? Would you increase Caninsulin dose

[Charp]

We did Lily's first curve today. We missed one BG because we're still struggling to get enough blood to test and her poor ears are so ragged. We were told by the vet to use 1/2 dose this weekend and increase to full dose on Monday. Full dose is 1 iu Caninsulin and this is her 2.5 day on treatment. My readings for the curve are below and I think my spreadsheet will work.

It looks to me like it's reacting as it should, and peaking around +6. She was changed to full low carb wet food from a mixed 1/2 kibble, 1/2 wet regime just last Wednesday. She also changed from open feeding to timed feeding, and the biggest change is not having her handful of Temptations everyday.

We both work, so will take an am, pm, and peak BG reading tomorrow, but then have to stick to BG testing am and pm only for the week, with maybe a late night test now and then.

With all of these changes, I'm leaning to sticking to the .75 dose this week, but would appreciate some guidance. I know most of you use different insulin, but would you increase to full 1 iu tomorrow if Lily was your cat or stay with .75 iu for a bit?

AM - 18.1
Dose 0.50 iu
+2 - 11.5
+4 - 10.6
+6 - No BG
+8 - 15
+10 - 19
PM - 19.8
Dose 0.75iu

 

[Brashworks]

Hi Char - good for you getting Lily's curve done! I read your notes on her spreadsheet and she's not making it easy on you, is she?

if I recall, you have recently changed Lily's diet drastically. If that is the case, I'd lean towards seeing what the food change does before increasing the dose. I hope your vet doesn't kill me for saying so. Would you be able to get Lily's +4 reading tonight after her new .75U dose? That might tell more of the story, but also keep in mind if her body is used to getting carbs from a dry diet and a handful of Temptations, her BG might react more drastically. Give it time - better she be at her current numbers with a .5u dose than increase and go hypo.

Have a look at Genghis' spreadsheet and you will see what I mean. Now, she was on 2.0 units initially, but combined with the diet change, she threw me some pretty low numbers after a week. It's really hard to do incremental doses on those darn 40U syringes - trying to get to ½ or so is a mere drop of insulin.

Hope that helps!

 

[Brashworks]

PS The Caninsulin site does not recommend dose changes more than 10% at a time or sooner that 5-6 days on the current dose. My own experience would confirm that it does take some time for the insulin to settle in.

 

[Charp]

Thanks @Brashworks I was looking at Genghis' chart today, which is one of the reasons I was kind of hesitant to go too hard too fast. I also saw your posts where you discussed backing off your dose. We'll try a +4 reading tonight if I can catch her. She's pretty much hating us and hating life right now, but I can definitely seen an improvement in her eyes and activity level (and yes, she's getting faster at running away!) Her drinking and peeing has also slowed down quite significantly. I feel like it's working as is, but wanted some guidance before going against vet's advice.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

I can't help at all with Caninsulin, but have you ever been told that there's a conversion chart you can use with U40 insulins? You'd use the U100 syringes and convert the dosage

It can be a lot easier to give those smaller doses using the U100 syringes and the chart

 

[Brashworks]

Oh poor Lily! You are a trouper for what you've had to go through. Trying to get Picasso's reading today I began to understand what most other folks have to go through to get a reading.

If she's already drinking and peeing less, wow! That is great news. It's easy to get caught up in the numbers and forget to look at your actual cat -- you're a natural at this.

I don't think your vet will be upset if you demonstrate you've been tracking her numbers and have concern about Lily's BG dropping too low given the combination of diet change thrown into the mix. Start low and go slow - I know I was SO impatient to get Genghis' numbers down I was trying to bully them a bit with insulin. I'm very lucky I was on vacation the week after she started on insulin. I was looking for insulin to be a magic bullet and it's just not. Some mornings I take her reading and her number is disappointing, but when I look at the overall picture, when I look at HER and see how much better she is (and how much less kitty litter I'm going through!) I'm happy with the results.