Can I do it?

[meatball_mommy]

Hi there! Meatball was recently diagnosed and his vet put him on ProZinc. We switched to an internal medicine specialist and started home testing a couple of days ago. She sent us the message below. I have some time off work coming up, but within a few weeks will go back to work which means that my boyfriend and I both leave the house around 7 AM and return around 6 PM. Given the scheduling aspect, any advice on whether or not a switch to Lantus might be appropriate? Thanks!

Vet: "I was looking for a protocol that you could do at home with the ProZinc insulin. All of the published studies for remission have used glargine insulin (Lantus). We can either do periodic home glucose curves (once weekly) and adjust his dose based on that on a weekly basis or we can switch him to a different insulin and do the daily testing with daily adjustments. Attached is a poor (sorry!) copy of the protocol for the PZI."

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

Hello Meatball's mommy! (You might want to let us know what to call you...lol)

I'm still fairly new to all this, but just from the limited amount of info you've provided and my own experience so far, I might suggest you try the Lantus and here's why:

1. you don't have to keep chasing numbers like you do with Pro-Zinc..You start at a very low, but pretty "safe" dose and shoot the same over several days time.

2. Increases are kept at only .25 unit and then held again for several days

3. because you're going to be going back to work soon, if you hold the same dose M-F, you'd be home on Sat/Sun to do more testing to try a new dose if it's needed

Is there anyone (a neighbor or family member?) that can check in on Meatball during the day while you're at work?

Again, I'm still fairly new to this and hopefully more experienced eyes will be along soon to help. When you have a question, add the ? to your condo. You can "edit" your original post and directly above the Subject are some post icons. For general questions, add the question mark. If you need help immediately, you can use the 911 ...once you get the help you need, you can take it off again.

Good luck to you! I know this sugardance is crazy sometimes, but our furkids are worth every bit of it

 

[meatball_mommy]

Hello Meatball's mommy! (You might want to let us know what to call you...lol)

Ha ha. My name is "Jo". Sounds like it's something we could consider. Between the two of us we can usually work a day from home Mon-Fri and we do have weekends off. Perhaps we can get my boyfriend's niece to come by and check on him once during the day on the longer days as well. Thanks for the tips.

 

[Alexis & Nikki (GA)]

I'll leave it to someone who knows more than I to explain the difference between how Prozinc and Lantus works, but just wanted to pop in and let you know that with a few adjustments, giving Lantus and working full time can work! I'm out of the house 5 days a week from about 1 hour after shot time in the morning until about 45 minutes or so before PM shot time. I do generally leave a little frozen food in the auto feeder for Nikki to snack on during the day, just in case she goes a little low.

Because Lantus dosing is based on nadir and not the pre-shot number, it is a bit more difficult but not impossible to figure out dosing. I grab a +1 or +11 sometimes and test during the day on weekends. Then I grab a before bed test (anywhere between +2 and +5 depending on the night). I set my alarm for different times about 3 nights a week to get a test in the later part of her cycle (+6 to +8). I hate getting up in the middle of the night, but it helps me keep an eye on how Nikki is doing. So far we've managed ok!

Good luck!

 

[Lkldcatlady]

Hi Jo! Bob was on Prozinc for a little over a month and it really didn't seem to be helping. He's still not regulated, but the Lantus seems to be doing much better - I haven't seen any 500's and 600's which I was still seeing pretty regularly on the ProZinc.

I work a full time job and several part-time jobs. Bob gets his shot at 7:00am before I leave and 7:00pm when I get home. It sounds like you could manage it. From what I've read, it's pretty good stuff and worth the inconvenience. I'm jealous your doctor is so supportive of home testing! My doctor is not! I come home occassionally at lunch and try to do curves on the weekends if possible. It's worked so far!

Good luck with Meatball (such a cute name - can't wait to see his pic!)

 

[meatball_mommy]

I'm jealous your doctor is so supportive of home testing!

You know, his primary vet really wasn't. I'd brought it up from our very first visit when we were pretty sure he was going to be diagnosed and she sort of gave me the "let's not get ahead of ourselves" message - in a polite way. I brought it up during our second visit after the second BG curve and she still wan't feeling it. But, as luck would have it, we got sent to a specialist at a vet 50 minuets away for an ultrasound (turns out Meatball has some fatty liver stuff going on) and while we were there she asked if we were home testing. I looked at her and was like "I love you! Help us!". From there we've been communicating over email and speaking on the phone. You might consider finding someone who's supportive that you can work with virtually. In our case it was an internal medicine specialist at an emergency vet. I figure it's because she's a specialist that she's more up on what's going on. Food for thought! And I'm posting a pic of Meatball now! Technically I'm his step-mommy He's my boyfriend's cat, but I fell in love when I moved in a few months ago. My dog, Sadie, was slightly less enthusiastic but she's come around!

 

[Anne & Zener GA]

Everyone has given you good suggestions for managing the shots and testing. Good for you for home testing! It's the only way to keep Meatball safe. I will suggest that you get rid of the AlphaTrak and adopt a human meter. We started with the AlphaTrak at the vet's suggestion and us not knowing any better. It was very expensive, both the meter and the strips. Human meters with a cat generally run 30 points lower than the AT and the strips are much cheaper. Most everyone here uses a human meter. You are going to be doing a lot of testing.
Liz

 

[meatball_mommy]

Spoke to the vet and she's calling in Lantus to the pharmacy as we speak! We'll start tomorrow. I definitely hear the message on the AlphaTrak2. Since we just bought a crap load of strips (200 or so) think we'll stick with it until we're out at least. We'll use Lantus as the new challenge for now! The upside to all of this is that we're boarding Meatball at the vet we're working with starting Tuesday for a week while we go to CA. So they'll monitor how he's doing on it, do curves, etc. Should be a great way to start getting him regulated. Then we can pick it up the new dose when we get back. Sometimes things just work out! Thanks again for all the comments - really helped me jump on it with the vet and made it an easy decision.

 

[BJM]

Well, you posted in the Lantus forum, and certainly Lantus is a good option, as is Levemir, and ProZinc.

ProZinc has a forum here too, and it can be successful if one commits to testing pre-shots and around nadirs, and evaluating the effects, too. Additionally, it is possible to shoot on a sliding scale, which this Lantus group does not generally do, because of the depot effect.

Looking at your spreadsheet, you could go up 0.25 units on the ProZinc at the next shot, if you haven't gotten the Lantus yet. ProZinc doesn't need a few days to build up in the system, although some cats do have initial variable reactions to any insulin's dose change we call "new dose wonkiness"

If you have gotten the Lantus, please read (print if desired) the sticky posts at the top of the forum's second section, so you are really familiar with how to use it. It has a depot, which ProZinc does not, so there is some overlapping between shots - part of why the day to day tests don't swing as widely as they may with the ProZinc.

To estimate a starting dose, answer these 2 questions:
What is your cat's current weight?
What is your cat's ideal weight?

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Welcome to Lantus Land!

This may be the best place you never wanted to be!

If you want to get started with some homework, the starred sticky notes at the top of the Board are a basic (or not so basic) primer on Lantus, how it works, what you need to do to get the maximum use from your Lantus, how this board works, key concepts, etc. If you read all of the included links, it's more than a little overwhelming. It gets easier -- I promise!

The initial dose of Lantus is based on a cat's ideal weight (initial dose = 0,25 x ideal weight in kilograms) as well as the dose of the previous insulin. In addition it's helpful to know if Meatball has any medical issues that are noteworthy.

One important bit of information. You need new syringes so your vet will need to include an Rx for them, as well. Prozinc is a different concentration than Lantus. You will need U100 syringes that are in half unit increments. Walmart's Relion syringes do come in half units. Most of us buy our syringes on line, though.

Please let us know how we can help. The people here are incredibly generous with their time and knowledge. We'd love to have you post often so we can follow Meatball's progress.

 

[Lkldcatlady]

Hey Jo -

You know, his primary vet really wasn't. I'd brought it up from our very first visit when we were pretty sure he was going to be diagnosed and she sort of gave me the "let's not get ahead of ourselves" message - in a polite way. I brought it up during our second visit after the second BG curve and she still wan't feeling it. But, as luck would have it, we got sent to a specialist at a vet 50 minuets away for an ultrasound (turns out Meatball has some fatty liver stuff going on) and while we were there she asked if we were home testing. I looked at her and was like "I love you! Help us!". From there we've been communicating over email and speaking on the phone. You might consider finding someone who's supportive that you can work with virtually. In our case it was an internal medicine specialist at an emergency vet. I figure it's because she's a specialist that she's more up on what's going on. Food for thought! And I'm posting a pic of Meatball now! Technically I'm his step-mommy He's my boyfriend's cat, but I fell in love when I moved in a few months ago. My dog, Sadie, was slightly less enthusiastic but she's come around!

Believe it or not, both my vet AND the internal medicine specialist gave me a hard time about home testing. I'm glad you found someone who is supportive - it's important! I was just going to say everyone on this board is VERY helpful, so be sure to ask lots of questions and take their advice. I was hesitant at first because I didn't want to go against my vet, but I think this is my best chance of getting Bob into remission one day (right now, I would just take REGULATED!). I hope you and Meatball do well with the Lantus! I'll be keeping an eye on him.