Vacation

[Felix and Ron]

So we started Felix on 2 units 1 time per day 2 weeks ago. Still have not started home testing of BG as we are leaving Tuesday for 8 days. Pet sitter will only come one time per day so canned food only once per day with dry left out. We did have him at the vet Monday for curve and when we picked him up level was 167. Just concerned leaving and disruption of diet may cause problems. Any suggestions,ideas?

 

[Terry and Casey]

I am new at this myself but you'll need to provide more details in your signature so that someone (more experienced) can properly advise you. What insulin are you using? What kind of food are you feeding...brand? low carb? You also must start blood testing. It took me awhile to get the hang of it, but it is really important. If your sitter cant' test you may want to give a reduced dosage so your kitty doesn't go hypo. Hopefully someone else who is more experienced will chime in to help.

 

[Shiloh & Rhonda (GA)]

Did I read that right, insulin only once a day? I too would be interested in what kind of insulin and food.

 

[BJM]

Sorry folks. No insulin lasts 24 hours in cats. Giving it once a day, doesn't make it so.
In fact, you'll get better control dividing that dose in half and giving it every 12 hours.
Ideally, a person would come in every 12 hours to shoot. The time frame for planning that was insufficient, so this is what the other person has managed to set up. It risks hyperglycemia for 12 or more hours per day, which includes the risk of diabetic ketoacidosis.

The only time one may give insulin 1 time a day or less is when the cat is nearly off insulin. Sometimes, you even 'chase the numbers' and wait until it is safe to shoot before giving insulin, however long that is.

 

[Felix and Ron]

That is what the vet recommends in contrast to everything I have read. Dosing twice a day makes sense, but with going out of town for 8 days I have no way to do that. Using Prozinc

 

[kidsandliz]

Did I read that right, insulin only once a day? I too would be interested in what kind of insulin and food.

My vet is insisting Lantus, one shot every 24 hours. When I brought up splitting it she had a hissy. That being said I am going to ignore her because after around 7-8 hours my cat's glucose is practically back to pre-shot levels. However one shot a day is, in my opinion, a decent compromise if you have to be out of town and you worry about the cat running out of food, having a problem. The other suggestion of reducing the dose slightly is likely what I would do in case I was worried as well. Yes control won't be as well, but it might be safer for your cat when you look at the risks vs harms. I had a cat die due to a vet tech taking care of my cat for 8 days while my father was dying. She didn't read my note that the dose of insulin was reduced from last time she took care of him, missed he was mildly hypoglycemic on the dose she was giving him and not eating enough, went into liver failure and I had to put him down two days after my dad's funeral. So I am a bit hypersensitive about making sure there is no way my current diabetic cat can get too much insulin.

Also there was a small study (pubmed is where I found it) that looked at 1x day with lantus vs 2x day. Cats were more likely to go in to remission with 2x a day but over all diabetes control wasn't statistically significantly different. That being said, I'd guess a smaller BG swing is better for the cat which would mean 2 shots a day make more sense in the long haul.

 

[Shiloh & Rhonda (GA)]

@kidsandliz, please don't think I was judging. I was just trying to make sure I understood. Safety is above all else!

 

[BJM]

Which is what I said. I hope your cat will be OK.

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

I'm late to this party but hopefully you will see this upon return from vacation. I'm with BJM and everyone else on this. I had an experience with another member's cat that was getting ProZinc only once a day due to the owner's schedule and vet recommendation. The poor cat was bouncing like crazy and not doing well at all when I first saw him. He definitely started improving when twice a day shots were started.

Just my two cents worth!

 

[Mitzelplik's Mom]

It took some research, but I found a pet-sitter who will come twice day for shots. She won't be able to test, so I'm going to have her give a reduced dose for the week. I'm surprised there are vets who recommend only giving insulin once a day!