? Switch from ProZinc to Lantus

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

Matthew Kitchin

Member Since 2020
Our cat (Lucky) was diagnosed about 6 weeks ago. She is somewhere around 7 or 8 years old. She was put on ProZinc. Unfortunately, my daughter has had diabetes for 6 years, so I know it pretty well. We also have way more Lantus than we would ever need for my daughter. It is actually only prescribed to her as a back up if her pump fails, so we never use it. I'd like to switch Lucky over to Lantus. I can't find any guidance on the conversion. I'm sure it is in here somewhere, but I haven't been able to find it. I understand her ProZinc is U40 and the Lantus is U100. The Lantus is in pen needles, and I have all the correct supplies for it. She is on 2 units of ProZinc twice a day. What would that convert to in Lantus? In humans, you only take Lantus once a day. I'm hoping to be able to do the same with Lucky. Are there any guidelines for making this switch? I have all the supplies to do blood sugar checks on her as well.
 
Lantus is given twice a day for cats. You will want to use U100 syringes with 1/2 unit marks and you will use the pens like miniature vials. Using the needle that go with the pens is not recommended since you cannot adjust it for 1/2 units.

I have never used ProZinc so I cannot tell you if you need to use a different dose when you switch to Lantus.
 
Since ProZinc is a in-out insulin (unlike Lantus is a depot insulin) one day you just start the Lantus. The same dose of Lantus is likely appropriate. However, you did not post any dosage of ProZinc or BG numbers so I really can't say what dose of Lantus is appropriate to start with.
Since cats typicallyare dosed in 1/4 unit increments, one usually uses U100 syringes with Lantus and just stick the syringe needed when the pen needle goes and draw out the insulin.
 
Lisa and Witn (GA) said:
Lantus is given twice a day for cats. You will want to use U100 syringes with 1/2 unit marks and you will use the pens like miniature vials. Using the needle that go with the pens is not recommended since you cannot adjust it for 1/2 units.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I haven't used the pens in a long time, so I forgot about the no half units. We have lots of U100 syringes, so we should be good there. Thank you.
 
Larry and Kitties said:
Since ProZinc is a in-out insulin (unlike Lantus is a depot insulin) one day you just start the Lantus. The same dose of Lantus is likely appropriate. However, you did not post any dosage of ProZinc or BG numbers so I really can't say what dose of Lantus is appropriate to start with.
Since cats typicallyare dosed in 1/4 unit increments, one usually uses U100 syringes with Lantus and just stick the syringe needed when the pen needle goes and draw out the insulin.
Click to expand...
Thank you. She is on 2 units of ProZinc twice a day. The vet put her on 1 unit, but her blood sugars were in the mid 300s when I checked. I have increased it twice, and she has been in the 150-200 range. Once I switch her over, I will keep evaluating it her. So, your recommendation would be 2 units of ProZinc twice a day is similar to 2 units of Lantus twice a day? I have never heard the terms in-out vs depot. I know Lantus is what we would typically call a long lasting insulin and something like Novolog or Humalog is a rapid insulin. Prozinc Literature indicates it is a 10-14 hour insulin. Lantus lasts 24 hours in humans. Does it behave differently in cats?
 
WELCOME TO FDMB Mathew and Lucky! We are glad you found us! We hope to be able to help you with any "feline diabetes" questions you may have. Theres a wealth of information here with plenty of good people, to help you make the best decisions for Lucky.
You may want to start here:
New? How You Can Help Us Help You!
Let us know if you decide to stay We can help you set up a spreadsheet that tracks Lucky's progress.
You have found a safe place with good people to land

Again welcome to the best site on this planet to help you help Lucky!

jeanne
 
Matthew Kitchin said:
Thank you. She is on 2 units of ProZinc twice a day. The vet put her on 1 unit, but her blood sugars were in the mid 300s when I checked. I have increased it twice, and she has been in the 150-200 range. Once I switch her over, I will keep evaluating it her. So, your recommendation would be 2 units of ProZinc twice a day is similar to 2 units of Lantus twice a day? I have never heard the terms in-out vs depot. I know Lantus is what we would typically call a long lasting insulin and something like Novolog or Humalog is a rapid insulin. Prozinc Literature indicates it is a 10-14 hour insulin. Lantus lasts 24 hours in humans. Does it behave differently in cats?
Click to expand...

Cats metabolise insulin a lot faster than humans, which is why they need to be dosed twice a day. ProZinc and Lantus are both slow-acting, but the way they work is slightly different. As I understand it, Lantus dissolves in mild acid (think lemon juice) but precipitates out when injected into the body (which has neutral pH), so it forms a little deposit (the so-called depot) that gradually seeps from the subcutaneous cells into the bloodstream. ProZinc doesn't precipitate - instead it wraps the insulin up in protein (and zinc, hence the name), so although it starts circulating sooner, it takes a while for the body to "unwrap" the insulin and use it. Thus ProZinc gets used up completely because it quickly moves into the bloodstream, whereas traces of Lantus can linger in the depot.

As for dosing, my vet switched Maddie in the opposite direction, as ProZinc is cheaper (from my UK vet) than Lantus, and at the moment she's on the same ProZinc dosage as the Lantus. I haven't noticed any difference, but I'm not testing yet (glucometers are on their way!). She's only been on insulin for about 3 weeks (2 weeks of Lantus, one of ProZinc) so the vet was happy to make the switch on the same dosage, but as you can guess I'm no expert on the practicalities - I just read a lot, and being a scientist myself I understand the theoretical aspects pretty well by now.
 
Last edited:
Larry and Kitties said:
Are you sure? Prozince is a U40 uinsulin and thus there are only 400 units in a 10 ml viale. Lantus is a U100 insulin and thus thre are 100 units in a 10 ml vila or 1500 units in a 5 pack of 300 ml pens. One has to compare price a a per insulin unit basis.
Click to expand...

I think you have some typos there - surely there are 1000 units in 10ml of Lantus? And the pens are 3ml or 300 units.

Anyway, I'm new to all this and not keen to go against my vet's directions, as she's been very supportive of things like home testing and seems knowledgeable, even if she's not such an expert as some people here. So although I could use a vial of Lantus for several months as per suggestions here, I'm prepared to buy ProZinc from my vet on her recommended schedule.

Maybe when I'm more experienced, or if/when money gets tighter, I'll want or need be more flexible. For now I'm just happy that Maddie is putting weight back on and back to her normal chirpy self :D
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top