Dosing Advice for Vetsulin

If I got a pre shot number of 250, how many units of Vetsulin should I give my cat? Reference this thread for plenty of background info. The vet prescribed him 3 units but I think that is too high.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/bg-home-testing-vetsulin.167348/#post-1813904

 

Hi. Sorry you didn't get a response sooner. Late at night, it might be a good idea to post here but also put a link to the post in Health because that definitely does get more traffic.

I see you decided to give Simon 1.75u tonight. There is no set formula like give x amount of insulin at a reading of y. The dose is very much dependent on the cat. I agree however that the dosing your vet advised was high and reducing was the right decision. The only way to figure out how much insulin to give is to start with a low dose, usually of no more than 1unit and work up from there so you don't bypass the right dose. Once you have more data, it will be easier to see how the insulin is working for Simon and in turn to determine what dose to give him based on pre-shot test numbers.

You have missed a number of doses lately due to low enough pre-shot tests that giving insulin was not advisable. If I were you, I think I'd take Simon down to no more than 1u and then work up from there. If you can get some more tests in around +3/+4 to try to find his nadir (lowest point in the 12 hour cycle) and +7/+8 to see what he is doing later in the cycle, it will give you the data you need to make dosing decisions. The goal is to find a dose that you can give twice daily that keeps Simon in decent BG ranges without sending him too low or having him run too high.
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I agree with 1 unit over 250. Half a unit 170-250. And keep taking tests and recording the days.

These numbers will change over time and with the data collected.

That 3 u you shot was a lot considering you didn't get any readings. If your going to take a chance with a large dose like that, you really need to test around +4 to make sure she isn't going too low.

Their systems can be very sensitive to external insulin especially in the beginning, and you don't have a lot of info yet.