New here! Day 1 advice

alexMama

alexMama

Member Since 2026
Hello,
Alex our kitty is on day 1 of 1 unit PZi.
His AM Bg was 333, (no insulin yet, vet visit today…)
PMPS was 374 , +2 was 296, +5.5 is 190.
Someone from the FB group has been helping me and mentioned that 374 to 296 in 2 hours is a big drop. +5.5 was 190 and now +7.5 is 187.
Should i continue testing thru the night? It’s 2:00 am now…will be doing AMPS check in 4 hours.
We haven’t had a full day of insulin yet since we had vet appt today and didn’t get PZi until today mid day..
Alex was dx with diabetes mellitis and pancreatitis. He is a chronic puker.. which vet thinks causes the pancreatitis and that created the dm.
He has not however thrown up since being on wet food, FF Pate’ .
He is also on ClavaMox for an infection in his front gums that is how this all got discovered!
Thank you for any advice to this new mama of a sugar kitty!
 
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I can really help you with your ProZinc dosing and management if you would like. I am a little concerned about your vet starting your baby out on 2 units of ProZinc.

What is your time zone and when is your shot time? I would have waited until the daytime to start my ProZinc. You must be exhausted.
 
I commend you for learning how to home test before starting insulin. You will now be able to keep Alex safe (he is adorable by the way!) Do you have a hypo kit set up with some karo syrup and some HC food like Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers food? You will keep these for when/if you need to raise his BG if it drops below 50. Normal BG numbers for a cat are between about 50 and 120, with the majority of the time being spent in the “green” numbers (spreadsheet color for numbers 50-99.)
 
Thank you everyone!
He was 204 for AMPS right now.. seem perfectly happy.. just hungry!! I will have the entire Hypo kit ready today. Have honey at the ready, but grabbing the higher carb FF today while I’m at work.

I’m in WA state, PST. We are doing 1 unit, 2x/day, per the vet… is this too high?
Shot time is 6:30am.
Thank you all!
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
I can really help you with your ProZinc dosing and management if you would like. I am a little concerned about your vet starting your baby out on 2 units of ProZinc.

What is your time zone and when is your shot time? I would have waited until the daytime to start my ProZinc. You must be exhausted.
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Thank you everyone!
He was 204 for AMPS right now.. seem perfectly happy.. just hungry!! I will have the entire Hypo kit ready today. Have honey at the ready, but grabbing the higher carb FF today while I’m at work.

I’m in WA state, PST. We are doing 1 unit, 2x/day, per the vet… is this too high?
Shot time is 6:30am.
 
alexMama said:
Thank you everyone!
He was 204 for AMPS right now.. seem perfectly happy.. just hungry!! I will have the entire Hypo kit ready today. Have honey at the ready, but grabbing the higher carb FF today while I’m at work.

I’m in WA state, PST. We are doing 1 unit, 2x/day, per the vet… is this too high?
Shot time is 6:30am.
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No. I feel comfortable with you starting at 1 unit. Although with an AMPS of 204, it may be too much for today.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
His ProZinc will onset at about +2. I was going to ask you to get a +2. If the +2 is quite a bit lower than the AMPS, then he could be headed down for an “active cycle.”
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we went up at +2 to 258? I would’ve thought he went down like yesterday… I am so confused. Should I feed him some food or not?
 
It’s a good time to talk about bouncing if you’re not already familiar with it. High numbers do not always mean more insulin is required or that you have done something to make the numbers go up

A bounce is where the cat's body reacts to lower numbers that he is not used to being in anymore (since becoming diabetic.) It's a protective mechanism where the cat's central nervous system perceives either a steep drop in blood glucose or simply the cat being in lower numbers - and releases adrenaline, cortisol, glucagons and growth hormone, all of which create insulin resistance and can keep numbers high for up to six cycles (the bounce). Bounces don't have to last that long, but in some cats they will. Over time, many cats will start to clear the bounces more quickly as they become accustomed to the more normal BG numbers. When the bounce does clear, the BG numbers will come back down and give us an accurate picture of what a dose is doing for the cat.
 
Hi Alex. I’m new here too, and haven’t started PZ yet with my Runt. Plan to start this week; getting the glucose monitor today. Seeing you maneuver this for Alex gives me encouragement, and so happy for our seasoned support experts here with us! Alex is a pretty kitty!
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
His ProZinc will onset at about +2. I was going to ask you to get a +2. If the +2 is quite a bit lower than the AMPS, then he could be headed down for an “active cycle.”
Click to expand...
This is why I was concerned at the quick drop at +2 last night.....especially since it was her first shot of insulin. I suggested she give him a little snack and test again at +4/5 just to make sure he didn't continue to drop.
 
And here is information on setting up a signature. I also find it very helpful if people include their time zone.
Complete your profile. This is where you can put your location if you wish. Please do not put in personal information such as work schedules as it is a security risk.

Make sure your signature is up-to-date.
  • In the top right, click on your username, and then Signature. This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback.There is a limit of two lines which may include two links; you may separate pieces with commas, dashes, | etc. This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
  • Add info we need to help you:
    • Caregiver & kitty's name
    • DX: Date
    • Name of Insulin (do not include dose or frequency)
    • Name of your meter
    • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
    • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
    • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
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    • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
    • Please do not put any information about your location in the signature for security reasons. If you wish to add your country location, please add it to your profile.
Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.
 
WVCatMama said:
Hi Alex. I’m new here too, and haven’t started PZ yet with my Runt. Plan to start this week; getting the glucose monitor today. Seeing you maneuver this for Alex gives me encouragement, and so happy for our seasoned support experts here with us! Alex is a pretty kitty!
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Hi there! Welcome! I would be happy to help you with your ProZinc dosing and management. Make a new thread here on this forum. I will have a few questions for you before you begin. Make sure to get the U-40 syringes with the half unit markings; you will need those to make small dose adjustments. I would also recommend that you go to Walmart and buy a ReliOn blood glucose meter. They are quite reliable and useful for our purposes, and you can buy 100 test strips for about $17.88.
 
alexMama said:
He is also on ClavaMox for an infection in his front gums that is how this all got discovered!
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Because he is on antibiotics for an infection, it is definitely possible that his blood glucose numbers will start coming down as the infection clears, since infection and inflammation raise BG numbers. That’s another reason why I would like to proceed quite cautiously with Alex‘s dosing.
 
alexMama said:
I think i have it all together.. now what do i do with it…?
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Nothing! But now, every time you post, all that information will show up under your post. Like this:
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Like this is my "signature."(we are using a new board since a lot of us originally did ours so ours may look different)
1770753967398.png
 
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