Skipping Insulin

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Stephanie Howard

Stephanie Howard

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I currently have a 11 year old male cat with Diabetes . We have been doing insulin since October of last year. Next month I am going on a 3 day vacation and I am considering skipping insulin for 2 full days. I currently do insulin twice a day but I do not trust anyone to come to my home and actually do this. I'm considering taking him to the vet for the 2 days but was wondering if anyone has skipped more then 2 days worth of insulin. I have skipped 1 day at most but nothing more then that. thank you for any advice
 
Do you home test to know what his numbers are like? That might help you decide if he'll be OK without insulin for 2 full days. Is there an option to have a Vet tech administer the shots for those 2 days if you decide not to skip? Some clinics have techs that will offer that service instead of a regular pet sitter. Is he on Prozinc? @wolfey Teresa, can you chime in on your decision to skip with Buddy for a few days? Maybe it will help Stephanie decide what to do. :)
 
Is you kitty prone to ketones or has he ever been hospitalized with DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis). You would know if he ever had this as he would have been quite sick. IF he is prone to ketones or DKA then skipping shots is not a good idea.
 
thank you for your responses. Yes he is on Prozinc. We do not home test. Currently he is on 3 units every 12 hours.

And no he is not prone to either ketones or DKA.

I could leave him with the local vet and they would give the insulin, they just advised that when he is there he gets very angry when locked in the gage for so long. I have a very spoiled cat who loves to rom around my house with my other cat. I know it sounds crazy i just want him to be comfortable at home if he can. I do have a roommate that will be feeding them when I'm gone but she is not comfortable doing insulin.
 
Without home testing it is hard to say how high the glucose readings are on a regular basis. If his readings are high then it is definitely not a good idea to skip insulin for 3 days. You could ask at your local vet if there is a vet tech that would be willing to come to the house and test and give insulin shots. I totally understand not wanting to board him while you are gone. One of mine would be in so much stress that I know he wouldn't eat in boarding.
 
I'm gonna look into that and see if the vet would come by the house. that might actually work.

He does get very stressed when at the Vet. They say he gets mean and he is usually never like that. I think he is just spoiled and likes his home lol.

Thank you,
 
I hope that will work. My guy turns into a rock at the vets...they all say how easy he is to work with since he doesn't move, but that is because he is terrified. :(
 
Yong said:
Do you home test to know what his numbers are like? That might help you decide if he'll be OK without insulin for 2 full days. Is there an option to have a Vet tech administer the shots for those 2 days if you decide not to skip? Some clinics have techs that will offer that service instead of a regular pet sitter. Is he on Prozinc? @wolfey Teresa, can you chime in on your decision to skip with Buddy for a few days? Maybe it will help Stephanie decide what to do. :)
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Sorry, I have been gone today that is why I did not reply. I would never skip a dose for Buddy and I always take a reading before giving insulin. One of the first times I took a reading Buddy's BG was 41, the next time (about 5 min later) he was @31. If I had given him insulin he would not have survived. I check for Ketones every chance I get, that could really sneak up on a kitty with high readings (maybe skipped doses). If I had no one that I could trust to give my cats (2 other cats taking medicine) their medicine I would not go anywhere. My cats are very important to me and I do not take their health lightly.
 
thank you for all the advice. I think my dad will be coming now to help with the insulin.
Do you believe I should be home testing, because I am not and my vet has never mentioned it.
We did a glucose curve for a few weeks. started at 1 unit, then moved up to 2 then 3 and then 4 and 3 units was the magic dose.
we have been doing 3 units since November 2016
 
We consider home testing to be critical. Think of it this way: you'd never give your child a shot of insulin without BG tests...why would you do that to your cat?

A lot of vets don't mention home testing because they are afraid caregivers will be resistant to it, and some just think it isn't necessary. Home testing has literally saved the lives of cats on this forum, however. Imagine if your preshot level was a 40...that's normal for a cat not on insulin! Without knowing that, a caregiver could blindly shoot several units of insulin and the cat could hypo. Not trying to scare you...just saying I've seen that preshot when the cat has no insulin.

On another note, the home testing can save you a TON of money. No more curves or fructosamines at the vet! And it gives you so much more control over your cat. The numbers at the vet can often be higher than at home (due to stress) so home testing can allow you to continue to monitor your cat with him able to remain comfortably at home.

We'd be thrilled to help you learn how to home test! Are you interested?
 
You got very lucky that her ideal dose was found with jumping full units :), however, the ideal dose can be a moving target (Kris's words :D). Home testing will help you figure that out, if it should happen. It's great that you are interested and willing! Like Rachel said it has saved many a kitty live here, including my own :cat:
 
Great! We've taught a lot of people to home test here (including me!). So next step is to decide on a meter to use. There are human meters and pet meters. People like both of them for different reasons. I used a human meter. Others here use only pet meters. Pet meters are supposed to be calibrated to read animal blood better, but the strips (where most of your money will go) are a LOT more expensive. I believe the AlphaTrak 2 (leading pet meter that I know of) has strips for $1 each. For the Relion meters (most used human meters around here), you can get 100 strips for about $30 I think. In the end, it comes down to what you prefer. Some like the pet meter as it matches what their vet uses. I used a human meter because my vet told me to...said it was cheaper and would work fine. You could do some research and decide what's best for you. Also, ask us any questions you like. We use both here and can analyze data from either...we just need to know what you are using!

Second: shopping list!
  • Meter
  • Extra test strips (you'll go through a ton of these)
  • Lancets (we suggest buying 26 or 28 gauge as they are larger...they are usually labeled for alternate test sites)
  • Some special kitty treats (I like to get specific treats I use only at test time...freeze dried chicken was a hit at my house)
  • A bottle of wine or some chocolate (for you!!)

I think that's all you need from the store. If you can't find these things, ask the pharmacist and they can help.

While reasearching and getting ready to buy supplies, you might start some desensitization exercises with your kitty. Choose a testing spot. I chose on the floor in the kitchen. Some like the back of a couch or a table or counter. Anywhere is fine. Take your kitty there several times a day and rub his ears some and then give a treat. He'll start to associate this spot and ear rubbing with treats...which is good!

I don't want to overwhelm you, so I'll stop there for now. What questions do you have? We can go into HOW to test in a bit. :)
 
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