Input from former Prozinc users

Breanna H

Breanna H

Member Since 2019
Hello all!
I'm looking for some information and help. Tigger has been on Prozinc for approximately 3 months (diagnosis 12/2019). I have a whole dosing thread under that topic and have been getting dosing advice there, but I am just looking for more info on switching. I started on insulin a week or two after diagnosis and switch to LC wet food. He is still not regulated or even seeing any blue numbers (barely) despite my increases. I haven't given up yet, I am still increasing the dose and I just ordered a new bottle to rule out that it may have lost some potency from being opened and used for roughly over 90 days. He is a large cat (part maine coone) was 19lb at diagnosis and now is roughly 16.
I guess what I am looking for is information on switching to lantus from someone that has also used Prozinc. I have read all the stickies and done research, but did anyone start off on Prozinc and have a similar situation to me? Did Prozinc not give you any results? Was lantus more successful for you?
If I do have to switch, I doubt my vet will be on board with the prescription. She insists I should still only be on 1u/12hours and not home testing, other than for curves. So it would involve a new vet plus eating the cost of the new bottle of Prozinc I just ordered. But if I have to do it, of course I will.
Just thinking ahead and looking for more information on switching. Feeling discouraged at not seeing any results and I want what's best for my big guy.
Thanks everyone, hope you're staying healthy and safe!
 
I would certainly encourage you to not give up!! While I've never used Prozinc, I have looked at a lot of spreadsheets! Tigger's numbers are not terrible but I can appreciate why you want to see those numbers in a better range.

Prozinc and Lantus are the two insulins that are recommended for diabetic cats. The dosing recommendations for Prozinc were recently changed and are more similar to what we do for Lantus. What strikes me with Tigger's spreadsheet is that up until recently, I think you've been holding the dose for too long. Holding a dose that isn't bringing nadirs into the range you want can allow glucose toxicity to occur. Basically, this means that Tigger's body treats the higher numbers as the new "normal" which makes it harder to get the numbers down. I would keep doing what you've been recently doing with regard to dose and see if the Prozinc is doing the job. Given that it's been just over a week that you've been more aggressive with the dose and that you've just bought a new bottle of insulin, you have nothing to lose.

You may want to change the subject line for the thread. Maybe something like "Input from former Prozinc Users."
 
I used Prozinc for a month after being on Vetsulin for a month. I didn't immediately switch to levemir due to my fear of the depot insulins, but after a month of not seeing anything resembling better numbers I made the leap. The Prozinc just seemed to make every day a massive roller coaster of readings, and I suspect that was probably not great for her long term. I could have probably kept going on the prozinc for longer, but chose not to because I needed to get Smudge's numbers down into normal high range instead of regularly 500+ range.

I'm still a little scared as we're inching our way up the dosing ladder and down the readings ladder, but I'm glad I switched. I feel like we're getting into a better location, and although her numbers are still high, the daily swing is normally around 100 pts instead of the 300 or so I saw with the Prozinc. You can read some of my earlier threads on this subforum where I was trying to understand how the depot insulin's worked and there is some good info in there from the moderators and other experienced memebers.

Hope that helps some.
 
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