Start injections right away on Tues or wait?

[my Casey bear]

It has been a little while since my DC (Casey) was diagnosed (long story), but I finally have a script and expect to receive the Lantus on Tue. Casey has not had any insulin injections yet, but has switched to a low-carb canned food on the 7/12. I also have been doing some BG home testing...posted on Casey's BG Chart.

I would like to start giving Casey her injections that Tues night, but I would not be able to do what was suggested...

WHEN FOLLOWING A TIGHT REGULATION PROTOCOL WITH LANTUS OR LEVEMIR...


Kitty should be monitored closely the first three days when starting Lantus or Levemir.
Blood glucose levels should at least be checked at pre-shot, +3, +6, and +9.
More monitoring may be needed.

... I could probably get up every 3 hrs if i need to, but I will be working during the day. My brother will be at my house and would keep an eye on her to watch for (and treat) any signs of her going HYPO; but she would not allow him to test her BG. Taking the 3 days off work is not an option, and taking time off to back and for from work to test her is almost as bad as just taking the days off. So...

:?: Should I go ahead with starting the injections right away? Or should I wait a little longer until I would be able to test her BG throughout the day?

The vet DX 1u BID...I was thinking that maybe I could start right away, with out the BG testing, at a lower dose...say .5u. :?: What do you think? Maybe even lower? (FYI: Casey weighs about 12.5 lb)

Roberta
and Casey

 

[CD and BigMac]

Hi Roberta!
I understand you have a hard decision to make. Perhaps you could start with a lower dose as you said, maybe 0.75u or 0.50u and start the first shot in the evening as soon as you get home from work. You test, shoot, feed. Then get tests at +2, and as many as you can before you go to bed. That would tell you how Casey is doing... at least for that first evening. If you are able, you can try setting an alarm to wake you up in the middle of the night to do one test and then stagger back to bed. :lol: We call that 'sleep testing.'

Then try to get up an hour before time to shoot in the morning and test (+11) and again this will help give you some information.

Any data you can get will be helpful.

If you decide to wait until the next weekend to start insulin, I would buy some ketostix and test her urine for ketones to make sure Casey is safe in the interim. That would be the main concern. She isn't terribly high at this point so she might be ok, but ketones can occur at those numbers. (DKA) Diabetic ketoacidosis is a very dangerous complication. You don't want to mess around with ketones.

The test strips are at any drug store. They are for people and cost about 12 dollars or so.

Best of luck!
I'm sure there will be others to offer their ideas too.

 

[Marje and Gracie]

I agree with Carolyn (CD). The other thing to remember is that lantus has a depot or shed that has to fill. You can read more about it here:

Lantus Shed

Basically, the shed (under the skin) has to fill before the kitty starts using the insulin. Once the shed is full, then the extra that you shoot is what the kitty uses. ECID but it *might* take 3-5 days (6-10 cycles) to start seeing some change to her numbers.....especially if you start at .5u or .75u and she actually needs more. You have to be comfortable with what you want to do but the sooner you start filling her shed, the sooner any FD symptoms will start to decrease...the PU/PD, weight loss, really hungry kitty, etc. Having said that, we are supportive of whatever works best for you and Casey.

Carolyn has some good suggestions about testing which you can do while her shed fills.