Giving insulin and the time change

[shout]

My dog Jagger, is on 9 units of insulin twice a day, 8 a m and 8 p m. Now the time changed, we set the clocks back an hour. My question...do I give him his shot at 8 by the clock or move it to keep the old time, I'm confussed....Help please. Dee

[Sadie's Mom]

Re: Giving insulin and the time change

I think everyone does it differently. I just stuck to the same times, 6 a.m and 6 p.m. I figured she will be an hour off in the morning but will be back to a 12 hour schedule tonight.

[jim maceri]

Re: Giving insulin and the time change

I am very very new to this and my dog was diagnosed on October 11th. He started insulin last Thursday...My vet suggested that we go in 15 minute increments to get back to his schedule of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.

This morning I gave him his shot at 6:15, tomorrow 6:30, Tuesday 6:45, and Wednesday back at 7:00 a.m. Shots are 12 hours apart so I do the same in the evening. Seems logical to me but as I said, I am a newbie.

[Judi]

Re: Giving insulin and the time change

Jenny's been running so low in the morning I was going to wait the entire hour but she was starving so I waited half an hour

[LilyBell]

Re: Giving insulin and the time change

I gave Lily her shot 1/2 hour late last night and then at her regular time this morning with the time change, so 1/2 hour increments. In the past, I've moved her the whole hour at once. I don't think you need to make it too complicated for I didn't notice any ill effects to doing the whole hour at once.

[Abby's Mom]

Re: Giving insulin and the time change

I am very very new to this and my dog was diagnosed on October 11th. He started insulin last Thursday...My vet suggested that we go in 15 minute increments to get back to his schedule of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.

This morning I gave him his shot at 6:15, tomorrow 6:30, Tuesday 6:45, and Wednesday back at 7:00 a.m. Shots are 12 hours apart so I do the same in the evening. Seems logical to me but as I said, I am a newbie.

I think this is a very good method, if your dog is NOT regulated, but if they are, I think you have a little more time to adjust. One vet told me that you can have about 1 hr of flexibility, but I think only in a regulated pet.

[SandyL]

Re: Giving insulin and the time change

Since it was "fall back" I kept my time this morning the same. It means it was 13 hours since last injection so no overlapping of insulin. With the spring forward it's a little more tricky due to the 11th hour and last year I went by half hour increments

Sandy

[Sadie's Mom]

Re: Giving insulin and the time change

That's a good point about the change in the spring. I didn't even think about that. Will probably move in increments for that one.

[CarolW]

Re: Giving insulin and the time change

Hey, Dee! Delighted to see you and Jagger back!

I see you're getting a variety of replies - all good!

With Kumbi, I went through a LONG and elaborate sequence! And my elder dog, Kwali, not diabetic, of course, got the same schedule.

I used a program (not free, but top-notch, and very easy to use, along with its free companion program that displays time and date on your screen as you direct) - described here:

http://www.coherentdog.org/vek/calendarscope.php

Well, not fully described there, but there are links to the CalendarScope site, as well as its free DSClock program.

Sorry it only works with Windows, not on Apples/Macs.

I know there are free programs that might do something similar, perhaps not with the ease of Calendarscope - ClickTray Calendar, for instance - DogDaddy George uses that one.

But I used the Calendarscope / DSClock features to make "tasks." These pop up on the screen at the appointed time. You can tell the program to make sounds, to alert you, or you can use no sounds.

The thing with Tasks is, they keep yelling at you, either by being on the screen (thus getting in your way; haha!) or by making sounds, or both - till you check it off, to indicate you have done the task. I really need that, as I have a tendency to be absent-minded - you know; I get to reading this forum or something - and lose my focus on the task at hand! But NOT till I've checked off the task - such as, feeding or giving insulin on time!

And I'm a terrible perfectionist about timing - or was, with Kumbi in particular. I'd feed and give insulin to the minute!

So, my long, elaborate procedure was this: I'd start a couple of weeks before the time change, and for three days in a row, I'd feed and give insulin first, 15 minutes later (for autumn fall-back) - for three days, then 30 minutes later for the following three days, then 45 minutes later, and so forth. I'd end up having completed the time change about two days before it really happened!

I don't think there's really ANY need for such meticulous timing. I might do it differently now, as the setup in Calendarscope challenges my abilities! (But I did manage to do it.)

With Camellia, not diabetic, I'm just going by the clock. She looked a bit surprised this morning - I actually slept an hour extra (it was luverly) - and fed her - in real-time, an hour later than she expected. She coped just fine. And I think, as others have mentioned, a dog whose BGs aren't fluctuating to great highs or great lows, would do fine doing it all at once. You WOULD want to have the ability to test blood glucose levels (BGs), especially in the spring, as somebody pointed out!

Mostly, though, it's said that you have an hour to play with in either direction, if your timing goes off, say, because of other commitments. In autumn at least, you'd be coming back to a normal 12-hour interval in the evening of the day of the time change - so only one meal/injection that's out of kilter!

Do let us know what you decided, and how it worked out!
Sun, 6 Nov 2011 08:43:06 (PST)

[Shellie]

Re: Giving insulin and the time change

I got out of the whole thing pretty easily...no insulin given today at all since Hank was at 116 and he ate NO breakfast. Poohead. Tried everything and not even the cat food would work. *sigh* Bg is now at 177 and I will monitor thru the day but should be ok.