Lovey Dosing and SHot injection?

Thank you so much Jill, Angela, and Sienne for the feedback. Jill, I will do at least a night time spot check. I wish I didn't have to go to work on Monday. I will get readings at night though to see how the dose is doing. That makes sense Angela, an extra cycle or two might lead more information. I noticed that your cat was on Pro Zinc first as well.

Jill, you have been through a lot with your kitty. I was reading her profile. She was OTJ for quite awhile. Alex is 15 years old? Thanks so much

One more question.

I have been a little nervous about giving shots lately due to some possible fur shots. When lovey started not to respond as well to Pro Zinc, I wanted to eliminate the possibility that I was giving fur shots. When I was getting good numbers, I didn't think much about the shot. I just did it. When you give a fur shots, are the numbers automatically much higher? Do you feel wet on the fur always? I have already been to the vet twice to have them watch me administer the shot. Lovey doesn't like when I take too long. She gets upset. The members have sent me diagrams and advice. I make a tent and inject the shot into the bottom of the tent. My cat cleans herself a lot so her fur is wet a lot.




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I raised the dose to 1.75 this morning. I contemplated raising the dose to 2 units based on the midcycle numbers and the fact that numbers creeped up pretty quickly. Just wanted some feedback. On one of the sheets I read it says to increase every 3 days by .25 if nadir blood concentration is 200-300 ml and a low dose cat less than 3 units. I read on another thread that you could raise by raise by .5 if you were getting relatively high BG's and closely monitored.

I was successful getting blood from Lovey's ear again twice this morning. Only one prick each. The ear testing is definitely less stressful for Lovey than the paw. ANd in turn less stressful for me. You have to really press hard because the paw are tough skin. Thank you all for your help and encouragement for the ear testing.

Re: Lovey? Raising the Dose?

lovey11 said:

I raised the dose to 1.75 this morning. I contemplated raising the dose to 2 units based on the midcycle numbers and the fact that numbers creeped up pretty quickly. Just wanted some feedback. On one of the sheets I read it says to increase every 3 days by .25 if nadir blood concentration is 200-300 ml. I read on another thread that you could raise by raise by .5 if you were getting relatively high BG's and closely monitored.

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increasing the dose by 0.25u was exactly the right thing to do this morning. :mrgreen:

now that you're well past the initial starting dose phase you don't want to increase in increments of 0.5u unless nadirs are greater than 300 (or kitty is on a much higher dose, but that does not apply to lovey at this point in time).

the only suggestion i have is to get at least a before bed spot check every night especially the night before contemplating a dose increase.

good luck with the increased dose and congratulations on the ear pricks!

Re: Lovey? Raising the Dose?

It'll take some time for Lovey to get used to the insulin, and to the new dose amount. You did the right thing by not increasing by 0.5u. I think raising it by 0.5u is for cases with underlying issues, or something (I can't remember off the top of my head what the protocol said about raising by 0.5u). Just remember that with each new dose, there'll be a bit of a bounce involved. The protocol states that you can raise the dose every 6-10 cycles (3-5 days). It may take Lovey another day or so to respond, so holding the dose for another day (say the 4th day, or 8th cycle) may help. You're doing a great job. You both are!

Re: Lovey? Raising the Dose? Happy about Ear testing Progres

Great news about your progress with ear pokes! Give Lovey a treat for me!!

Ditto on what Jill said. You might want to review the TR Protocol sticky so you have a clear picture of dosing strategy. It takes a while to get all of the twists and turns sorted out.

Re: Lovey? Raising the Dose? Happy about Ear testing Progres

Thank you so much Jill, Angela, and Sienne for the feedback. Jill, I will do at least a night time spot check. I wish I didn't have to go to work on Monday. I will get readings at night though to see how the dose is doing. That makes sense Angela, an extra cycle or two might lead more information. I noticed that your cat was on Pro Zinc first as well.

Jill, you have been through a lot with your kitty. I was reading her profile. She was OTJ for quite awhile. Alex is 15 years old? Thanks so much

One more question.

I have been a little nervous about giving shots lately due to some possible fur shots. When lovey started not to respond as well to Pro Zinc, I wanted to eliminate the possibility that I was giving fur shots. When I was getting good numbers, I didn't think much about the shot. I just did it. When you give a fur shots, are the numbers automatically much higher? Do you feel wet on the fur always? I have already been to the vet twice to have them watch me administer the shot. Lovey doesn't like when I take too long. She gets upset. The members have sent me diagrams and advice. I make a tent and inject the shot into the bottom of the tent. My cat cleans herself a lot so her fur is wet a lot.

Hi Catherine and welcome to Lantus Land!!

On your "how do I know if I did a furshot" question....Lantus has a VERY distinctive smell, and if you do a furshot, you're going to smell it almost immediately. If you want to find out how bad it is, at your next shot, draw an extra drop and squirt it on your finger or a paper towel or something. It's very strong and very smelly. The hard part is if you DO a furshot, it's going to smell for a day or 2 and when you go to do your next several shots, although it won't be AS strong, the smell will still be there.

When I gave China her first furshot, I knew immediately from the smell...for the next couple of shots, I could still smell it so was "sniffing" all over her to make sure I hadn't given another one (thank goodness I live alone with nobody around with a cell phone...be kind of hard to explain why I was sniffing my cat to people on YouTube :lol: :lol:

Hi Catherine,

When I gave a furshot or skipped a shot, Lucy's number did not immediately jump up.
She sort of crept up towards the mid/end of that cycle and by the next preshot, I could see the effect more clearly.
But this is just Lucy, and I suppose every cat reacts to a fur/skipped shot differently.

I always sniff at the spot where I shot after each shot.
It will have some Lantus smell even if you didn't give a furshot (seems the smell oozes out a little from the injection site), but in case of furshot the smell will be VERY strong, you would not even have to attach your nose to the cat.

Hi Chris.
Wow, I just finished writing this response.



Thank you so much Chris. I have a pretty sensitive sense of smell.
I am going to smell the insulin. The lengths we go for our cats.

Have a good Sunday

It is very strong. Like a combination of medicine and band aides. It is still in my nostrils.

Yep..that's it!!

Trust me..if you give a furshot, you're going to know it...but even if you do know you gave a furshot, remember to not give any more until the next shot time...there's no way of knowing how much actually DID get into Lovey and you don't want to give more thinking none went in....some might have


Edited to add...Since Lantus is a depot insulin, you wouldn't expect to see any big change immediately after a furshot. The "depot" will continue to drain and therefore give some control to blood glucose numbers. ECID though, and depending on how full the depot is, and how sensitive your cat is, it may show sooner or it may take a cycle to get any big changes

Lantus is a totally different beast than Pro Zinc. Out of each shot, some goes to work quickly, while the rest goes into the "depot" and is released slowly.

The problem with smelling Lantus on Lovey's fur is that sometimes, if there's a drop of insulin on the syringe (like from when you adjust the dose), it can transfer to Lovey's fur. You could end up smelling that bandaid smell and not have given a fur shot.

Mariko is right. For some kitties or in some cases with any kitty, the results of a fur shot/skipped shot aren't observable until a cycle later. The same is true for dose changes. With Lantus, you always need to remember that you have an insulin depot. Sometimes, the skips or changes don't have an immediate effect because the depot kicks in.

Re: Lovey? Raising the Dose? Happy about Ear testing Progres

lovey11 said:

Jill, you have been through a lot with your kitty. I was reading her profile. She was OTJ for quite awhile. Alex is 15 years old? Thanks so much

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yes, alex has been through a lot. she's definitely used up a few of her 9 lives! my vet still can't believe she pulled through acute liver and kidney failure in 2010. despite repeated p'titis flares and other assorted illnesses she is 15. she'll be 16 this coming february. she's been diabetic for over 7 years, but was otj for almost 3.5 of those years.

lovey11 said:

One more question.

I have been a little nervous about giving shots lately due to some possible fur shots. When lovey started not to respond as well to Pro Zinc, I wanted to eliminate the possibility that I was giving fur shots. When I was getting good numbers, I didn't think much about the shot. I just did it. When you give a fur shots, are the numbers automatically much higher? Do you feel wet on the fur always? I have already been to the vet twice to have them watch me administer the shot. Lovey doesn't like when I take too long. She gets upset. The members have sent me diagrams and advice. I make a tent and inject the shot into the bottom of the tent. My cat cleans herself a lot so her fur is wet a lot.

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the others have given you excellent responses!

Chris & China said:

Edited to add...Since Lantus is a depot insulin, you wouldn't expect to see any big change immediately after a furshot. The "depot" will continue to drain and therefore give some control to blood glucose numbers. ECID though, and depending on how full the depot is, and how sensitive your cat is, it may show sooner or it may take a cycle to get any big changes

Lantus is a totally different beast than Pro Zinc. Out of each shot, some goes to work quickly, while the rest goes into the "depot" and is released slowly.

Click to expand...

this explanation from chris is right on target!