Hypurin Bovine PZI - anyone else using it..?

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

Are there any other Hypurin Bovine PZI users here? Am curious because I hardly ever see it mentioned. I'm just wondering about other folks' experience of using it, especially with regard to it's long duration.

Thanks,

Eliz

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

Hi Elizabeth,

Someone will correct me if I am wrong, but I think this is the compounded PZI that we can get in the US as BCP PZI. I don't think we have anyone in the PZI forum using it, although we have had in the past. People seemed to do fine with it. The complaint that I have heard about it is that, since it is compounded, the quality can vary from batch to batch. I did read somewhere recently that it was getting harder to find -maybe fewer compounding pharmacies? At one time, vets could get a free sample for a customer in the US, but I am not sure if that is still possible.

 

[Larry and Kitties]

Yes. A few caretakers and posted that they use that insulin. However, I have not seen anyone posting about using that insulin lately. Try using the search bar in the upper adn searching for:Hypurin.

For Sue and Oliver, Eliz in the UK and that insulin is/was used for humans

 

[Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)]

I did some reading earlier to find out what the difference is between Hypurin and other "old PZI" types like the one I used (VPA PZI). I think it's made in the UK, and the only type of PZI available there? I don't recall seeing anyone else say that they used it in the year and a half that I've been hanging around the PZI forum.

You might also check the Diabetic Cat Care/Diabetic Cat Health message boards. Probably have some info on the Your Diabetic Cat site too, but I think you have to be a member of that group in order to see any of the forums on their board.

What struck me was the info on duration.
Elizabeth, what type of duration are you getting with it?

I read a site where it talked about how Hypurin was used on humans, and it said duration could be up to 30 hours. With onset happening at 5-6 hours, and peak effectiveness from 10-14 hours.
Given the theory that cats absorb and metabolize insulin twice as fast, that would still mean a duration of up to 15 hours for cats.

When I used the compounded PZI with Bob, I saw nadir probably at 5 hours and duration of about 10 hours. So it sounds like the Hypurin type lasts a bit longer? It's classified as a "long duration insulin" from what I read. But not a "depot" type.

Carl

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

....Given the theory that cats absorb and metabolize insulin twice as fast, that would still mean a duration of up to 15 hours for cats...
Carl

Hi Carl, yep...you are about right.... But it took me an awful long time to work that one out. It's remarkable how our experience can be coloured by our expectations.... :roll:

I switched to Hypurin because Insuvet PZI was discontinued. At that time people were saying that it was 'basically the same insulin as Insuvet PZI but made/marketed for humans..' So, I was really expecting it to behave like Insuvet PZI....

First thing I noticed with Hypurin was that my dosage was way too high. I needed to reduce my sliding scale by more than half. At the time I thought this was just because the insulin 'suited Bert better' than the Insuvet. It never occurred to me that it might be because the duration of the insulin was much longer, and that he often had 2 doses working in his system at any one time..... (Duh!!!!)

Then I realised that Bert was - with increasing frequency - going 24 hours on a single shot. And also - most interestingly, that he was sometimes too low to shoot at the regular times but that his BG jumped up at between +15 - +17...... Although that doesn't happen too often, it is exactly that aspect of Hypurin that I find to be a bit of a challenge at times. Sometimes I leave the shot until later, and sometimes experiment with tiny 'mini-shots' to try to extend the cycle; but it is still a work in progress....

That said, Hypurin has been absolutely brilliant for us! I never, ever thought that Bertie would see any decent BG numbers, but he now spends quite long periods in normal numbers, and has lovely flat-bottomed curves too....

I have searched on this forum and also DCC and YDC for more info on this insulin. What I have gleaned is that Hypurin is found to be a good insulin for cats, but the really long duration can sometimes and in some cats cause a bit of a challenge at times. The onset and peak times also seem to vary a lot from cat to cat, with a wider variation than I've seen happen with other insulins.

But it does seem to be a great insulin for levelling out numbers, probably due to the (sometimes considerable) overlap.

Anyone prescribed this would definitely need to be hometesting though. Because of Hypurin's long duration it would be absolutely vital to test the BG before giving a shot...

In fact, I wonder if this is why so many UK vets prescribe Caninsulin? At least they can know with a fair degree of certainty that it'll be out of the system in 12 hours....?

Edited for typos and clarification