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JandBsMom

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Hello!

My name is Chantel and my boy Jackson was diagnosed with diabetes this week. I got the insulin today, it is Prozinc, anyone use it? I am in Canada, if that helps.
Jackson is 9 and weighs 20 pounds currently. He normally sat at 25 but has lost weight.

I am totally worried he is going to go into hypoglycemia and get super sick. I was told to watch him 4-6 hours after his first shot of insulin today.
I noticed he was kinda sad looking and then later on I checked on him, then went back in a couple mins later and he had thrown up. So I went and got some honey
and gave him that. He is very sleepy and I don't know what to do. My vet isn't open so I can't take him. I did a test and his number was 21 so it definitely wasn't too low!
Is that because of the honey? I don't know if I should give him his second shot tonight or to wait until morning. Help!
 
ProZinc is a good insulin and it's wonderful you are testing. Did the vet say anything about DKA or ketones? Does Jackson have any kind of infection? I am concerned that it is a very high number. (I am assuming you are using metric numbers, not US numbers. If US numbers, it would be very low) But yes, the honey can make the number higher. But wasn't your test before the honey?

What kind of food does Jackson eat?
 
It was my first test at home. His test done by the vet was 21 and then today at the vet it was 15 (with no food) I did the test about 30 mins or so after the honey

I feed him fancy feast wet. It was only a can a day but I have upped it to 2 cans a day this week when I found out. I don't want him to eat much dry, just as a snack.

Not sure what DKA is and I am assuming keytones is something with urine? That was fine, a couple years ago he had a problem but we got it under control

I just tried to feed him supper and he has no interest. Might be visiting the vet tomorrow nailbite_smile
 
The honey might have brought up the number. Maybe take another test in an hour to see if he drops a little? As it is his first day, it is possible he will be higher until his body begins to use the insulin. You can keep a close eye on his numbers since you are testing.

Here is some info on ketones. You'll want to get some strips and test his urine regularly, especially if he had them before.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/ketones.htm

For reference, we generally consider a cat regulated if they are in the mid 200s at preshot and under 100 at nadir, but not as low as 50 which is hypo territory. (these are US numbers). 300/400s are high numbers but not terribly unusual at first.

I'd get rid of the dry snacks. Even a few carbs can really bring up the number. There are some good low carb snakcs - PureBites and Bonito flakes are two. Or just regular chicken, cooked plain wiithout any spices. Fancy feast should be good, as long as they are pates - no gravy flavors.

Here is some info on ProZinc

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=109077
 
If you're home testing, this should help.

The difference in using a pet-specific meter vs a human meter (aside from the very high cost of the former) is mostly a matter of scale (though not exactly 1:1). Think of it as reading temperature in Celsius vs Fahrenheit. Both are correct. If you have the reference values for each, you can interpret them.

Here are some glucose reference ranges used for decision making using glucometers. Human glucometer numbers are given first. Numbers in parentheses are for non-US meters. Numbers in curly braces are estimates for an AlphaTrak.

[Glucose reference ranges are unsubstantiated and have been removed by Moderator]
 
Hi Chantel ... Welcome to FDMB. We are all here to help you and Jackson. :smile: cat_pet_icon

I use ProZinc for my sugarcat Rumpelteazer. Sue's link will give you a ton of info about it and BJM's chart is very helpful to know what Jackon's numbers mean.

I am in the US and when I saw your numbers (15 & 21) .... I was like ohmygod_smile Glad I looked to see that you are in Canada and are using (mmol/L) numbers.

Since you are home testing :-D can you set up a spreadsheet for Jackson? Here is how to do it. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207 If you have any questions about it....feel free to ask.

The spreadsheet data will help us help you figure out how the insulin is working and help with dosing suggestions. :smile:
 
JandBsMom said:
Hello!

My name is Chantel and my boy Jackson was diagnosed with diabetes this week. I got the insulin today, it is Prozinc, anyone use it? I am in Canada, if that helps.
Jackson is 9 and weighs 20 pounds currently. He normally sat at 25 but has lost weight.

I am totally worried he is going to go into hypoglycemia and get super sick. I was told to watch him 4-6 hours after his first shot of insulin today.
I noticed he was kinda sad looking and then later on I checked on him, then went back in a couple mins later and he had thrown up. So I went and got some honey
and gave him that. He is very sleepy and I don't know what to do. My vet isn't open so I can't take him. I did a test and his number was 21 so it definitely wasn't too low!
Is that because of the honey? I don't know if I should give him his second shot tonight or to wait until morning. Help!
Click to expand...

Hey Chantel :smile: I know it all seems a bit overwhelming right now, but you and Jackson are in good hands, and soon enough this will all be just a part of your routine.

I understand the paranoia when it comes to hypoglycemia - my Toby actually had hypos before I found this forum, and I still err on the side of caution when it comes to his treatment. But that said, he's had no problems since I started following the advice here and testing him at home, and since you're already testing Jackson you two will be fine, too.

How much insulin is Jackson currently on? It's very good that you test him once he's had insulin, at his expected lowest point (or 'nadir'), but you want to test before giving him his shot, too, to be sure that he's at a number suitable for the amount of insulin you plan to give him. Each cycle (each time you inject insulin) is independent of any other cycle with Prozinc (it can be very long-lasting, so there can be a little overlap, but again you will 'catch' this with hometesting), so you can adjust the amount of insulin given to Jackson at any time. We can help you work out how much is suitable for him, too, and you can always ask if you're unsure about anything.

Best of luck to both of you cat_pet_icon
 
Thank you all for the welcome. Jackson wasn't doing well at all last night or this morning so I took him to the vet and then after a couple hours decided it was best to put him to sleep.

I miss him terribly but thankful for our 9 years together and that he is not sick anymore and having fun in kitty heaven.
 
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