Insulin

Status
Not open for further replies.
Stellaisabellarina

Stellaisabellarina

Member Since 2019
First of all, please move this if it is not in the right place. I did read the posts on this site before I joined, so I am aware of your discussions of the differences between Prozinc and Vetsulin. From what I can see, Vetsulin might be the less desireable of the two...so here is my question....well, basically that is the question. Stella is a 14 year old diabetic cat, somewhat neuropathetic in the rear legs, who has been very successfully treated with Prozinc for about 2 years. She will not eat any prescription diabetic food, so I do the best I can to give her decent quality food. She is indoor only, lives in a comfortable part of the house with access to a fountain and water dishes. She cannot get into a litterbox, but has lost 3 pounds over the course of her treatment. She and I have worked out a system whereby she uses a dog pee pad, then vacates it when it is soiled and I immediately replace it with a clean one. She has has some issues with bladder infections but they have always been treated.

Today I called my vet to reorder Prozinc and was told that they no longer carry it and can only give me Vetsulin. Am I wrong in having freaked out....I don't mean that I lost control or called them names, but I instantly ran to Dr. Google and did some reading? I can afford Prozinc and I know that Chewy can get it;I have been very happy with their service with my Cushing's dog's meds and I assume that they can safely deliver the insulin. I am home most of the time so could be here to met the delivery.

Keeping in mind that I did read your links and responses, as I don't want to waste time in having someone restate what was said, is the consensus that Prozinc is better and safer or am I freaking out for nothing?

Thank you so much for your time and for establishing this group.
 
Typically Prozinc is better for cats and is longer lasting, and its definitely concerning to have to switch all of a sudden without knowing how the new insulin works! That being said, I switched my girl from Prozinc to Vetsulin.

As you already said, you do not have to order insulin directly from your vet. You can order it from chewy.com (where it’s typically cheaper!) and they will either call your vet to verify the prescription, or you can get a written prescription from your vet and mail it it.

As for the food, it’s a good thing your kitty doesn’t like the prescription food! It’s not good at all for diabetic kitties. Have you looked into low walled litterboxes? They make some for older cats that may help your Stella
 
Thanks...I am glad to hear that you made the switch successfully although I am leaning toward keeping the Prozinc unless there is some issue with the vet. My dog does not go to the same place, so that hospital is also an option. Stella will be glad to hear that she did the right thing to refuse the food! She cannot use a low walled litterbox either but things are under control. I give her little sitz baths in the sink when she appears that she needs one.
 
Will your vet provide a prescription, or provide Chewy with the Rx, so that you can order it from Chewy? I can understand your wanting to keep using it. I am not qualified to make a recommendation for you, but if I had to make a choice between Prozinc and Vetsulin for Idjit, I would choose Prozinc, just because of the gentler, longer lasting effects. You can visit both of the insulin support groups to read about how they each work.

Regarding the neuropathy, this is commonly related to continued unregulated high BG levels and it's important to work to get her regulated. Many members use Zobaline (Methylcobalamin - aka - methyl B-12) to help with neuropathy.
 
If she is doing well on the Prozinc, then it’s probably best to stick with it. Vetsulin works quite differently

I will just give a piece of advice if I may, because based on your signature, it looks like you are in a similar situation that I was. Sophie started out on 6 units of Prozinc twice a day (I see that Stella is on 5), which is a whopping dose. I was not home testing, as your signature indicates that you aren’t, and she had a VERY bad episode of hypoglycemia which nearly killed her. If you would be willing to, I’d definitely recommend learning how to home test your girl. Because of home testing, Sophie is now on 12 days with no insulin which means potentially remission!
 
Most of us feed Friskies pates and Fancy Feast Classics because they are low carb (good for our sugar cats, all below 10% carbs), affordable and obtainable at the local grocery store. There are other brands that members use also.
There is a great feline nutrition website www.catinfo.org The author of that website, Dr. Lisa Pierson, has compiled a sortable database of many of the canned foods that are available in the U.S. and it's available there, as well as at the top of this Main Health forum. If you are in the UK we do have a link for food/supplies available there. If in Canada, we have lots of Canadian members that can offer suggestions.
 
I am in Los Angeles, so just about everything is available here. I am glad to hear that FF Classics and Friskies might be okay for Stella as they are readily available and have a lot of flavors. I have no problem with trying to home test Stella if she will allow it. I have a dog with advanced Cushings who is also a melanoma amputee, so it is not like I won't go the extra mile for my pets.
 
Sophie was HORRIBLE when I first started - she would hide, then fight me when I caught her, including biting and scratching. Now she comes running when she hears me open the test strips! There are plenty of tips and tricks to help you learn (: If she’s unregulated, that might explain why she has problems with UTIs. Glucose in the urine makes them more likely.
 
My sugar baby Mango was started on Vetsulin and we switched vets and he was put on Prozinc as it is longer lasting and gentler for the kitty. We started the Prozinc on 2.5 units and then went to 2.75. We did a curve last week and our vet upped the dosage one unit. We are now using 3.75 and Just did another curve today and will see what our vet recommends tomorrow. We've had crazy high numbers for five days on the 2.75 units and Mango had his best number on the curve today. I was surprised to say the least! So we will see what his AMPS number is tomorrow. When I reorder the Prozinc I will go with Chewy's as I ordered the Vensulin and it comes in a nice small styrofoam container with ice packs. Very well packaged. So if you have to order from them be assured it will be fine. They ship in one day so order when you know you will be home. Good luck and I am pleased we are now are using the Prozinc.
 
Ok, then I can provide some links to home testing to start off. I would suggest that you begin "desensitizing" Stella in advance. Choose a testing station, somewhere comfortable for both of you, with good lighting. If she has a favorite low carb treat, give her a bit, handle her ears gently, give her another treat and let her go. You can increase the ear handling to stroking and perhaps even pinching very gently. I use a small piece of poached chicken breast for Idjit, other members use PureBites freeze dried chicken, or Orijen Wild Boar Cat Treats.
You may not be successful testing at first, most of us are/were not. Don't give up.

You can get a ReliOn Prime meter and strips at Walmart, it's a human meter but many of us use it because of affordability and availability. You might use many strips at first, and 50 strips are only about $10. A lancet device is personal preference, some cats don't like the "click", you can do it freehand. Lancets, 26 or 28 gauge are good to start with, the ears actually bleed better when you have tested longer, as more capillaries form.
Cotton balls, cosmetic pads, folded paper towel or tissue to back the ear you are testing and to use to compress the "poke" site to help prevent bruising, petroleum jelly to help the blood drop bead up, and/or Pain relief ointment (not cream)

Do you have anyone else in the home that might help you by holding her, while you test?
HOME TESTING LINKS AND TIPS
Member JanetNJ How to test your cat's bg at home: Video I made showing how to test your cat's blood sugar
There are also many videos on testing on YouTube.

If you begin a new post asking for suggestions on getting started testing, you will get many responses. It's something each of us has had to learn and deal with, believe me.

Regarding that dose of Prozinc you are injecting, please visit the Prozinc insulin support group forum HERE and do some reading. The Prozinc veteran members will be able to advise you there.
 
Thank you...I was reading some of the instructional information about testing and it is very clearly written. I order my dog's Cushing's meds from Chewy and they are very prompt and reasonable.

Stella receives 5 units a day total divided between AM and PM, not 10 units a day. I don't know if I miswrote that.

The vet just called and they are willing to order Prozinc for me; I now suspect that most people were refusing the cost...and this hospital marks way up. If they can't get it quickly I will go with Chewy and if they can I will take one last order from the vet and then start with Chewy the next time.
 
Last edited:
Stella will have her Prozinc by Thursday and I believe we have enough left until then. Chewy, for all their efficiency, could not guarantee getting it to me in time, some of which depended on the vet faxing the prescription to them or responding to their request. I was not confident that the girls in the front office would do either of those in a timely manner, so will use their supplier this time.
 
I definitely preferred getting a paper prescription from my vet and mailing it in to chewy myself. My vet really drug their feet getting back to chewy much to my annoyance, despite being contacted multiple times. If they have your prescription, a lot of times they process your order that same day
 
I got to two vets...one for my dog and one for the cats. The dog vet is impeccable and I just have Chewy call them. The cat vet office is careless, but I was told by Chewy today that the fax had to come from the vet...it could not be faxed by me or scanned into a computer email, hence my decision to pay full freight to the vet this time.
 
Yes, they do require a hard copy if it comes from you, so I have to put the actual paper copy I get at the vets office in an envelope with a stamp and mail it. Unless something has changed in the few months since I’ve ordered and they don’t accept that anymore?

Either way, I’m glad you were able to get the Prozinc (:
 
Sarah&Soph said:
If she is doing well on the Prozinc, then it’s probably best to stick with it. Vetsulin works quite differently

I will just give a piece of advice if I may, because based on your signature, it looks like you are in a similar situation that I was. Sophie started out on 6 units of Prozinc twice a day (I see that Stella is on 5), which is a whopping dose. I was not home testing, as your signature indicates that you aren’t, and she had a VERY bad episode of hypoglycemia which nearly killed her. If you would be willing to, I’d definitely recommend learning how to home test your girl. Because of home testing, Sophie is now on 12 days with no insulin which means potentially remission!
Click to expand...


Hi there, did you see that Vetsulin worked better for your kitty? I only see the last parts of Sophie's Chart, my boy is currently on approx 4-4.5 units of Prozinc and I can't seem to get him regulated. Some days when I get home from work he'll be at 180 but in the morning and at night hes between 400-500 bg.
 
Ivana R said:
Hi there, did you see that Vetsulin worked better for your kitty? I only see the last parts of Sophie's Chart, my boy is currently on approx 4-4.5 units of Prozinc and I can't seem to get him regulated. Some days when I get home from work he'll be at 180 but in the morning and at night hes between 400-500 bg.
Click to expand...

It’s kind of hard to say because when she was on Prozinc I was not home testing her. She was switched to Vetsulin because I was having a hard time getting her regulated after she was hospitalized for severe hypoglycemia last October, but I definitely think that was due to her still being on dry food and me not home testing. If she comes out of remission, I really think I will have her switched her back to Prozinc because of how harsh and short lasting Vetsulin is.

Do you keep a spreadsheet? I would recommend posting and asking for dosing advice to see what others think. I think the issue with my cat was her dose was raised by too much too fast, because too much insulin can look like not enough. Those high readings you see after the low readingscould be because the dose is actually too high
 
Sarah&Soph said:
It’s kind of hard to say because when she was on Prozinc I was not home testing her. She was switched to Vetsulin because I was having a hard time getting her regulated after she was hospitalized for severe hypoglycemia last October, but I definitely think that was due to her still being on dry food and me not home testing. If she comes out of remission, I really think I will have her switched her back to Prozinc because of how harsh and short lasting Vetsulin is.

Do you keep a spreadsheet? I would recommend posting and asking for dosing advice to see what others think. I think the issue with my cat was her dose was raised by too much too fast, because too much insulin can look like not enough. Those high readings you see after the low readingscould be because the dose is actually too high
Click to expand...

I home test him 2-3 times a day but have not kept a physical spread sheet. I have all my numbers saved in my Alpha trak memory and will work on making on between today and tomorrow. But you think Prozinc is easier to get into remission with? He has ok days and he has days that his reading is actually too high even without having eaten food in the AM. I am considering slowly lowering it back to 3 and keeping it on 3 for awhile to see if maybe a lower unit will work better for him.

Other than the numbers, he's super active, very playful, regular appetite. Just this BG and it's super frustrating.
 
Ivana R said:
I home test him 2-3 times a day but have not kept a physical spread sheet. I have all my numbers saved in my Alpha trak memory and will work on making on between today and tomorrow. But you think Prozinc is easier to get into remission with? He has ok days and he has days that his reading is actually too high even without having eaten food in the AM. I am considering slowly lowering it back to 3 and keeping it on 3 for awhile to see if maybe a lower unit will work better for him.

Other than the numbers, he's super active, very playful, regular appetite. Just this BG and it's super frustrating.
Click to expand...

Yes, I think it probably is just because of the shorter duration of vetsulin.

Here is the link to how to set up the spreadsheet, if you need it:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

And I know how frustrating it can be! Definitely make a post either on the main health forum or the Prozinc forum once you get the spreadsheet up if you want some eyes on it for advice (:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top