Timing of insulin doses

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Voula

Voula

Member Since 2014
Hi everyone. We had a good vet visit today and the vet thinks we should increase Lucy's insulin dose by 0.25 units which I think is a good idea. I have a couple of days coming up where I will be out for fourteen hours and so I can't give Lucy her insulin every twelve hours as I usually do. I have tried to work it out by considering a longer than twelve hours dosing schedule but if I do that it means that Lucy will go twenty four hours between insulin doses for one day and longer than twelve hours another day too. The vet said I could give Lucy her two units of lantus insulin at ten hours instead of twelve hours for one of the daily doses on two consecutive days but if I gave a dose any earlier than ten hours I would have to reduce the dose. But on thinking about it I feel anxious about giving the same dose of 2 units at ten hours instead of our usual twelve hours so my inclination is to give a reduced dose at ten hours but not sure if this is a good idea. Lucy has not had major peaks or dips in her glucose levels and her glucose levels have been decreasing slowly and steadily with each increase in dose. I have given Lucy her insulin later than usual maybe once a week and it seems to have been okay to do this but because it will be two days in a row I don't know if this is a good thing to do to miss or delay a dose. I have organised for a friend and a family member to look after Lucy but they can't give insulin or do blood glucose tests. What do others do in similar situations. Thank you.
 
I would also reduce the dose if you have to give it at 10 hours instead of 12 just to be on the safe side, since she is currently on 2u I would probably cut back to 1.75 or 1.5 on the days you have to give it at 10 hours. And no beating yourself up either, life happens to the best of us, and we just have to do the best we can, with what we have to work with.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Agree with Mel on that. Cats are very adaptable. It may not be ideal, but it's better than not getting a shot at all. She'll get right back on track as soon as she's back on schedule. You do the best you can, that's all you can do. Hang in there. :YMHUG:
 
Thank you Mel and Deb too. I guess the other alternative is to have a longer interval between doses for example dose every 21 hours but that mightn't be a good idea either so I have to get over my anxiety of dosing at 10 hours even at a reduced dose. I am home most days so even dosing before I go out if I am going to be out all day makes me anxious. Though looking at Lucy's glucose levels she hasn't gone too low at any point from the tests I have done. I really admire those of you who have to be out all day and how you cope :smile:
 
There have been some folks who routinely had to dose unequal intervals.

I believe one was a shop cat and the shop was closed at the time it would have been 12 hours, so. The person did. 11 and 13 hour time intervals.
 
Thank you BJM. That is great to know. I have worked out that I can either dose one hour early for the next three doses then two hours late then two hours early then two hours late then back on schedule or do the next two doses a few hours late then two doses at twenty one hours but if I do earlier dosing option I will definitely reduce the dose to give less than two units.
 
Another option would be to give the next three doses an hour early then book the vet to come to the house to give the fourth dose on time then the fifth dose will be on time and the sixth dose will be two hours late but the issue is the vet won't be able to do a blood glucose test before the dose though I will be home two hours after the dose so that might be an option though it makes me anxious not to test before the dose.
 
If X amount covers 12 hours, what amount covers 1 hour? Then reduce by that fraction per # of hour.
This may accommodate the increased overlap.

You don't want to increase for the longer periods as it could take him too low.
 
Thank you again BJM. Great minds think alike as I already worked that out. The hourly dose is .16 units so at ten hours it is 1.6 units and at eleven hours it is 1.8 units. I will not increase the dose for a longer time period do not worry about that as not only would that be stupid but also very dangerous to do so. Given my anxiety levels since Lucy was diagnosed with diabetes you can be sure I will always err on the side of caution. :smile:
 
hi Voula
good luck with the dose changes. i'm with you..i would also err on the side of caution.
 
Thank you Nadine. I could just give a dose every twenty hours for two days but we are making progress and I think we need to keep on schedule as much as we possibly can. So I am going to reduce the dose if I dose earlier by an hour or two as I am anxious to keep Lucy safe.
 
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