Changing Curly's insulin--??

[maggie&curly]

I have been monitoring Curly's response to the Humulin-N that he is on and it is no wonder he is not doing well. On the 1.5 units the vet lowered him to I did a curve and he never got below 400! I went ahead and upped him to 2 units and I was not able to do a full curve but did a spot check at +6 hours and he was at 360. So I think when he was on the 3 units that was the right dose for him but as others on the board have pointed out, the insulin doesn't last 12 hours so at 12 hours his sugar would be so high it looked to her like a rebound situation when really he was just not getting 12 hours out of it.

Two questions-- for now is there any reason I can't go ahead and put him back on his 3 units until I can get him switched to a different insulin? I am working the next 3 days at least (I never know too far ahead because I am on-call) so I will not be able to do any kind of curve on him.

Second question is, I need to call the vet and talk to her and ask her to put him on a different insulin that has more staying power. I had originally wanted to try Lantus or Levemir but am concerned with my schedule being so all over the place that I will not be able to keep to the 12/12 schedule like he would need, and so I was considering the PZI. From other posts I am reading, I am wondering if that is a good choice. I am a little confused about it being discontinued but then available with zinc. I saw that the bovine PZI is available and that the vet could get a free sample so maybe that would be a good way to give it a try, and since it is bovine maybe he will respond better to it?

Also, is there a way to convert the dose he is on with the Humulin to a PZI dose, or will he have to go to the vet for the day and have them testing him to find the right dose?

Thanks for all the advice and input- I can't believe poor Curly has had such horrible control over the past few months- no wonder he goes into a tailspin if more than one shot is missed! And now I know why he is not gaining weight and is still peeing so much. Thank you again, Cindy and Mousie, for the testing supplies. BTW, I am not sure if these strips came from you or if I found some that I had misplaced but I have some strips that are about a month or two expired- are they still reliable?

Thanks again!

 

[Hillary & Maui (GA)]

I can't advice on specific dosing.

you are correct, PZI was discontinued and the replacement is called ProZinc. I believe it's supposed to work in a similar way to PZI. If you got to the board index and look at the insulin support group for PZI -there should be information there about prozinc.

 

[Larry and Kitties]

PZI Vet has been discontinued. However, BCP PZI is still available. It is 100% bovine insulin and, through your vet, you can get a free 5 ml vila of U100 strength. Bovine based insulin is supposed to be better than insulins using human insulin. ProZinc uses recombinant human insulin. Lantus and Levemir are human insulin analogs mad by the recombinant process. On a unit basis, BCP PZI is a lot less expensive than ProZinc.

I can't advice on specific dosing.

you are correct, PZI was discontinued and the replacement is called ProZinc. I believe it's supposed to work in a similar way to PZI. If you got to the board index and look at the insulin support group for PZI -there should be information there about prozinc.

 

[maggie&curly]

Thanks- I printed out the form for my vet to get the free sample. I am thinking its worth trying unless Levemir or Lantus are significantly more superior. If the bovine PZI is more or less as good I would like to at least give it a shot as finances are so tight right now and if it works, all the better, especially if I can try it for free.