Quick question - how soon is too soon?

Hey all,
Taking Bailey to Vet tomorrow to have her CBC rechecked to see if her platelets are back up to normal yet allowing me to home test her BG again. I had to reschedule her appointment due to family commitments and the time I normally feed her and give her insulin is the time I will be driving to the clinic. My question is How early/late can you give a dose without it being an overlap to the previous/future dose? Example: I give Bailey her morning dose of Lantus at about 4:50 am and her evening dose at 4:50 pm. Can I give her evening dose at 3:30pm? What is considered the safe "window" to dose? I know it doesn't have to be 12hrs apart to the exact minute just want to know how big a cushion I have.

I didn't post this to the Lantus forum as I thought others might want to know the answer as well. The safe window of time might not be insulin specific?
Thanks!

 

When you know you're going to have to do a time change, it's best to prepare in advance by moving the shot 15 minutes per cycle or 30 minutes per day.

If you shot tonight at 4:20, you could shoot tomorrow AM at 4:30 and tomorrow night at 3:50.....would that work?

 

It is different if you are using one of the 'in and out' short acting insulins (NPH types, Vetsulin/Caninsulin, Prozinc). No 'depot' there to think about when you want to move your shot time. Yes, it's still best with any insulin to keep to the 12 hour schedule as much as possible. But very few cats get much beyond 6-8 hours with NPH insulins. Vetsulin/Caninsulin is more often 10 hours of duration. So you don't have that overlap in duration of the insulin like you do with the longer lasting insulins like levimir or lantus.

If there are complications, like DKA or ketones or pancreatitis, the answer could be different.

No one answer meets all situations.

 

Thanks but this is a one time deal. I am not making a permanent change to time. Just tomorrow evening when I have to take her to the vet. Isn't there a "safe" amount of time before and after to still give the shot?

 

Thanks Deb I was afraid there wasn't an easy answer. As Lantus is a Depot Insulin then it shouldn't be a problem being off by just 20 minutes I am guessing?

 

Shooting early is like giving a dose increase.
Shooting later is like doing a dose decrease.
So Chris's suggestion to move the shot in 15 minute increments per cycle is good for Lantus.
Then to get back to your original shot time, reverse the process.
Remember this so when we switch to daylight savings time, you have to adjust your shot times, for those months and then back again in the fall. Unless you live in Arizona that does not use daylight savings time.

You posed the question "The safe window of time might not be insulin specific?" It's why I was including information about changing shot times with other insulins.

There is a lot more leeway with shot times for other insulins. The downside is that they don't usually work so well for cats.

 

Ok I think I get you now. So if I want a shift of 30 minutes tomorrow evening I shift by 15min earlier tomorrow morning then the another 15min shift in the evening will give me my 30 min shift that I need. I will then shift back the next day in 15 min increments in reverse.

So I see that even though Lantus is one of the best for cats it has very tight restrictions to timing. Luckily my normal daily schedule allows me to stick to this strict schedule.

Deb I am happy that you listed the different shot times for other insulins. I needed to know that and again this is why I posted this question here and not on the Lantus forum. So someone else might benefit as well from my questions.

 

Yup. That's it.

There is some flexibility with Lantus. I certainly don't know all the nuances. I do know of a few people that have used a 11/13 dosing cycle because of their work schedule. Not what is recommended though, which is as close to 12/12 hour cycles as can be managed. Adjustments get made where they are needed to suit the caregiver and the cat. This is when "know they cat" and knowing what your cat will do on any particular insulin dose comes into play.

 

Got it!

Now if Bailey's platelet count will just get back to normal so I can start testing her BG again. Then I can see what the insulin is doing and how I can make adjustments when I need to.

Thanks again to Chris and Deb!