Is it okay if my dog's insulin shot is an hour late or early today?

Hello, and thanks for your question. While it's ideal to keep the meal and insulin dosing as close to 12 hours apart as possible, "real life" work schedules certainly factor in, and I have had several patients on a schedule like what you described. Andy would most likely do fine on a 8am / 6pm schedule, but double check with your vet, since they have more details on where Andy's been with his blood sugar numbers. Hope this helps!

I would wait about 12 hours after his last dose of insulin. I would also make sure he eats something before giving the insulin at that time. If you are not going to be up at the 12 hour mark I would recommend holding off the insulin until tomorrow. If you give the insulin now you risk his glucose going to low even if he just ate. Just know he may develop diarrhea from the cat food. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Yes, this shouldn't cause any problems at all. Ideally, we want to space the dosing out to get as close to every 12 hours as possible, but being an hour or so off from time to time should be just fine :)

In general, try to make the injections as close to every 12 hours as you can. Most pets will still do well even if the injections are sometimes 13 hours apart.If it is going to be longer than 13 hours, talk with your vet about maybe adjusting the amount of insulin to give. You and your daughter should devise a treatment plan each week based upon your work patterns and write it down. Then keep the paper by the insulin and MARK down when the insulin was given (time). This will eliminate confusion. You must treat the diabetes. A special diet like RC Glycobalance will help. You may also look into asking a friend to help give injections or hire someone to do it. many technicians will make extra money helping out others like this. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Yes, I would just wait and resume normal insulin dosing at his next meal. It's risky to try and "top off" a partial dose (if he didn't get the whole thing for some reason), so better to just pick up with his next normal dose and go from there. A single skipped or lower-than-normal insulin dose should not cause any serious harm. If the increased urination continues, then I would talk to your veterinarian as he may need to have his glucose levels rechecked and his insulin dose adjusted.

A single unscheduled meal is unlikely to cause any significant issues, so try not to worry :) I would continue on Duchess's normal insulin dosing and feeding schedule, and monitor her for any problems. If you have any concerns, contact your regular veterinarian to see if they want you to make any changes.

Based upon the context of your question, I'm assuming that you are inquiring about the timing of insulin injections in a diabetic cat. If this is the case, yes, it is best to feed Kitty and then wait half an hour before giving her a dose of insulin. The reason for this is that eating food increases the blood glucose (sugar) level shortly after eating. Insulin then forces the glucose into the cells so that her body is able to use this glucose as an appropriate energy source. Diabetic animals should be fed twice daily half an hour before each dose of insulin. Food or treats throughout the day should be avoided since they will cause random spikes in the blood glucose. I hope this helps to address your questions about Kitty! If this does not answer your questions, feel free to post another question or request a consultation for more in depth follow up.