Should I inject when BGL is low?

[CassWTribby]

Hello all,

Tribby is doing well! She is on prednisolone and flagyl for her IBS and it is helping! Still having diarrhea but less gas and pain. Her BGL has been lower then her normal using a human meter lately. It was 8.9 last night and I wasn't sure if I should give her 1u of canninsulin or not? I did and made sure she ate 20 mins before. She has had two mild hypos this month.
We are slowly weaning off the steroid and she gets flagyl, the antibiotic is five days on, then 5 days off.
What is the lowest level of BGL you would still give insulin? She is continuing her probiotics as well.

Thanks,

Cass and Tribby

 

[Djamila]

I'm guessing you're not in the US? In general on the US scale, the lowest we usually recommend shooting is 200, which looks like 11.2 on the world scale. Here is a link to the spreadsheet we usually use to keep track of data:

Spreadsheet

If you decide to use it, make sure you use the one for the World Template since 8.9 on the US template would be a very serious hypo!

I'm not familiar with Caninsulin/Vetsulin though, so hopefully someone with experience with that insulin can give you some clearer advice on that.

And great job that you're home testing! That will really help!

 

[Yong & Maury GA]

8.9 mmol/L is a nice blue but for new members, the recommendation is don't give insulin if less than 200mg/dl or 11.2mmol/L until you have lots of data. Posting your SS with the link Djamila gave you will help others advise you . With the 2 mild hypos and not being able to see your data, I would skip the dose. Better to stay a little high for a cycle then go into a serious hypo.

The better numbers are probably due to her IBS doing better!

As for "what is the lowest level of BGL you would still give insulin", falls under ECID. Once again, still with lots of data on kitty . They don't allow us generalizations lol

Edit: Forgot if you have a computer yet. You could start a thread on Caninsulin thread and each day post numbers like:
Date:
AMPS
Dose:
+2
+4
+6
etc.
Notes

 

[Tuxedo Mom]

With Caninsulin you want to be extra careful about shooting at lower numbers since it tends to bring numbers down very quickly.

Are you using a pet meter or a human meter? Since you don't have any data about how your kitty responds to Caninsulin I might even choose a higher no shoot number, ESPECIALLY if you are using a pet meter and until you have more data that you could put into a spreadsheet.

Be aware that with most kitties Caninsulin starts acting at 1-2 hours after the shot and can drop the numbers sometimes by a lot at 3-5 hours after the shot, so shooting low numbers is riskier, especially if you are not able to monitor closely.


ETA If you could set up a spreadsheet it would make it much easier to offer information/advice on whether to shoot and what dose changes might be in order. Here are the instructions for setting up a spreadhsheet;

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

Since you are using a human meter ( I believe) and use the mmol/L system this is the spreadsheet you would want to use:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JQ136YHkxNhhku9AML_OKGHkrg3Ixe27BWAdWONlnP0/edit?usp=sharing

 

[Larry and Kitties]

With a non-depot insulin like Caninsulin/Vetsulin (and N and ProZinc) it is OK to give a lower dose with a low BG if you have enough data.
Since you did not seen to have any posted previous data I can't really say to shoot any dose.

 

[JeffJ]

Our cat Leo has had several vets as a result of his Acromegaly-caused diabetes. All of them told me "keep Leo safe". My interpretation is to be overly cautious. I never dose Leo if he is BG=200 or less.