It’s hard to keep calling my vet all the time. So I was wanting to know if cats blood is 520 was 2 units vetsulin an ok dose or should I have gave one instead. If it’s in 300’s what should I give or 400’s? I worry about bottoming out. I can’t even do anything because I’m afraid of leaving him alone and him bottoming out. I’ve had good and bad vet experience’s so I trust this place more. Also what kind of experiences have people had with lantus? Thinking about switching. Also what do you guys give for pain from shots and lancets? He is getting sore.
Welcome! It’s not really possible to give dosing advice without seeing some testing data for your kitty. Do you have a spreadsheet set up? An important thing to consider when deciding on how much insulin to give is how low your cat goes on that dose, not just what the preshot value is. Vetsulin is a harsh insulin for cats and a lot of them do better on Lantus, if you’re considering switching. The injections should not hurt your kitty. Are you making a tent with his fur and injecting under the skin? If you’re hitting a muscle, that can hurt. It’s also good to rotate the injection site as well to prevent scar tissue from building up. For the ear pricks, applying light pressure with a cotton ball after you poke can help prevent bruising, and you can also apply some petroleum jelly or neosporin after, if your cat is okay with it. I’ll also tag Linda for you, as she is the Vetsulin expert @MrWorfMen's Mom
Vetsulin or any other insulin is not dosed based on how high BG is at shot time. Every cat reacts differently to insulin so the dose required to regulate the blood glucose will likewise be different. You need to start dosing at a low level, usually 1u and work up as needed. Generally speaking, 2u is a higher starting dose than we would recommend. I take it you are home testing your cat. Getting some mid cycle tests between +3 and +6 hours post shot, will tell you how low BG is dropping and whether the dose is too low, too high or about right. And don't forget to get some tests at night too. Otherwise you are only seeing half the picture and our kitties have a habit of going lower at night than they do during the day. As Sarah mentioned, it's impossible to give you dosing advise without seeing some data. It would be helpful if you could set up a spreadsheet and plot in the readings you have taken up till now. The instructions for setting up the spreadsheet are HERE. THIS document explains how to use the spreadsheet. If you need help setting the SS up, just holler.
