Changing to Lev

Hi all!

Andre' has been on Lantus for three months now. Although his numbers have dropped I have to attribute it partly to the change in diet from hi-carb dry to low-carb canned. I do leave some Epigen90 dry out for him and the others to nibble on.

Call it guy feeling, but he looks out of sorts sometimes and I can see that in his eyes and behavior.

He is on 1.75 u u100 BID.

I can't test him and have resorted to taking him to the vets for testing every two weeks.
I know how to test, but can't on him (yet) so don't go there.

There is a study where eight out of eight cats went OTJ within twelve weeks and vet testing only once every two weeks. They were on Latus and I wonder if there is a Lev study like that?

Anyhow, I have read that to make the transition from Lantus to Levemir just decrease the dose by 30%.
Is that correct or is there another method?

 

Hi,
I don't see a spreadsheet link for Andre, so I am abit hesitant to recommend a starting dose. In Andre's case it would depend on how well regulated he appears to be on Lantus. If not very, then I suggest 1U, otherwise you could go by the 30% less rule. But even if he appears regulated, he may need even less Levemir to start with and regardless of Lantus dose we use the default of 1U most ofthe time. We need some numbers to give further input.

You may have read that some members who have switched their cat from Lantus to Lev noticed behavior changes, specifically calmer. So Andre may benefit and it may also help you with the hometesting issues because he may be relating how he feels to the testing.

 

switch at 70% lev for the starting dose.

how often you test has no bearing at all as to if or when a cat goes OTJ.
actually, for all you know, you could be giving insulin to a cat for 2 weeks when the cat does not need it and end up causing a hypo situation.

I hope you will continue to TRY to test your cat, for his own safety.

 

I think if testing is an issue, you want to make a dose change and err on the side of caution. 1.75u less 30% is 1.225u. Call that 1.25u, but I'd also suggest 1u because you won't be testing prior to every shot.