New to Vetsulin need advice

Hi! I am only familiar with Lantus. Next month I am pet sitting a diabetic that is on vetsulin. I watched him about a month ago and I saw the Drastic differences between using my ReliOn meter and Alpha 2 meter. I want to know how to adjust the difference or figure out what number he is really at before I shoot him. Last time I tested him he was at 202 on the ReliOn meter and he was at 364 for using the alphatrak 2. The ladies vet adjusted him from one unit to 1 and 1/2. Any advice is most appreciated.

 

Hi,
From what I understand all meters have up to a 20% variance in reading so it looks like your relion may have been reading 20% lower and AT 20% higher... in the end your AT will almost always be closer to what the vets number will be on a blood panel as AT is calibrated for animals. They tend to be closer in the lower numbers-

I am not confidant to advise on dosage but when I was giving vetsulin to Dre it hit fast and harsh --he would nadir at 2-3 hours and rise from there and it is a in and out insulin so no depot like lantus and lev-
I also had to be sure he would eat a good meal before a vetsulin shot-
I will tag others who may know more than myself..

@MrWorfMen's Mom
@tiffmaxee
@manxcat419

 

There is no way to convert Relion numbers to AT2 numbers or vice versa. The pet meter will read higher than the human meter and the difference between the readings gets larger the higher the BG. And as mentioned, there is also meter variance which can make the numbers look quite different. What you need to know is that if the cat's BG is 68 or lower on the AT2 meter, that indicates BG is potentially dropping too low and action is needed immediately.

As Jayla indicated, Vetsulin is an in and out insulin and the drop starts earlier than Lantus and is often steeper and often the effect does not last a full 12 hours. Nadir can be anytime between 3 and 6 hours post shot in most cases. It's recommended that you do a pre-shot BG test, feed the cat, wait for 20 to 30 minutes and then give the insulin. You need to be sure kitty has eaten a good meal and that the food is staying down before giving the insulin.

If you will be visiting twice daily (as opposed to live in sitting) then you may want to discuss lowering the dose slightly for the time you are sitting the cat. Folks here often will reduce the dose slightly to ensure the cat, while unattended, will not drop too low. We also recommend not shooting at any reading under 200 on a human meter when there is little data or the cat will be unattended. On the pet meter, I would recommend a reading of 250 to 275 as the "no shoot" point but this is something you should discuss with the cat's caregiver. If the cat has been on Vetsulin for awhile and the cat is fairly well regulated, they likely have determined their own "no shoot" number based on their cat's reaction to the insulin and advice from the vet.

Every cat is different and with the caregivers home testing, I would hope they have historical data on which to reach decisions to keep the cat safe.

If you have any other questions, please let us know.

 

use the alpahatrak since that's what she bases her dose on. You can lower the dose if you get a lower preshot reading. Since you are staying there overnight try to get a before bed reading to see if the dose is a good amount. If you are ever not sure of what dose to give you can always write here for advice.