Unsure about tonights shot

[MiloMistyMax]

My cat was diagnosed in October of this year. His number was 504. He started getting insulin(Lantus) on November 14 because changing his diet wasn't showing any results. He started with 3 units, twice a day.

After 1 week his amount was around 350.

The next check was set for 2 weeks, which was today. He was at 95. My vet told me to keep giving him the 3 units, twice daily. I am very new at this but that made me very uneasy. I hadn't yet been able to check his blood myself either. I thought it would take longer to get him down to that kind of amount.

So finally about an hour ago, an hour before his next shot, I was able to get his blood and the glucometer said 103. I read here that under 150 pre shot should NOT get any insulin. I am afraid to go against the vet but I am more afraid to hurt my cat. The vet clearly knows more than me but I feel safer not giving him his insulin tonight.

I am not giving him the insulin tonight but I wondered if someone could tell me if this is the right thing to do. I will test him tomorrow morning and I guess still won't give him any if it hasn't gone up. Is that the right thing? It hasn't even been one month yet.

 

[j_o]

I would definetly skip the shot tonight the vet might be trained more than you but you know your cat and you have obviously educated yourself on his condition.

 

[Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)]

That was exactly the right thing to do. Especially a dose of 3 units on a number that low.
My advice would be to not give any insulin unless you see a number over 200. And also to lower the dose to one unit or less. The test numbers that you really need, besides the ones just before you give a shot, are numbers that find how low the BG is between shots. Can you get any tests about 5-7 hours after the shots? That's when it should be lowest - we call that the "nadir". With Lantus, that reading determines how well a dose is working. It also provides the safety of knowing if the BG is going too low.
Right now, your kitty is in normal BG numbers. They may go up without insulin. But in general, I think that the dose is too high without having mid-cycle data.
Thank God you are home testing
Carl

 

[BJM]

Please see my signature link for Secondary Monitoring Tools. You need to have some idea of his status, whenever you cannot get blood tests accomplished. He has the potential to hypo on you with those low numbers.

The vet may have been trained for a couple hours on Feline Diabetes, but probably has not been doing very much of it unless he is a specialty vet at a specialty service. It is very possible, he is a bit out of date. Here are some articles for him (and you) to read.

AAHA Feline Diabetes Treatment Guidelines

Dosing protocol for cats on glargine or detemir using daily home monitoring of blood glucose concentrations to adjust insulin dose

 

[Tara & Buster]

Nice job on going with your gut and congratulations on home testing! I think you just experienced first hand why it's so important to test in order to keep your kitty safe. If you notice in our signatures, we all post a spreadsheet to help us keep track of the numbers. It is also a great quick reference for those giving dosing advice should you need it. If you would like to get that set up and post over in the Lantus forum we can help you as you go. Welcome!

Spreadsheet tracker: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207

Lantus forum: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewforum.php?f=9