Help with stalling a shot (Vetsulin)

Hey all,

I've been posting in the Vetsulin forums, but it doesn't get as much traffic as this one does, and I want to see if I can get an answer sooner.

Kitsu tested at 90 for her PMPS. This is low for Vetsulin. I stalled for an hour (no food, as recommended) and tested her again an hour later. She is testing at 112 now. My no-shoot number is closer to 200. I'm afraid to keep stalling too long, because her AM shot has to be at a specific time (right before I leave for work), so I'd hate to give her insulin 2 hours in, then again at +10 instead of +12 and not be around all day to test her until after work.

I know Vetsulin is a shorter-acting insulin and this shouldn't be a big deal, but I wanted to post here just in case, since I haven't done her shots that far apart before.

So what do you all think? Stall for another hour, if she tests above 200, then shoot, and shoot again at her normal AMPS time (assuming she is above the no-shoot number)? Or just skip this dose tonight and let her go back into the 300s by AMPS? (This is what I normally do, so it wouldn't be her first time, but I'm trying to get her more regulated).

Thanks!

 

Unfortunately, since it is Vetsulin, if you can't change your shot schedule in the morning, it's safer to skip tonight.

 

Thanks Chris, I tested her after 2 hours of stalling and got about the same result as I did one hour into stalling (I'll update her SS before I go to bed). I just fed her and will skip the shot tonight. I appreciate your help! And just for clarification, since I can't change her AM shot, should I ever worry about stalling, or should I always skip if she's too low on PMPS?

 

It's usually a good idea to try stalling first because once the numbers start to go up, they can go up quickly.

If you keep getting Pre-shots too low to shoot, you should try lowering the dose

If Kitsu were mine, I'd probably drop down to 1U and see how she does

 

im Following along because Skittles is doing the same thing I actually just posted a pretty long post in the ProZinc section

 

@Jenna & Kitsu - Replied in Caninsulin/Vetsulin forum and am just copying here:
- - -

Jenna, you're getting quite a few preshot tests that are too low to shoot.

There are a number of different reasons for low preshot numbers.
It might be, for example, that the dose is too high and so there is some 'carryover' beyond the insulin's typical duration. That being the case it might be worth trying a slightly lower dose. That could even out the numbers and make it more likely that she is shootable both am and pm.

Or it might be that Kitsu's pancreas is able to produce some insulin to extend the duration sometimes; sort of 'picking up the ball and running with it'. If that makes sense...?

Vetsulin has a relatively short duration; it's action is usually 'done and dusted' after 10 - 12 hours. So, low numbers at the end of a cycle have to be there for a reason.
Either the cat is getting longer than average duration from the Caninsulin (unusual but not unheard of); or the dose is too high and causing 'carryover'; or the dose is too high and causing 'bouncing' (and the low numbers late on are the result of dropping out of a bounce); or the cat may be producing insulin of its own...
.

 

Chris, thank you for the suggestion! Here's what I posted in my Vetsulin thread to Elizabeth (and other viewers), just so you can see what I've done today:

"I will consider lowering her dose soon. I felt like she didn't eat as much as she should yesterday, so I wanted to experiment today by giving her YAZ Mature dry food only, no wet food. This way, I knew she would be eating enough calories to not show up low on her PMPS.

So, today when I got home from work, she had a bit of kibble left in her bowl (good because I left out a tiny more than she should have eaten while I was at work). I put it away and didn't let her eat between 5:15 (+9) and 8:00 (+12, PMPS). I tested her at +10 and she was 164. At PMPS, she was 182, so not much change between +10 and +12, but still higher than she was last night. I'm thinking it is because she ate more food throughout the day instead of starving herself like she normally does when I leave wet food out.

This may have been the wrong decision, but I went ahead and gave her 1 unit of insulin at PMPS, even though she was at 182. I will test her again closer to bedtime to make sure her levels aren't too low. I did set her dry food back down and she did eat it before I gave her the shot, so her 182 should go up before the insulin hits her, since it seems to hit her later in the cycle. I also did a 0.75 unit PM shot last week when she was 169, so she should be fine.

Question for accuracy - When I come home from work, should I continue to put her food away until PMPS, or should I let her eat before her PMPS? I've read about withholding food for a certain period of time before the PMPS because food obviously makes BG levels raise, but she does cry for her food when I hold it back like that, and I'm not sure if it's making the results less accurate, since I don't do that for the AMPS (since I'm still asleep)."

Again, thanks for the help, Chris and Elizabeth. You two have been awesome. Since you both have talked about Kitsu's dose possibly being too high, I will scale her back down to 1.0 and see how she does on that. I just know she was originally prescribed 1.0 and I boosted it to 1.5 because she was still drinking/urinating a lot on the 1.0 dose, but I think that might have been when she was still transitioning from high-carb dry food to wet, so hopefully it will be better this time.

Sherrib, I wish you the best with figuring out Skittles' issue!

 

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