently dosed every 12 hours.
Denise & Honey
Member Since 2012
are you using Lantus?
If so, it needs to be given twice a day - every 12 hours.
When I first started - just over a month ago - my vet advised 1 shot per day until he could retest.
That's completely incorrect - 2 shots a day are required. Cats metabolism is much faster than ours (and dogs which is what vets are more familiar with) and so they need the 2nd shot.
Also, unless there are any other medical conditions - do the tests at home, save yourself a lot of money and get more accurate results.
If so, it needs to be given twice a day - every 12 hours.
When I first started - just over a month ago - my vet advised 1 shot per day until he could retest.
That's completely incorrect - 2 shots a day are required. Cats metabolism is much faster than ours (and dogs which is what vets are more familiar with) and so they need the 2nd shot.
Also, unless there are any other medical conditions - do the tests at home, save yourself a lot of money and get more accurate results.
Julia & Bandit (GA)
Member Since 2009
jennyb said:
If you are home testing, you do not need to get her tested at the vet--it's a complete waste of money. A frucotsamine is only useful for diagnosis, as it gives an average glucose level for several weeks. Office curves are are often inflated because many cats see a rise in BG from stress at the vets office, making those number inaccurate. The safest thing for your cat (and your wallet) is to test frequently enough at home that you can safely adjust the dose based off of your numbers. With Lantus, you want to test three times a day (once before each shot to make sure it's safe to give insulin, and one test about halfway through either cycle to see how much the insulin is lowering blood glucose levels).
Insulin needs to be given twice a day--Lantus only lasts 12 hours in cats, since their metabolisms are twice as fast as humans or dogs. When you shoot a large dose like 2u, that causes her numbers to plumment for half the day, and then to shoot up really high the second half. A much more common (and safer!) initial dose is 1u twice a day instead of 2u once a day. It seems to me like your vet is dosing her like a dog, which just does not work with cats because their bodies are very different.
What food are you feeding? If you're still feeding dry food, you want to get rid of it asap, and only feed low carb canned food. Any dry food (even the kind the vet will try and sell you) is bad for diabetics and will keep their blood sugar high. You only want to free-feed diabetic cats canned food if they're underweight. Otherwise, you want to set up a feeding schedule so that she get's portioned meals of canned food (you want to try and feed at least 4 times a day). Bandit eats very 6 hours, and that works very well for most cats, but you can feed more frequently if needed.
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