Dosing Help - switching to ProZinc w/ U100 & High Dose Cat

Status
Not open for further replies.
taffysmom

taffysmom

Member
I posted this on the Main Health forum but thought I would post here too. About to become a ProZinc user...so Hello group :) There doesn't seem to be a lot of people here...are ProZinc users not very common?

Hello again :) Tonight I am supposed to switch Taffy over to ProZinc but after calling 5 pharmacies - no one had U40 syringes. I have plenty of U100 ones. I printed off the conversion chart so I think I'm good on that front. I ordered U40 but the online pharmacy has to confirm Rx and who knows how long that will take.
Here's the problem. Last week while at the vet I was told to start her off at 3 units of Prozinc. According to the chart that would be 7.5 of Lantus equivalent which is what her next bump is up to.
On the label it says 5.5 for Prozinc which would be double the dosage I've been giving her for Lantus correct? I called the vet office to ask and didn't get a call back. Good thing I couldn't find the U40 and I just received the ProZinc from the vet today so I have not used it yet.

And just to add a nice spin on things Taffy developed bad diarrhea on Saturday and then started vomiting on Sunday - within an hour of eating anything it came right back up one end or the other.
Got meds from vet this morning and thankfully the vomiting has stopped. The poo is still runny but not watery anymore. This cat never lost her appetite or her attitude. Guess I can be grateful for that but I was up all night cleaning puke and poo and checking on her. And I think it was the liver in the chicken and liver pate that got this all started. I vaguely remember her having an intolerance to liver of course after she scarfed it all down.

I've been feeding her small amounts every couple of hours so not to completely warp her system since it seems to be back up and running on the front end.
So since she was sick last night I lowered her dose on Lantus from 7 to 5. Because she was puking all night but still eating I gave her 3 units of Lantus this morning.
Now that she's eating and not puking I'm not sure if I should do 1 more Lantus dose at 7 or make the switch to 3 units of Prozinc or maybe give lower doses and work my way back up.

and b/c I know I will get asked...no ketones..no pain..no dehydration..no loss of energy(surprisingly)..no I haven't tested for acro yet...lantus doesn't sting - I just wanted to try a different based insulin ;-)
Thanks!!
 
Re: Dosing Help - switching to ProZinc w/ U100 & High Dose C

Hi, and welcome to pzi-ville. We're a small board that's most active in the morning & evening. There's a lot of expertise floating around, though. If you need quick help, it's best to post on health.

Prozinc is a u-40 insulin, as opposed to the L's which are u-100. The difference is the concentration-prozinc is more dilute. If you give 3u of prozinc, it will look like 7.5u in a u100 syringek you're still giving 3u, there's just more fluid in the syringe. Make sure you post the true (u40) dosage, not the converted dose.

Conventional wisdom is "start low, go slow." We usually recommend starting at 0.5 or 1u and gradually increasing. It's easy to overshoot & end up at too high a dose. I'm not sure what to advise, since you're already at such a high dose of lantus. 3u may be okay, but see what others advise.

Prozinc works a little differently than the L's; there's no shed. Once the dose has cleared, it's gone. Dpsing is based more on preshots, but you also want to monitor midcycle to see how low she's going.
 
Re: Dosing Help - switching to ProZinc w/ U100 & High Dose C

her's what I posted on Health:

I am not sure. Although I have helped a lot of people with ProZinc, few people switch from Lantus. And her being a high dose kitty complicates things. The issue is the shed that Lantus has and that it may last longer than 12 hours - you don't want to throw another dose of insulin when the Lantus is still working.

I guess I'd consider lowering the dose by half (?), monitoring carefully for bg levels and ketones for 2 cycles and then increasing every few cycles by .5 until she is in safe ranges.

Yes, 3 units of ProZinc on a U100 needles would be 7.5. You are using this chart, right?

http://www.felinediabetes.com/insulin-conversions.htm

What dose of Lantus is she on now?
 
Re: Dosing Help - switching to ProZinc w/ U100 & High Dose C

Thanks! her shot time was at 9 and she tested at 410 so I stuck with the 7 units of lantus for tonight. will make switch tmrw when im awake enough to keep watch on her. I think last night wore her out too @-)
 
Re: Dosing Help - switching to ProZinc w/ U100 & High Dose C

Thanks! her shot time was at 9 and she tested at 410 so I stuck with the 7 units of lantus for tonight. will make switch tmrw when im awake enough to keep watch on her. I think last night wore her out too @-)
 
Re: Dosing Help - switching to ProZinc w/ U100 & High Dose C

Thanks! her shot time was at 9 and she tested at 410 so I stuck with the 7 units of lantus for tonight. will make switch tmrw when im awake enough to keep watch on her. I think last night wore her out too @-)
 
Re: Dosing Help - switching to ProZinc w/ U100 & High Dose C

Please know that PZI will not give you better results than Lantus.
A switch to Levemir would have been better because you will find you cat will test positive for acromegaly and possibly IAA as well.

Many others before you have switched from one insulin to another and another; they switched before reaching their cats' good doses which are frequently over 10units twice daily.

Be sure to test for ketones every day when switching; what will your starting dose for PZI be?
Can you get confirmation from the vet on the dose in U100 syringes?
Also, PZI does not last as long as Lantus so you may have to switch to TID dosing - every 8 hours - to get proper coverage. All high dose cats have either switched to Levemir or first tried dosing every 8 hours.

Gayle
print out the sheets for the two tests for IGF-1 and IAA to give to your vet.
IAA Test
IGF-1 (Acro) Test
 
Re: Dosing Help - switching to ProZinc w/ U100 & High Dose C

You may find the ProZinc wears off faster than Lantus and that you'll need to give insulin every 8 hours due to whatever the high dose condition is.

I found it wore off faster than 12 hours in Spitzer, so I went back to Lantus and also wound up using supplemental shorter-acting insulin to help tide over the end and beginning of cycle.s
 
Re: Dosing Help - switching to ProZinc w/ U100 & High Dose C

I got confirmation from the vet this morning that she is supposed to get 3 units (prozinc) not the 5.5 listed on the Rx label. Which is good b/c that's what I gave her this morning.

Thank you for the advice. Prozinc may work - it may not but I wanted to try it.
Best to all :)
 
Re: Dosing Help - switching to ProZinc w/ U100 & High Dose C

I say there is no problem giving it a try. Several nice things about ProZinc: You can increase fairly rapidly if you have the data. There is no shed to consider. You can shoot a little early or a little late if you need to, if you have the data. You can shoot every 8 hours if needed, if you have the schedule to monitor carefully.

Let us know how we can help.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top