...Elizabeth Hodgkins ..... I wonder if anyone else is or has used this protocol.
Yep. Been there, done that,
and 'got the T shirt'....
Back in early 2007 when I joined FDMB there were some Hodgkins folks on the FDMB forum, and one of those contacted me and encouraged me to try the Hodgkins protocol with my cat. (She was a lovely person who actually helped me a great deal (and gave me my first glucose meter) and I still remember her with enormous affection). However....the Hodgkins protocol didn't work for us, and, to be frank, it all rather 'ended in tears'....
I was using a PZI insulin with a similar duration to Prozinc.
I often gave shots 8 hours apart, and sometimes gave shots 6 hours apart if the numbers hadn't budged. But every so often my cat's numbers would drop like a stone, and then shoot up high again. And, because he was on the Hodgkins sliding scale dosage, the higher my cat's numbers went, the more insulin I gave (up to 5 units at a time).
I should say at this point that I
remain a fan of sliding scale dosage (as long as it's calculated to suit the individual cat's needs). However, it is very dangerous indeed to increase the dosage if the preshot number that you're seeing is being caused by a
bounce. If the bounce clears, and the numbers drop, and the cat has more insulin in it's system than it needs, you can get into serious trouble. But then we come to the really scary bit about the Hodgkins protocol: It is believed that a cat on a low carb wet diet cannot suffer from hypoglycemia. And it simply
isn't true...
My cat had his first hypo while following the protocol. I found it to be a terrifying experience; not least because I had come to believe that it wasn't possible. But when I told other Hodgkins folks about this the response I got was that
'it could not have happened'...... So, I had to make a decision about whether to continue with the protocol, or to trust my own
experience, and just walk away; and I did the latter.
As I said, I remain a fan of sliding scale dosage - as long as it is calculated for the individual cat's needs and and is used appropriately. And I've also seen merit in TID dosing (giving 3 shots a day) for
some cats; although I think this should only be attempted once the caregiver has gained experience of giving shots twice a day, and has gathered data to show that TID dosing might be suitable for their cat.
Hoping this helps...
Eliz