Amy & Papaya (GA)
Very Active Member
Hello! I posted this on the main board but will repost here as suggested to get more eyes familiar with the specific insulin:
I am familiar with this board (plus the whole home-testing, spreadsheets, dose changes) from a few years back when my cat Papaya was on Lantus for four years. She passed away about a year and a half ago from cancer, and I now have two wonderful shelter cats who (of course) eat only wet food! But my experience is about to come in handy...
A friend of my mom's from the next province over contacted me recently, desperate to find someone to look after her diabetic cat Radar while she's away for a few weeks this summer. (As in desperate enough to bring the cat a seven hour drive to stay with me!) When I got a few details I was horrified to know that Radar is being fed mostly dry kibble (some Royal Canin stuff the small-town vet there sells) with a little wet once a day, and is not being tested at all while being given 6 units of ProZinc. It doesn't sound like the vet has really even done a curve, just a couple fructosamine tests over the last year.
The cat's owner really didn't know any better and is eager to learn. She is a farm girl who gives cattle shots so I'm sure she'll be fine with testing. However, we agreed since I'm more familiar with testing & dosing it would be good if I use the time I am looking after Radar to transition her to wet food. The owner says Radar loves the bit of wet food she gets and basically is a vaccuum cleaner when it comes to food, so I don't foresee too much trouble switching her over.
I don't have experience with ProZinc but from what I've read on the stickies, it seems like changing dose is a bit simpler since it doesn't have the cumulative effect of Lantus?
I would appreciate any advice on making the diet change and associated dose changes. If the cat was willing to just cold turkey switch to wet, could I just drop the dose down to a normal starting dose (is one unit reasonable?) and work back up as necessary? I am working full time so I can give the shot early enough to get an AMPS plus 3 or so but more of a curve would have to be an evening/weekend thing - which is one reason I would be more comfortable switching right to wet and going down to a lower dose, just for safety. Or do I need to back down slowly on both the kibble amount and insulin?
It remains to be seen how an introduction to my two cats is going to go - certainly Radar will be in a separate room initially, but I don't know whether that's going to be necessary for long. I don't want my two eating the kibble but as they eat mostly low-carb wet it's fine if she has access to their food (if there's any left when I'm out the door lol).
Thanks in advance for any pointers you can offer on the diet change/dosing change and any relevant differences I should be aware of between Lantus and ProZinc.
I am familiar with this board (plus the whole home-testing, spreadsheets, dose changes) from a few years back when my cat Papaya was on Lantus for four years. She passed away about a year and a half ago from cancer, and I now have two wonderful shelter cats who (of course) eat only wet food! But my experience is about to come in handy...
A friend of my mom's from the next province over contacted me recently, desperate to find someone to look after her diabetic cat Radar while she's away for a few weeks this summer. (As in desperate enough to bring the cat a seven hour drive to stay with me!) When I got a few details I was horrified to know that Radar is being fed mostly dry kibble (some Royal Canin stuff the small-town vet there sells) with a little wet once a day, and is not being tested at all while being given 6 units of ProZinc. It doesn't sound like the vet has really even done a curve, just a couple fructosamine tests over the last year.
The cat's owner really didn't know any better and is eager to learn. She is a farm girl who gives cattle shots so I'm sure she'll be fine with testing. However, we agreed since I'm more familiar with testing & dosing it would be good if I use the time I am looking after Radar to transition her to wet food. The owner says Radar loves the bit of wet food she gets and basically is a vaccuum cleaner when it comes to food, so I don't foresee too much trouble switching her over.
I don't have experience with ProZinc but from what I've read on the stickies, it seems like changing dose is a bit simpler since it doesn't have the cumulative effect of Lantus?
I would appreciate any advice on making the diet change and associated dose changes. If the cat was willing to just cold turkey switch to wet, could I just drop the dose down to a normal starting dose (is one unit reasonable?) and work back up as necessary? I am working full time so I can give the shot early enough to get an AMPS plus 3 or so but more of a curve would have to be an evening/weekend thing - which is one reason I would be more comfortable switching right to wet and going down to a lower dose, just for safety. Or do I need to back down slowly on both the kibble amount and insulin?
It remains to be seen how an introduction to my two cats is going to go - certainly Radar will be in a separate room initially, but I don't know whether that's going to be necessary for long. I don't want my two eating the kibble but as they eat mostly low-carb wet it's fine if she has access to their food (if there's any left when I'm out the door lol).
Thanks in advance for any pointers you can offer on the diet change/dosing change and any relevant differences I should be aware of between Lantus and ProZinc.
