Caninsulin to Lantus in a pinch.

My cat has been able to acheive a stable BG 7mmol/l at 5u of caninsulin 2 times a day.

I have gotten stuck with no caninsulin and no way to access any until later this week. I will be seeing my vet then. No vets will help us out in this without a full exam and I can't afford an exam and insulin rn.

I have access to a lantus pen and was looking switching my cat over anyway. If my cat has been stable at 5u, can I safely use a lantus pen? Would dosing be the same at 5u x2 day, or should I go by weight?

Please help!

 

Lantus and Caninsulin work in very different ways. I've never used Lantus myself so am not the best to advise you on how it works, but when switching from one insulin to another you would normally start from scratch, as it were, ie on a low starting dose, as you just don't know what your cat's response to it will be.

Whilst waiting for other members to respond, can you tell us if you're home testing? What do you mean by your cat is stable at 7? Whereabouts in the cycle do you get that reading? How long has your cat been on Caninsulin?

 

He has been on Caninsulin for months. Roughly since February. We don't home test, that's part of the visit later this week.

When I say he's stable at 7, I mean that we take him to the vet roughly every 2 weeks for a blood test that is done 3 hours after his morning shot and breakfast - the vet has told us several times that this is close to normal and we should stay with our 5 units twice a day.

 

Sorry but I'm a bit confused! A random reading like that at +3 doesn't really tell us how the insulin is working. It would give a fuller picture if we knew what the pre-shot number was, and what the readings are a little later in the cycle. It sounds as if the vet is going on a single bg number when he/she says your cat is stable at a bg of 7... that's not enough data. 5u is quite a high dose and your cat may be dropping lower than 7 later in the cycle when the insulin is at its peak.

Home testing is definitely the way forward to keep your cat safe, and knowledge is power. Have you read the Beginners Guide to Caninsulin on this board, which will tell you pretty much everything you need to know about using this insulin?

Which country are you in, by the way?

 

As Diana said, Lantus works quite differently than Caninsulin. First of all, it is much slower acting and secondly it is known as a depot insulin which means it builds up a "shed" and there is a bit of overlap in the action of the insulin. Caninsulin will last no more than 10 hours in most cats and sometimes only 8 hours while Lantus once the depot is built up, would not totally lose effect for a few cycles after the last shot. Without home testing, I would not risk it.

Where are you located? If in Canada, you can purchase human insulin that is more similar to Caninsulin at the nearest pharmacy without a prescription as a temporary solution ut you would also need to get new syringes. If you are located in the UK, I'm not sure if that's possible. Let us know.

 

Another really important thing to consider: Caninsulin is a U-40 insulin, while Lantus is U-100. That means that they are at different concentrations, and use different syringes. So, one thing that you definitely should NOT do is to use your (U-40) Caninsulin syringes to measure 5U of (U-100) Lantus-- that volume is the equivalent of 2.5*5=12.5U of Lantus, which would be a big overdose.

 

Dont worry everyone! I wont do anything crazy that would put the cat in any more danger. I'm trying to find someone to drive to my vet tomorrow AM to pick up some emergency insulin.

I have done a lot of reading, mostly about the caninsulin when he was diagnosed. My vet was odd in dealing with this health issue. They've always been a great vet with our other pets - but didn't offer much/any info regarding the diabetes or options. In fact, when I took my cat to the vet initially I had mentioned that I thought he perhaps had diabetes and she told me that it probably wasn't, it was probably a thyroid issue after that point we kind of went downhill...When he was diagnosed he rapidly got worse quickly, even developing neuropathy very quickly. I did a lot of research on that and got him on zobaline as soon as that started. He went from limping and not being able to jump to leaping across the couch today to the coffee table. I guess I was complacent in trusting the vet that we were fine to test every 2 weeks.

In any instance, I have downloaded the insulin spreadsheet, and am out to buy a glucose monitor soon.

 

Phew! Very glad to hear you're getting things properly checked out. Do stay around here and ask questions, this is the very best place to be. Keep us informed, and if/when you post again tell us a bit more about your kitty - age, diet etc. Also which country you're in.

 

Oh you noticed we are a group of worry warts did you!?! We worry about all the kitties and the caregivers who come here.

Your comments regarding the vet care does not surprise any of us. It's far more common than you'd expect. Vets don't see a lot of diabetic felines and don't get much in the way of "education" for it either. Doesn't make them bad vets.....just inexperienced with feline diabetes.

Sounds like you've made some good progress with the neuropathy. So glad to hear you plan to start home testing and tracking the tests as that is the best tool we have to get our kitties regulated. We can help you if you have any questions or concerns.

 

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to update you all and let you know that I’ve purchased a pet meter, we have several successful bg tests under our belts! Hurrah! (I was VERY nervous about those.) So, I’ll be monitoring for a while to make suggestions to my vet re: newcats health.

I also found an app that lets me track my bg tests, shot times, units dosed, mealtimes and water intake!

I’m getting a handle on this!

 

Sounds good. Testing blood glucosr at home is the very best thing to be able to do for your duabetic cat.
The app sounds useful but I suggest that you set up a spreadsheet to record bg data (we can help with that) and link it to your signature here so we can see bg data if you return with any questions about dosing etc.
Good luck!