Switching to Levemir on Dec. 27

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RobC

Member Since 2016
Hi everyone, I hope you can educate me a little more on what to expect while moving from Lantus (which my 15 year old cat has been on since March) to Levemir. I am bringing him there because his numbers are still in the high 200's and low 300's while on Lantus. Also, he has been coming in the room meowing very loud as if he is confused. He has NEVER done that before, only started a few days after we put him on Lantus.

I have a vet appointment on the 27th. My cat will there in the morning and I can pick him up at night. I guess that is when they do the curve to test him on the new medicine. They also plan to do a blood test there as well.

I'm concerned about him being there that long, as he will not eat or drink anything at the vets office. He had a seizure once coming back from the vet a few months ago.

Here are some questions:

1. How was your cat when he or she switched from Lantus to Levemir?
2. Is it like Lantus where it is two shots a day and you check his blood glucose every few days?
3. My cat never eats any kind of meat. I tried every wet food, bits and pates, he only licks the juice. I have started feeding him baby food, which has protein and he licks that all up. How can I get him to eat something protein based and less hard food? (I have him on the diabetic food from Chewy)
4. Any other info you can provide would be great. I am really scared to do this, but I know he should be better than what the Lantus is giving him.
 
Lantus and Lev are very similar in how you use them. They are both long acting, depot type of insulin. They both require injections twice a day at 12-hour intervals. You are welcome to post here if you want help with dosing or other aspects of feline diabetes management. There is a huge amount of information on Lantus and Lev in the sticky notes at the top of the board. Are you home testing?

The one consideration in switching from Lantus to Lev is that you will want to reduce the dose by 30% of your current dose of Lantus. Some cats have a marked response to a switch from Lantus to Lev (or vice versa). The other important factor is that the onset and nadir are later with Lev than with Lantus. With Lantus, onset is at around 2 hours after you give a shot and the lowest point in the cycle is around 6 hours after the shot (give or take). With Lev, the onset can be at around 4 hrs after a shot and the nadir (lowest point in the cycle) can be as late as 8 hours after shooting. I can't speak to my personal experience with regard to changing insulin since Gabby was on Lantus and I didn't switch to Lev.

You MUST feed your cat appropriate food. Baby food is fine for a treat but it is not nutritionally complete for a cat. Most importantly, it does not contain taurine. All sorts of medical problems can develop if your cat has insufficient amounts of taurine in his diet. There is one dry food, Young Again Zero Carb, that is low in carbohydrates and an acceptable alternative to canned food. You might want to look at Lisa Pierson, DVM's website on feline nutrition on how to transition a cat from a dry food diet to canned food.

 
You could try mixing the baby food with a complete diabetic friendly wet food - mostly baby food to start with and slowly increasing the wet content.

Rescue remedy ('pet' version) could be a good idea for the vet trip/day. You can just rub a couple of drops on his ears and leave it with the vet to repeat as necessary.
 
RobC said:
Is it like Lantus where it is two shots a day and you check his blood glucose every few days
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It super important for you to be home testing. We test before each shot (12 hours apart) and at least 1 or two mid cycle tests daily. Lantus and Levemir are dosed based on how low it takes them not the preshot. Curves can be done but does not always capture what's been happening on that dose because of bouncing.

I'd encourage you to set up a spreadsheet Spreadsheet Instructions and ready the two protocols we use here at the top of the page Tight Regulation (TR) and Start Low Go Slow SLGS. Since you're feeding dry the SLGS protocol is the one you would need to use.

RobC said:
How was your cat when he or she switched from Lantus to Levemir
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My Doodles has multiple conditions and became a high dose kitty. As his dose got higher on Lantus it was stinging him. Since switching to Levemir he does much better in many ways.
 
Guys, I talked to my vet and he has NO experience with Levemir. He said that is generally not the choice of vets. He wants me to try Prozinc. What should I do?
 
RobC said:
Guys, I talked to my vet and he has NO experience with Levemir. He said that is generally not the choice of vets. He wants me to try Prozinc. What should I do?
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Prozinc is a pretty good insulin for cats (so I've heard). It works differently than Lantus in a lot of regards, especially because it doesn't develop a depot (or a big one). I would go over to the Prozinc ISG and read their stickies.

(And to parrot others, I would definitely be testing before each shot to get a feel for your kitty's BG is pre-shot.)
 
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