Hello, My cat has recently been diagnosed with diabetes and I am starting his treatment. I went this morning to the vet and I practiced with her the injections with a syringe that is a bit different to the one I just got from caninsuline. I am supposed to him them 3u and I have a syringe of 40U. My question would be: what would be the dose based on the syringe? Also, I got scared because in the caninsulin site it says that we should start with no more than 2U while my vet said 3U. It is the evening here and I can't call her now. I wanted to start this evening but I am soo scared to give him the wrong dose. Thanks for your help!!!
Do you have any lab information? Like a fructosamine test result? What's his current diet? Any other health conditions that you know of? Do you have a hypo kit? A glucose meter at home? Can you share a picture of your syringes? I know this is overwhelming, but when you get a chance it would help us immensely if you can read through this post and complete the steps:.https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-how-you-can-help-us-help-you.216696/ Sorry for the million questions, but it's all critical info to have before we can give advice. Need to keep kitty safe!
Thanks for your response! And appreciate your questions! I don't have the lab info, only know that her sugar blood is around 300mg. I bought Royal Canin Diabetic for him, but I am considering doing a more natural diet. So far, he does not have any other health issues. I don't have a glucose meter at home yet. I have the 40U as syringe. This morning I asked another veterinaire and she explained me the dose. I am still very unsure that starting with 3U + Royal Canin Diabetes is a good start - specially after reading the info about Caninsulin in this forum. I started today with 3U and he seems quite lethargic - more than before the insulin. I have an appointment to the vet next Tuesday. The vet I talked this morning told me to give him food before the insulin but the vet that prescribed the insulin told me to give food after. I gave the food before this morning. He hasn't eat much after. But the vet this morning checked her blood and he had 300mg.
Ok let's do this: No more insulin until you get a glucose meter and can test relatively successfully at home, put together a hypo kit and buy some urine ketone strips (or a blood meter). I would also change his diet to low carb. That Royal Cabin is 14% carbs, which is fairly high. Also expensive. Most of us around here feed Fancy Feast or Friskies Pates, 10% and under. 5% or less is ideal. Here's a link to a food chart so you can check: https://catinfo.org/chart/index.php That is a fairly high dose of Vetsulin, and makes me nervous. Without home testing your cat could end up in pretty serious trouble. 300 isn't super high, so I'd like to see some home testing before saying give 3U. With Vetsulin, you test and feed 20-30 mins before you give insulin. Because Vetsulin can drop BGs very hard and fast, you want food on board to help slow that down. Shots every 12 hours apart. No food 2 hrs before testing. Do you know when you'll be able to get all that together? If it'll be more than a week, I'd do a low dose like 0.25-0.5U in the meantime.
Those symptoms concern me a little since you can't test at home, do you have any higher carb food you can give? Or some honey/karo to rub on his gums? His BG might be too low, although the moment may have passed now.
The recommended starting dose is 1 unit twice a day. Through testing it should be raised in 0.25-0.5 increments. Starting at 3 units is dangerous.
Yes, I have honey. I am checking what I can purchase. Is it the same the glucose tester for humans than for cats?
Yes most of us use human meters because they're cheaper (both meter itself and strips). Some do use pet meters. For the most part they read very similarly. There's a UK/European food list somewhere on the forum I just can't find it. I'll post again if I can find it.
Here, I'm not sure if a UK list would help or not: https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/links-to-food-charts.174182/
Thank you so much! I will order now - I don't have a big budget at the moment. I might get it on Monday or Tuesday as I am shopping online and it will sent then. It's almost 4 days from now. Do you think I should give the minimum dose? It's awful not having a way to check his glucose now. I wasn't even told that!
Thank you!!! This is great as I can also order from Zooplus. They seel the same products all over Europe.
It's generally better to give some insulin to a diabetic or you risk ketones and possibly DKA. I should think 0.5U should be safe for now, but there's never a guarantee without testing. Many vets don't mention home testing, diet changes, hypoglycemia, or ketones/DKA. We end up with a lot of cats in trouble here because of it! When you have everything let us know. Changing the diet can have a very large impact on blood sugar, so we'll want to do that slowly and only once you can test.
I am checking the info from Caninsulin and it says that it is 0.25/0.5 per kg. My cat's weight is 6 kg 700 gr. I see now that the vet gave me the dose for 0.5 based on my cat's weight. I was so nervous before that I din't see it was per kilo. Is this ratio what you mean?
Usually the vet takes the lab work into account and run a curve in the office, but some do just go off that recommendation you mentioned. Here we start at 1U because it's safer, and increase as needed from there. 3U is a lot regardless of cat's size. The main concern is the "volatility" of Caninsulin so to speak, it can drop very hard and very fast. My cat was on 2-3U Vetsulin (US equivalent) for many months before I found this site, it's a wonder we didn't have any serious problems in that time. But he was also on high carb dry food, that's probably what kept him alive.
Hello! I have received already the glucotest. What is the procedure? OMG! I am so sorry for what happened to you. It is quite scary as well. On the other hand, I just got the glucotest! I gave Pototo this morning the caninsulin as you said. How do i use the test? Thanks so much again for all you help!
Great! The first thing you'll want to do is get your signature and spreadsheet set up using the link I posted earlier in the thread. For information on how to home test, see this post: https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/
Thank you so much for all your help. I realized that I bought everything except the test strips. They will arrive on Monday. I was so stressed out I didn't realize it.
It's all a lot in the beginning. Your cat is supper lucky that you are working so hard to keep him healthy.
Something you could do that would be helpful is to set up a signature with basic info. To do that click on your name at the top right corner and choose signature. Add info such as your pets name,date diagnosed,insulin type,food you're feeding,meter you use, and any other health concerns. Don't forget to hit the save button.
I will do! Thank you! I just did it! I am still shaking. This is the data from the glucometer 23.3 mmol/L. What exactly this means? My cat had 300 (not sure the measure). Sorry for so many questions. I am so nervous! I tried to post a photo but it didn't allow me.
Great job! You would multiply that by 18 to get the US units, which is what most of us use. So she's around 419. That's high, but it's ok. What you'll want to do is get your spreadsheet up, with that being the first number you enter. In an earlier post I gave a link that'll show you how to set it up. You'll want the World version of it since your meter uses mmol/L, it will auto calculate the US numbers. Please out any relevant info in there - start it with the date of diagnosis, and in the Remarks section note any guidance from the vet, or anything else that might be noteworthy. Do your best to note what shots were given and how much. Is she still on fairly high carb food? Did you get a chance to put a hypo kit together? Get urine ketone sticks?
Thank you! Thank you! I didn't get the chance yet to get the urine ketone sticks - I hope I can have it next week or so. I do have honey though. I have an appointment tomorrow morning with the vet (it was already setup last week) to see how Pototo goes. I don't know what to tell her about the insulin, as I didn't give him 3UI as requested. I am stressed about it. I am so scared for my boy. I will work on the spreadsheet. I'll do my best!
You're doing great! I would just tell the vet that after reading, you weren't comfortable giving that much insulin without being able to home test. But now you have a meter and will start. Some vets pressure clients into pet meters, you really don't need one. I would just let them know that it's what you can afford, based on research they read close enough, and is better than nothing. If you have any leftover royal canin, that's a perfect medium carb food for your kit. You'll also want a higher carb wet food for it as well. A lot of us write the carb % on the cans so we know at a glance what's what in an emergency without having to look it up. Let us know once spreadsheet is up and we'll get down to business and get her feeling better!
I am so grateful for this forum! Thank you so much for your advice. I just posted the spreadsheet on my signature.
Get Diastix. Main thing is to check for ketones. My vet also started me on 3 units caninsulin , twice a day. I range her and said what about 1.5 units twice a day instead - like you I read the info and he wasn’t eating a lot. Good luck with vet tomorrow- just be honest and don’t be afraid to ask questions of them!
Thank you. This morning it has been impossible to make the blood test. I tried several times (poor Pototo) until it was time to feed him before give him the insulin - as we go to the vet later. Tonight I will start much earlier. Now I am afraid it is not going to be that easy. I know you say that with time I will feel like a pro but today it seems really difficult. To make smaller doses of insulin than 1U, is it better a U100 syringe? I have U-40. It goes by units.
It's ok, we've all been there. Eventually he'll get used to it, now Mr Kitty runs to our testing spot purring every time he sees me coming! Hasn't always been that way. Just do your best You can do U100 if you want, it really only eliminates the very fine or 0.25U/0.75U dosing. There's a link to the chart here. You'll see the U100 measurements still end up with half units. It may be easier if you can find syringes with half unit markings, but that may be difficult in Europe. I'm having trouble getting them in the US right now.
Hi, I got hold of a few different syringes, all have 0.5 markings. Got 30 gauge, 12 mm with 0.5 markings (UK website) and 30 gauge, 8mm with 0.5 markings both for U-40 insulin (German online pharmacy). With the glucose tests- I have an Alphatrak 2 but finding it difficult! Especially given I’m still trying to get the injections sorted .. so I have ordered a Freestyle Libre to be fitted by vet to get an idea of his levels ..
If you are on Caninsulin- which you are- you can also get the vetpen which has 0.5 unit increments (get the smaller version ). I have gone back to syringe and vial for the time being as he hates me injecting and you have to hold the vetpen in for 5 seconds, but the dosing on the vet pen is very easy and convenient
'Ketostix' strips test for ketones. 'Diastix' strips test for urine glucose. 'Keto-Diastix' strips test for both ketones and urine glucose. Eliz
