Droppped Bottle

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Gracie'smom

Gracie'smom

Member Since 2014
HI I'm new here. My 10 year old cat, who I have had since she was 6 months was recently diagnosed after I took her to the vet for vomiting. She started on some donated prozinc and was doing fine. After I ran out of the donated prozinc I bought a bottle and around a week after I strated us ing it I dropped it and now my cat seems sick again. She is not as bad as she was, but her water intake has increased and she is eating less. Her level was 256, but I am having trouble getting the vet to call me back about what to do. Is there a way to tell if the insulin is still ok or not? I really can't afford another bottle so I'm really worried.
 
Newbie, here but might have some answers for you.

That is the same testing kit that I started using last week. Works very well and is inexpensive. It comes with a lancing device and some lancets (that are too small). Go with the alternate site type. They are beige. And if you use the lancing device set it for the deepest setting.

And dropping the insulin shouldn't change it's make up. I work in a hospital and there are only a few meds that dropping or accidently rolling on the floor will hurt.
 
The Relion Confirm is a very good meter that is inexpensive to use.

Most likely, the change in Gracie is not related to the dropped bottle of insulin. Hometesting will help you determine if the dose needs to be adjusted. After you get a few days of readings we can help you determine if you need to adjust the dose. What is her current dose?

One way to protect the vial is to put it in an empty pill bottle and stuff either cotton or a paper towel around it to keep it snug in the bottle. Place the top of the vial just below the opening and you will not need to remove it from the bottle to draw the insulin into your syringe. This method protected several of my vials.
 
Is the lancing device what you draw the blood with? I noticed there was something for that in the kit at the vet's. Not sure what you mean by alternative site. I am not familiar with diabetes supplies.
The vet finally called back today and said a curve needs to be done. Is it possible to do this with home testing?
 
Hi Gracie's Mom!

I just wanted to welcome you to FDMB, although I'm sorry you have to be here. You've come to a great place for help, though. The wonderful people here helped me get Jersey into remission after just a few months. We were Lantus users, so I'm not very familiar with the Prozinc you've been using. There are lots of experienced users here who can help you with it, though.

Definitely don't buy an expensive test kit from your vet's office. My vet actually never mentioned home testing. I only started doing it after I found FDMB. Thank goodness I did test at home. Otherwise, I would have given Jersey too much insulin, and she might not be with me today. I simply went to Wal-Mart and bought a ReliOn meter - I used the ReliOn Micro. I think the meter cost me about $15. You'll also need to pick up the lancets, which are the needles that you will use to poke the ear with. Since I actually tested on Jersey's paw (I couldn't get the hang of ear testing), I bought the bigger lancets. I think a box of 100 lancets cost $5 or $6. You'll also need to buy the test strips to go with the meter. Those are the most expensive "piece" for home testing.

The first vet, the one who diagnosed Jersey, wasn't very knowledgeable about feline diabetes. He prescribed an insulin that wasn't very good for cats, pushed prescription dry food (that was high-carb), and didn't mention/encourage home testing. We went to a second vet, who prescribed Lantus for us, but he still wasn't very knowledgeable about dosing. So....after we got our insulin prescription, we actually never went back to either vet. We followed the advice of very experienced users here. They were able to tell us when to increase the dose, decrease the dose, etc. The vets wanted us to come back in for glucose curves and fructosamine tests. Since we were testing at home, though, we didn't need those tests. We already knew exactly what Jersey's numbers were. That saved us a ton of money in the end. Of course, we were also fortunate that Jersey didn't have any other health issues going on that would have required vet visits.

Anyway....hope this helps!
Shelly
 
Hi Gracie's Mom,

Gracie'smom said:
The vet ... said a curve needs to be done. Is it possible to do this with home testing?
Click to expand...

It is better to do the curve at home because vet stress can elevate BG numbers significantly. This could result in the insulin dosage being set too high for Gracie's needs. Testing at home in Gracie's familiar environment will give you more accurate numbers for insulin dosing (as well as saving you money). Doing a home curve is very straightforward. Test before insulin is due, feed Gracie, then administer her insulin. After that, test at regular intervals over the next 12 hours. Your vet or the experienced members here can guide you about suitable intervals for Gracie's insulin type.
 
Hi - did you end up replacing your bottle or was it okay? My husband just dropped our bottle of Prozinc on a tile floor - it didn't break but now im worried it will be ineffective.

Thanks
Kristina
 
Thank you so much - the vet told us to be really gentle and just roll it so I figured dropping it on the floor would mostly certainly cause it to self destruct - lol
 
My vet said don't worry about dropping it, so I think you are fine. She said she's had client's even leave prozinc out overnight and it was fine.
 
So the lancets and test strips don't come with the meter and can be purchased separately at Walmart? Hopefully the meter comes with instructions as to how the test strips are used?
 
It is pretty straightforward.

There are 2 ends to a test strip. The end that looks like circuitry goes into the meter.
 
Yes, the meters come wilt good instructions for how the use the meter. The include a lot of images
Gracie'smom said:
So the lancets and test strips don't come with the meter and can be purchased separately at Walmart? Hopefully the meter comes with instructions as to how the test strips are used?
Click to expand...
 
I dropped my bottle once, shaken it vigorously twice and left it out over night twice. It has lasted me seven months.
 
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