? Mačka - Advice on switching from Lantus to Prozinc?

Penelope and Mačka

Penelope and Mačka

Very Active Member
Dear members,

I usually post on the Lantus/Levemir forum.
Macka has been in the reds and blacks for 2 months now, with only a few blues here and there. My vet thinks that Lantus does not work for him and advised to switch to Prozinc. I asked about Levemir and she was not opposed either. I don't know what to do! Right now I'm just increasing the dose but without much results...

Has anyone of you switched from Lantus to Prozinc? And why? Are you more satisfied? What are the pros?
All insights are appreciated in order for me to make the best choice for my baby.

Thank you!!
 
Hi there - I've switched from Lantus to Prozinc because my cat was having a bad reaction to Lantus. That is extremely unusual though. Looking through your spreadsheet, however, I don't think making this switch will help your cat, and my hunch is that your vet doesn't know much about feline diabetes.

The numbers you're seeing are in large part a result of being on a steroid. Which means that it doesn't matter which insulin you use, you're still going to see these numbers. Also, your dose is still relatively low, especially for a cat on steroids. Unless the IBD is quite severe, I think you may find better results for both the IBD and the diabetes by introducing a high quality probiotic and using it consistently, every single day. In addition, switching to a raw food diet can have a huge positive impact.

You can post in the main forum to get more advice about a good probiotic, and raw food recommendations. There is a facebook group called "raw feeding for ibd cats" that can be very helpful about the food options.

It will take at least a month (and maybe a bit more) for the probiotic to reach full effect, and at that point you could try weening from the steroid and see how your cat does.

Until that is resolved though, you're going to need to dose around the steroid, which means increasing the dose. The folks over in Lantus can help guide you with that. You're only at 2u, and many cats go much higher than that before they begin to see a good effect. You'll get good advice in the Lantus forum about how to manage those increases.

If you want to try a different insulin, I would suggest Levemir over Prozinc, but again, the insulin is unlikely to be the issue here. I think more appropriate dosing, and working on the medication issues will be your most effective course of action.
 
Hi Penelope,

Just wanted to say, I am from Hungary, and /matchka/ is how the Hungarian word for 'cat' is pronounced! Any chance the cat could have Hungarian origins lol...
 
Galaxy said:
Hi Penelope,

Just wanted to say, I am from Hungary, and /matchka/ is how the Hungarian word for 'cat' is pronounced! Any chance the cat could have Hungarian origins lol...
Click to expand...
Good catch ;) He's actually from Croatia, and it means cat in Yugoslavian yes! I found him on the streets of Sibenik as a kitten, with a broken leg, and took him with me to Paris, 15 years ago.... my baby!
 
Djamila said:
It will take at least a month (and maybe a bit more) for the probiotic to reach full effect, and at that point you could try weening from the steroid and see how your cat does.
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Hi Djamila, thank you so much for all the good info.
His steroid is Budesonide, and I was told that it targets the intestines so it should not mess with the BG too much, but who knows. I don't like the idea of giving him steroids though, and hope to wean him off, but I can see an improvement in his poop and appetite. It could also be unrelated. However his belly is still very swollen. I will look into good probiotics, thanks!
With the new 2u dose, Macka is having some interesting fluctuations, let's see how it goes this weekend. I might have to increase it, I hope not though :)
 
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