What should I do if numbers are low at shot time?

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Meowluv

Member Since 2013
If Ferdinand has a low number at shot time what should I do? He is currently on 3 units of PZI 2x a day. I have thought that I should not shoot below 200 or maybe just give him a lesser dose of insulin but the vet doesn't like me doing that and I'm afraid it isn't good for Ferdinand. Shouldn't he always get the same dose at the same time everyday? I'm really just kind of confused here.

Thanks!
Melody
 
You have several choices.

1. Skip the shot. This is the safest. Your cat will not have their BG level drop too low with possibly too much insulin.

2. Give a reduced dose. Perhaps half of your cats normal dose. You should still monitor closely with home testing to know how your cat is doing.

4. Stall the shot. By this we mean, test, do not feed, do not give the insulin yet. Test again in 30 minutes. If the BG number is now over 200, it will be safe to give the insulin and feed.

If the BG is still below 200, wait another 30 minutes without feeding and retest. Over 200? then feed and shoot.
Under 200 delay food and insulin again.

You will reach a point in this stalling method where the BG number is either high enough to shoot or too low to shoot and you will need to skip the shot for safety.

It is easier to know what you should do if your cat is low once you have done some testing and gathered more data on how YOUR cat reacts. Every cat is different.

You can always post on here and ask for assistance. We will give you recommendations based on your spreadsheet and the numbers that you have gathered in testing. If you do not have enough tests yet, we will tell you to skip the shot.
 
That is an EXCELLENT question and I am glad you asked it before it happens. And it will happen since over time you will want your kitty getting into more nromal numnbers even if they arent ready for no insulin at all.

For newbies I would recommend #4 as Deb said above. Stall to see what she is doing.. but remember that your next shot has to be 12 hours from this new time. Remember that this is based on not feeding for 2 hours before the shot, so the preshot number isnt influenced by food.

Here is a primer on shooting low : http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=147

Wendy
 
We do not recommend shooting low until you have gathered data to support that decision. Please read the link that Wendy gave you, in the above post, on getting ready to shoot low.

You are also using PZI. That insulin does not have the same duration as the Lantus or Levimir does. With PZI, you can dose again as long as it has been at least 10 hours. I was reminded of this the other day by Rob & Harley over in the Insulin Support Group for PZI.

It was in this post: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/posting.php?mode=quote&f=24&p=1034025
Rob & Harley (GA) said:
Who ever told you to move up the shot time by 15 minutes must be a Lantus/Lev user.

Prozinc is much more flexible than that, you could move the shot times by 30 minutes to an hour each shot and adjust the dose down. You just don't want to shoot less than 10 hours apart.
Click to expand...

I had forgotten I was posting to a PZI user and Robin stepped in with the correct information.
 
Thank you all for the information! I will read the link you posted. I have been confused about how to handle this. I appreciate the help I get here.:)

Melody
 
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