Goodbye Prozinc, Hello Lantus

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Lauren & Comet

Lauren & Comet

Member Since 2015
Hello all! I looks like we will be making our way into Lantusland tonight. After 2 years on Prozinc and 3 days in the hospital due to a host of issues (I had a link to her story but they made me delete it), the doctor has switched us to Lantus. I believe she received 2units this morning but will confirm when I pick her up. I will also get her glucose numbers they took today to update the spreadsheet. I am interested to see how her plan of dosing differs with the great minds on this forum. Anyways, thanks for having us and I look forward to you assistance and support!
 
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Hello and welcome. Lots of good reading in the Sticky Notes at the top of this forum. I hope Lantus is a game changer for you.

Is your spreadsheet up to date? I don't see any data in the last half of January. We take the previous dose of Prozinc into consideration, and how it was doing, when figuring out a starting Lantus dose. Looks like she was on a lower dose that 2 units?
 
Hi and welcome to Lantus Land. We use to use ProZinc and made the switch after 6 months and I am very glad that we did. The best thing about Lantus is that there is an actual protocol. The dosing differs in that with ProZinc you were dosing by the Pre shot number with some consideration to the nadir where as with Lantus, we dose by the nadir number with consideration to the pre Shot number. When Bubba was on ProZinc, I was always just guessing as to what the dose should be. Now you will have guidelines to tell you how long to hold a dose, when to reduce it and when to raise it.

I see from your link about Comet's recent hospitalization that she developed ketones. With having the pancreatitis and her deciding not to eat and possibly with not enough insulin, that was a perfect storm to develop ketones. That could be why the vet suggested a higher dose for Lantus than the dose she was on with ProZinc. When you catch your breath if you could fill in the SS with all the test numbers you do have, that would be helpful.

Please monitor her closely these first days on Lantus as some kitties have a remarkable drop with a new insulin.

Glad you are here and you didn't give up on your extra sweet Comet. Let us know how we can help you.
 
Lauren & Comet said:
After 2 years on Prozinc and 3 days in the hospital due to a host of issues (I had a link to her story but they made me delete it), the doctor has switched us to Lantus.
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Lauren was asked to delete the link she posted to a fundraiser pending approval from the Board Admin, Robert and Echo, per FDMB policy.

To give you some history, here's a copy and paste of Comet's story:

Comet was diagnosed with feline diabetes in November of 2015. The vet at the time recommended euthanasia as this would be "a burden on my normal activities and will change my schedule". I did my own research and realized that diabetes in not a death sentence and we began treatment. Since then, she has received twice daily doses of insulin with daily glucose monitoring. She was a happy, loving, and at times, annoying cat. Up until 3 weeks ago.

Three weeks ago, Comet began having an aversion to all foods. The only way she would eat was when she was fed by hand or spoon. In working with the vet, she was put on a number of medications to assist with any underlying illnesses (URI, UTI, pancreatitis, etc). On January 29th, she was taken to the clinic in anticipation she would need fluids to assist with the healing process. She ended up with x-rays and an abdominal ultrasound and they transferred her to a specialty clinic as they didn't like the abnormal results that came back.

On the night of January 29th, after more tests were conducted, it was determined she has Pancreatitis, Ketones, low electrolytes, early stages of Fatty Liver Disease and possible Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome in addition to the Diabetes. It all sounds really scary when put together like that. But the great news is that it can be treated!

Essentially, we need to get her body working on it's own again. Once it is back doing what it does best, her care will be much easier.

Update: 1/30/18 - Last night, her ketones were reduced to "slight" from "small". She pooped for the first thing in a week along with multiple pees. We put in a feeding tube in the morning. She was getting 5ml of food per hour with the hopes of going up to 7ml if there is no vomiting. Her potassium was still low so we upped her dosage on the drip.

We were able to visit with her for a little bit last night. She was weak but responded to us. She leaned up and twitched her tail. She even purred and meowed at Wade (he's the favorite now...). The clinic was kind enough to allow her to sleep on a blanket with Sadie's smell on it. We were able to meet the Internal Medicine veterinarian assigned to her case. She really values the owner visits as we can tell her how we think she is doing. I feel comfortable with her care at the clinic and believe she has the best chance with the team at Sage.

1/31/18 (AM) - Comet is improving! She now is NEGATIVE for ketones! Huge win!! Her potassium is up in the lower range of normal and her glucose is running in the mid 200s. She also pooped twice last night and now has an empty colon (I'm sure feels better. lol). She was up walking this morning and has gained some of her strength back. She is loving her chin rubs... :) Her Dr. said she is now out of critical condition and now we can focus on some other issues.

Two big things, she still is not eating on her own. They were able to up her feedings with the tube without vomiting but we really want her to be interested on her own. The Doc believes this may be due to her underlying G.I. disease. There are two possibilities, Inflammatory Bowel Disease or Small Cell Lymphoma. I made the decision today that we will NOT be doing a biopsy to determine which illness we are fighting. As such, we will be starting her on steroids which will assist with comfort and reduce inflammation should it be IBD. This was started immediately and we should see her appetite increase throughout the day.

1/31/18 (PM) - We are eating on our own!! During her afternoon update, the doctor said she ate a few bites of food. They weren’t going to check her electrolytes tonight and will just wait until morning. With her eating, they are looking at removing the insulin drip!

My visit tonight was great! It was cut short due to an emergency case that came into the clinic but it was worth it. After she got some good loves and I finally got a meow out of her (Wade couldn‘t make it so I got all of the attention), I decided to try and feed her. She gobbled up a number of bites out of my hand! The nurses were surprised she ate that much from me. I explained that we had been doing this song and dance for three weeks.... once the emergency came in, I had to say goodbye but was very encouraged. On our way out, the nurse said that they would not be introducing an appetite stimulant after seeing her eat for me and that they would be removing the insulin drip after I left. I honestly think if she didn’t have the cone on, she would eat out of the bowl... things are looking up! Hopefully she can come home soon!

Hope that helps!
 
This sounds like what I had with Carson. 11 yo male, 19 lbs then lost weight and drank a ton. Diagnosed diabetic 11-27-17 and started on Lantus 2 units bid. Started not eating 12-11-17 pm and 12-13-17 had hepatic lipidosis and hospitalized for 5 days. 12-2o pancreatitis pain set in as we couldn't dose him orally with pain meds. It ends up on me or the floor. Went back to the U for 3 days. We got pain controlled with fentanyl patch til wore off then back to the U on the 28th and got a pain patch scrip. Yes the pharmacist looks at you like you're a criminal because it's a controlled substance but my cat needed it so whatever. Doubt he's running drug deals from the litter box. He's on 1 unit bid eating grain free pate and hills md dry to snack on. Insulin shots- I feel like an a-hole for poking him with a needle twice a day but he and I have an understanding that this is not negotiable and he gets food before and treats after so I think we're ok. Glucose curves have been hit and miss- start 2 units, then 1, then 1/2 now 1 prescribed. I probably am conservative as far as volume of food I need to see him eat before a dose as I work 35 miles from home so can't watch him for hypo. It's hard to be a diabetic cat mom but he's my baby and I have to do it to keep him alive. That keeps me going. He's still too skinny though and trying to get him calories.
 
Carsonsmama said:
This sounds like what I had with Carson. 11 yo male, 19 lbs then lost weight and drank a ton. Diagnosed diabetic 11-27-17 and started on Lantus 2 units bid. Started not eating 12-11-17 pm and 12-13-17 had hepatic lipidosis and hospitalized for 5 days. 12-2o pancreatitis pain set in as we couldn't dose him orally with pain meds. It ends up on me or the floor. Went back to the U for 3 days. We got pain controlled with fentanyl patch til wore off then back to the U on the 28th and got a pain patch scrip. Yes the pharmacist looks at you like you're a criminal because it's a controlled substance but my cat needed it so whatever. Doubt he's running drug deals from the litter box. He's on 1 unit bid eating grain free pate and hills md dry to snack on. Insulin shots- I feel like an a-hole for poking him with a needle twice a day but he and I have an understanding that this is not negotiable and he gets food before and treats after so I think we're ok. Glucose curves have been hit and miss- start 2 units, then 1, then 1/2 now 1 prescribed. I probably am conservative as far as volume of food I need to see him eat before a dose as I work 35 miles from home so can't watch him for hypo. It's hard to be a diabetic cat mom but he's my baby and I have to do it to keep him alive. That keeps me going. He's still too skinny though and trying to get him calories.
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Hi Carsonsmama. Welcome! You found us, so now you aren't alone in this fight. Please start your own thread tomorrow and tell us your whole story so we can start helping you, too! You'll be surprised how much you can do, despite working a full time job with a long commute.

Sorry for the hijack, Lauren, but wanted to be sure Carsonsmama knows we care.

I commented to you on your fundraiser page that you should join FDMB, but now I see you were already here! Welcome! Let's get Comet better together.
 
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