Wanting to change insulins

As I was talking to members in the main forum, one suggested I post in here. Im planning on changing my baby off of Caninsulin. Right now her dose is 2 UI morning and night. Her sugars are just too high and the insulin doesnt seem to be for her. My dad is a diabetic as well, and currently uses Levemir. I would like to try that, as its covered under his insurance and would save me some money.

I will be posting in the Levemir forum too. But what would you recommend our starting dose be? Is the pen better or syringes?

Also, with donating, obviously Ill donate the unused syringes, but Im wondering if I should donate the unused insulin too? Ive never double-dipped as I use one syringe, one time.

Thank you!

 

I switched from Caninsulin to Levemir about a year ago. I think the 'usual' is to drop back to about 60% of the Caninsulin dose. It seems like the most reasonable thing would be for you to begin at 1 unit or perhaps 1.5. Hopefully your kitty is not ketone prone as you will likely see higher numbers for the first few days. The insulin takes a few days to build up in the body, so holding the dose is important - unless of course it turns out to be too high and the numbers drop too low. The advantage is a much more shallow curve and greater duration of action of the insulin.

WRT to the question about vial or pens - I buy the 5 cartridge pack from Costco. I use U100 syringes and draw from the cartridge. Because I only draw from one cartridge and the other 4 just sit in the fridge, I have not had any lose their potency. But really, whatever your dad uses would be fine.

 

Hi Victoria & Buttons,

Hope the switch the levemir has been good for you. We just switched our cat (Charlie) off of caninsulin as it was extremely difficult for us to manage the steep drops. In the long run, as it seems you are traveling and away sometimes, it's probably best to stick with an insulin that is easier to manage.

Still, I looked at your spreadsheet and have a couple of ideas:
- Get rid of the dry food entirely so your dad can't make that mistake again. Find a way to keep the cat away from the dry dog food as well. I don't know your situation so that one may be a challenge, but even if you have to keep them in different rooms or on different levels of the house, I'd say do so.
- When we switched to 100% wet food, it helped Charlie significantly.
- I am not that experienced as I have only been on here for 1 month, but your numbers still seem real high. I have a feeling you need more insulin (1 unit rather than .5) with some periodic tests. I also think if your numbers are running that high maybe you should be testing for ketones.

Perhaps post a new thread with a question asking "New to Levemir - Need help with Dosing"

Post this one in the levemir section. I think it's here but not sure:

viewforum.php?f=10