Carol and Zoey

My kitty Zoey was diagnosed a little over a month ago. First she was on Novolin, but after a couple of weeks we switched her to Vetsulin. She has been on that for 2 weeks now. Her BG is still high, sometimes in the 4-500 range. I've had a couple of low readings 38 and 50 about 6-7 hours after her morning shot. She is on 4 units now, but her BGT is still fluctuating and high. Any suggestions?

 

Welcome to FDMB.
You actually need to reduce the dose. If she is going below 50 mg/dL on a human glucometer or 68 mg/dL on a pet glucometer, the dose is too high.
The problem with both Novolin and Vetsulin is that they tend not to last a full 12 hours, so the pre-shot tests are very high.
Better insulins include BCP PZI (the vet can get a free sample vial), ProZinc, Levemir, or Lantus. These all last about 12 hours in the cat.

 

By the way - its great you are home testing. That will help keep your cat safe.
See my signature link Glucometer Notes for feline reference ranges when using human or pet meters.
You didn't mention what you are feeding. A low carb, over the counter food in place of high carb (and some Rx diets are high carb, especially if dry!) may reduce the gluocse by 100-200 mg/dL. Pop over to Cat Info for more excellent info written by a vet.

 

Thanks for your help! I'm feeding her only the very low carb Fancy Feast varieties, and when I changed solely to that it didn't seem to make much difference in her BG levels. I will check with my vet about getting one of the other insulins you mentioned above. I just consistently get readings in the 200s, 300s, and 400s. A couple even over 500. She is very good about getting her ears pricked and taking the shots, so I've resolved those issues, but I'm stressed about not being able to bring down her BG levels. I do have her spreadsheet posted on my signature page, although I've had trouble getting to it.

 

Insulin doses are adjusted based on the nadir, the lowest glucose post-shot. We typically recommend a reduction of 0.25 units when the glucose level drops below 50 mg/dL on a human glucometer.

If you are using a pen cartridge or a U-40 syringe to inject, pick up some U-100 syringes (you may need a prescription).
With a conversion chart, you can use those to dose as finely as 0.2 units of a Vetsulin or, if you get it, ProZinc.
U-100 insulin has 100 units per mL
U-40 insulin has 40 units per mL, or 0.4 of the concentration of a U-100 insulin.
if you multiply 0.4 times the marking on a U-100 syringe, you get the dose of the U-40 insulin that mark would measure.
0.4 * 0.5 = 0.2 units of U-40
0.4 * 1.0 = 0.4 units of U-40
0.4 * 1.5 = 0.6 units of U-40
0.4 * 2.0 = 0.8 units of U-40
0.4 * 2.5 = 1.0 units of U-40

 

Thanks. I printed off the conversion chart. My vet has ordered the BVI PZI so I should get it next week. I will monitor her on the Vetsulin until then. Hopefully, the new insulin will last longer and help stabilize her. Thanks for your help!

 

You're very welcome. Until then, come over to Feline Health to post, as more people will see your threads there.

Depending on what he ordered, it could be either a U-40 concentration or a U-100 concentration. This refers to the number of units in 1 mL.

When you have a moment, could you add a few tidbits to your signature? It will help us give you feedback without having to go look in all your past posts.

Editing your Signature

In the upper right corner of the screen, within the dark blue bar, you will see ID, Inbox, and Alerts

Click on your ID.

On the left, under Settings, Click on Signature.
This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback.
This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
Add any other text, such as
your name,
cat's name,
date of Dx (diagnosis)
insulin
meter
any other pertinent issues like if there are any food issues, history of DKA, hepatic lipidosis, pancreatitis, allergies, IBD, etc.
Click the Save Changes button at the bottom.

Always click the Save Changes button at the bottom when you have changed anything.