? Switch to ProZinc?

Jennifer and Winston

Jennifer and Winston

Member Since 2021
Good afternoon, My vet wanted me to bring Winston in to do a fructosamine test. It showed, as expected, fair control (574). He thinks that we need to change his insulin. He suggested Prozinc. What are your thoughts on this?
I asked him about acromegaly and he isn't ruling it out but, said the the test is expensive and there is not much that can be done even if he does have it.
Should I keep upping his Lantus as per TR protocol, (he is at 7units now) or should I switch to Prozinc or something else?
Thank You!

Here is the link to my previous post
? - Is it unusual to give 4units? | Feline Diabetes Message Board - FDMB
 
I personally went the opposite way (from Prozinc to Lantus) and have had much better results with Lantus. I know @FrostD (Melissa) used both too and has said before that since Lantus isn’t great at bringing down higher numbers sometimes, Prozinc may be better at that. Levemir may be another option, which I believe Melissa used too.
 
I agree with Elise, Levemir is a much better option at this point. I have seen many higher dose cats switch from Prozinc to Levemir successfully because Prozinc wasn’t cutting it.

I too think you should rest for acromegaly and IAA. There is a relatively cheap treatment called cabergoline that can help with acromegaly, but you have to know he has it first. What part of Canada are you in? Part of the cost of the test is shipping it to MSU. I am in BC so had fairly high shipping costs. The tests themselves aren’t that expensive.

If you could post more frequently, we could try some fast tracking if dose increases to get Winston to a better dose faster. I could help with this. For any lurkers, this is specifically for Winston and Jennifer. Any interest in this?
 
Wendy&Neko said:
I agree with Elise, Levemir is a much better option at this point. I have seen many higher dose cats switch from Prozinc to Levemir successfully because Prozinc wasn’t cutting it.

I too think you should rest for acromegaly and IAA. There is a relatively cheap treatment called cabergoline that can help with acromegaly, but you have to know he has it first. What part of Canada are you in? Part of the cost of the test is shipping it to MSU. I am in BC so had fairly high shipping costs. The tests themselves aren’t that expensive.

If you could post more frequently, we could try some fast tracking if dose increases to get Winston to a better dose faster. I could help with this. For any lurkers, this is specifically for Winston and Jennifer. Any interest in this?
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That would be awesome! Thank you so much! Would I continue to post on this thread or start a new one each time?
I am in Nova Scotia.
So, if I switch to Levemir, what dose would I start at? He is getting 7 units right now.
 
You are just closer to MSU than me, but worth getting a quote from the vet.

Levemir dosing we usually start at 70% of the Lantus dose, just because some cats have a strong reaction to the switch. So that would be 5 units for Winston. You'd hold at least 4 cycles, then we could fast track the increases after that if we aren't seeing even yellow. Fast track just means quicker increases. Since my time zone is 4 hours later than yours, I can ask a couple of other people to keep an eye on you if you have questions in the morning before I'm up.

On this forum, we ask that people start a new post each day, with a link to the previous one. It helps us keep track with what's current with the larger number of kitties here. POSTING GUIDELINES PLEASE READ
 
Wendy&Neko said:
You are just closer to MSU than me, but worth getting a quote from the vet.

Levemir dosing we usually start at 70% of the Lantus dose, just because some cats have a strong reaction to the switch. So that would be 5 units for Winston. You'd hold at least 4 cycles, then we could fast track the increases after that if we aren't seeing even yellow. Fast track just means quicker increases. Since my time zone is 4 hours later than yours, I can ask a couple of other people to keep an eye on you if you have questions in the morning before I'm up.

On this forum, we ask that people start a new post each day, with a link to the previous one. It helps us keep track with what's current with the larger number of kitties here. POSTING GUIDELINES PLEASE READ
Click to expand...
Ok, my husband is picking up the Levemir on his way home from work. Should I wait until the morning before I switch or do it tonight?
I will start posting daily!
I will look into getting the testing done very soon.
You guys are amazing! Thanks again!
 
Agree with everything else said here - ProZinc usually poops out too soon in higher dose cats for some reason. Levemir is my favorite of all of them (I've used Vetsulin/Caninsulin, ProZinc, Lantus, and Levemir)
 
Jennifer and Winston said:
Should I wait until the morning before I switch or do it tonight?
Click to expand...
Your choice, pick a couple cycles you can monitor a bit more closely. You may or may not see something, but any strong reaction is usually cycle 1 or 2. The Lantus depot is also depleting as the Levemir is building.

In the beginning, it will feel a bit like this is a new game for you. You want to try to find his onset and nadir, so you can be more strategic about testing. Levemir onset is "typically" at +4, though I've seen +3-5, and "typical" nadir is +8. My Neko's was between +9 and +12. Winston's numbers of Lantus never really got low enough to figure out his onset/nadir. Paws crossed we'll be able to change that.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Out of curiosity, what is the clock time for shot time for you?
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I am all set to make the change in the morning! We were only able to get the Penfill. It came with 5 vials. It is my understanding that we keep the one we are using out, at room temperature and store the other 4 in the fridge until ready to use. Is that correct?
Shot time is 8:30 am and 8:30 pm:)
 
Waving to you from Calgary :)

Good luck with the switch, as Wendy said, it is a bit of a re-learning effort, since the onsets and nadirs sometimes shift later than you may be used to with Lantus. My Mav on Lev sometimes likes to give me his best numbers right at preshot, or shortly after.

I couldn't find the vials either, the pharmacy only dispensed the pen fills here also. Just be sure to NOT inject air into them, like you may have done with the Lantus vial. Once you draw the insulin out of the pen fill, just put that one also back in the fridge in the packet until next use.
 
Christie & Maverick said:
Waving to you from Calgary :)

Good luck with the switch, as Wendy said, it is a bit of a re-learning effort, since the onsets and nadirs sometimes shift later than you may be used to with Lantus. My Mav on Lev sometimes likes to give me his best numbers right at preshot, or shortly after.

I couldn't find the vials either, the pharmacy only dispensed the pen fills here also. Just be sure to NOT inject air into them, like you may have done with the Lantus vial. Once you draw the insulin out of the pen fill, just put that one also back in the fridge in the packet until next use.
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Hi to you in Calgary!! I would love to visit there some day! I am a horse girl and you live in horse country!:)
I am very glad you told me not to inject air! My hubby is a nurse and taught me to inject air into the bottle first...he is not familiar with the Penfill type. I am learning so much!
I will post tomorrow. Thanks so much!
 
You are welcome! The penfills work on negative pressure so you don't want to put air in there . I haven't gone quite that far in Eastern Canada to your area, but I've been to New Brunswick. I love horses too :).
 
There is a video in the Insulin Info sticky that shows you how to take insulin from a pen. Personally, I got the cartridges. Less waste than pens, the cartridges are just like pen refills.
Jennifer and Winston said:
It is my understanding that we keep the one we are using out, at room temperature and store the other 4 in the fridge until ready to use. Is that correct?
Click to expand...
Nope, just like Lantus, you keep all of them in the fridge. Keeping the current one out is only if you are going to use the pen with pen needles, and not if you are going to use syringes, which is what we all use.

Best of luck tomorrow!
 
When Ruby was on super low doses of insulin, like .25 and .5, we used a cartridge of Lantus for about 6 months. These days our dosage is much higher, so it last about 45 days, but if you keep insulin in the fridge, you can use every pen to the last drop. Vials have about 1000 units of insulin, so I threw mine away after 6 months even though it was still about ⅓ full as you inject air into them and it won't last as long because the air can oxidize the insulin. The vacuum in the pens allows it to stay fresher longer. Still, when we see numbers start to climb up and don't know why, sometimes changing to a fresh cartridge of insulin gets better numbers.
 
Morning Jennifer. I poked my nose in earlier this morning around your AMPS and saw you were starting off the day with AMPS 382. Let's see how today goes, if you come by I'd see about catching a test at maybe +4 or +5, and perhaps start a new post so we can watch the progress today. It will take some time to get a sense of the new patterns on Lev, and we want to watch also to see whether Winston has a particularly good reaction to the switch. My Maverick was a kitty who took his time deciding whether he liked Lev :). Let us know how things go.
 
Good luck with the Levemir,
could you please put a line in your US SS and note in the new row that you are switching to Levemir. Most of us look at the US Tab , and up top on your SS where you have lantus just add switched to Levemir and date
Thanks :bighug::cat:
 
Christie & Maverick said:
Morning Jennifer. I poked my nose in earlier this morning around your AMPS and saw you were starting off the day with AMPS 382. Let's see how today goes, if you come by I'd see about catching a test at maybe +4 or +5, and perhaps start a new post so we can watch the progress today. It will take some time to get a sense of the new patterns on Lev, and we want to watch also to see whether Winston has a particularly good reaction to the switch. My Maverick was a kitty who took his time deciding whether he liked Lev :). Let us know how things go.
Click to expand...
New thread started. Thank you!:)
 
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