12 units of Prozinc 2x daily not working? New Vet / Lantus!!

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Green Sub

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Help!

Bandit is 12 years old and was diagnosed diabetic in Dec 2009. He has always been on Prozinc, but his numbers have always been bad. His last Fructosamine test was in the 700's. We do not home test. I'm so sorry to report that, but I have the hardest time getting a blood sample.

We are thinking of finding another vet, as ours only raises the dosage (currently at 12 U40 units twice per day) and has never suggest another type of insulin. We are spending about $400 per month on insulin and food and Bandit is always hungry and only weighs 10.5 pounds. He mostly eats Fancy Feast Classic.

We are in the Kennesaw / Acworth area of Metro Atlanta Georgia. Any references to another vet would be appreciated.

Edit: I'm happy to report that Bandit has a new Vet, is now on 1 unit of Lantus x2 daily, and his full blood work came back with very good number in most areas.
 
Re: 12 units of Prozinc 2x daily not working? Kennesaw, GA

Hi and Welcome!

As Gail said, that is a lot of insulin. Most kitties on Prozinc are getting two units and under, unless they have a high dose condition. Your kitty might have one, but I'd suggest we deal with some basics first.

Yes, you really need to hometest. Most cats are stressed at the vet and stress raises glucose levels, sometimes by hundreds of points. Then the cat is dosed based on those inflated numbers and the dose is too high. Giving a dose that is too high can result in a condition called rebound:

Rebound: Oddly, too much insulin may result in increase of blood glucose (BG). This "Somogyi effect" is often noted by pet owners who monitor their pets' blood glucose at home.
The reason: anytime the glucose level drops too far or too fast, the animal's organism may defensively dump glucose (converted from glycogen in the liver), as well as hormones epinephrine and cortisol, into the bloodstream. (If these are insufficient, hypoglycemia ensues!) The glycogen raises the blood glucose, the other two may make the pet insulin-resistant for a time. This phenomenon was first documented by a Dr. Michael Somogyi. [33]
Even when raising the insulin dose slowly and carefully, it's possible to pass the correct dose and go on to an overdose. (A typical case is increasing by daily dosage from 1 unit to 2, passing a correct dose of 1.5 units.) This may produce a rebound—a swift jump in blood glucose up from a dangerously low reading, to beyond the previous pre-shot level.

We can't be sure if that is happening, but hometesting should give you more information about what is going on with the numbers. Tell us what is difficult about getting a sample and maybe we can help. The secret for us was to heat the ear enough. Most people use a thin sock filled with raw rice and heated until very warm in the microwave. Other people put very warm water in a pill bottle. Another thing that helped us was a lancet to make a big enough hole in the ear. Most humans use 30-31 gauage lancets. New diabetic cats may need a larger gauge - in the 25-28 range.

Another insulin might be a consideration, but regardless of insulin, you need to test at home to dose safely, so I would suggest working on that first.

You go say "mostly Fancy Feast" Sometimes all it takes is a high carb treat or a few pieces of hard carb dry food to raise the numbers.

I sent a private message to LindaLee and Napoleon. I think they are near Atlanta and may be able to give you some hands on help.
 
Re: 12 units of Prozinc 2x daily not working? Kennesaw, GA

Hey Green Sub ~ I live in Marietta near Hwy 5 & 92. We 're very close! I'm sorry to hear about Bandit's inability to get the FD under control. My Napoleon was on PZI & couldn't get regulated either. I know how you're feeling. I have a wonderful vet who believes in home testing, wet foods, & pretty much everything the majority of FDMBers do.

I'll send you a private message with their info. I'm out~of~town for about a week but you may call my cell. I have some new meters that I could give you or you can get a pretty inexpensive one at Walmart.

I hope that I can help you & your sugar baby! Look for a PM shortly.

Hugs!
~Linda Lee
 
Re: 12 units of Prozinc 2x daily not working? Kennesaw, GA

I also encourage you to home test. My Jean Luc was not doing well on ProZinc either. Numbers just kept bouncing all over. I'm in Villa Rica and worked with my vet to switch to Lantus. Starting to see some improvement.

To get started home testing I highly reccomend the Simply nourish freeze dried chicken dog treats from Pet Smart as a distraction and positive reinforcement. My guy will chase them on end of string at play time as well. I use the Relion Confirm $9 from Walmart.com. I order strips from American Diabetes Warehouse. I saw the new Relion Prime arrived in Walmart yesterday. Store doing big promo. There are many discussions about meters on the board. On the lancets, start with lowest setting first. The confirm takes a very small sample. You can test on yourself to get an idea of size. The #2 setting setting works on my finger.

Food-we eat 3 cans ff turkey daily. Beef causes my Kitty to vomit. He does it every time.

I am confident you will be able to home test. I will take practice and a bit of patience, but to know where kitty's glucose levels are is worth the effort. Sending encouragement your way.
 
Re: 12 units of Prozinc 2x daily not working? New Vet and La

I'm very happy to report that Bandit now has a new Vet, is now on 1 unit of Lantus x2 daily, and that his full blood work came back with very good numbers in most areas and those that were bad the new insulin will hopefully correct.

Our new Vet has a portion of the office with seperate entrance for cats only. Seems to adhear to everything I have read on this board, and not only looks out after the welfare of the patient, but our wallet too. No more buying insulin that is marked up at the Vet's office, they call in the prescription to our pharmacy and even shopped Lantus for the best price, which so far has been our local WalMart.

Thank you all for all the replies.
 
Re: 12 units of Prozinc 2x daily not working? New Vet and La

Good to hear. Sending out encouragement to you both. Please try and test kitty at home.

Jean luc has been on Lantus for 1 week and dropped to 50 tonight. Good news, but scary for me. We are doing fine now.

Keep us posted.
 
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