New Member - Meredith and Penny-ProZinc

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Mere.bear3

Mere.bear3

Member Since 2021
So grateful to have found you all!
Penny had been having large/frequent pees and was drinking a lot more water so I took her to the vet and that is how she received her dx. Her established vet moved two months ago, so I had no prior visits with the vet who dx her.
He prescribed 3u 2x/day initially. Luckily, I had taken it upon myself to purchase a glucometer and took her first measurement 3 1/2 days after her first dose, it was 195. Having been given no instructions other than feed then inject, I gave her her insulin dose. The next morning, her glucose was at 49!! I freaked out. The vet said to skip the dose. I had a few more low numbers over the next few days and called each time. Each time the advice was skip the dose. Her numbers were all over the place and I basically had to suggest myself that it seems like the dose should be lowered, they agreed to lower to 2u. Unfortunate timing, but I had to go out of town for 5 days and although I had a pet sitter lined up to administer the insulin, I didn't feel comfortable with that given her low numbers. A high glucose for several days wouldn't kill her, but low numbers could!
Now I am back home and am starting her back at 1u. I am also having trouble getting her to eat a full can of wet food in one sitting. Previously, she was given 1/4c of dry food 2x/day and would graze throughout the day. So any advice on feeding would be greatly appreciated also. She likes the wet food, but is only eating between 1/2-3/4 of a can at feeding times. Currently working from home, but I think I have to go back to the office next week so I won't be able to spend forever watching her eat. I also have another cat, I purchased the micro-chip enabled feeder so I'm not as worried about her eating enough now.
Thank you so much in advance!!
 
Welcome to the group! Great job on testing blood sugars at home and getting your signature and spreadsheet set up!

3U is a VERY high starting number. Usually we start at .5 or 1U, especially if there's a food change involved. Good thing you backed down.

You cat absolutely does not need to eat a full can in one sitting. That is generally advice given for diabetic dogs before giving them insulin and cats' bodies work VERY differently. Cats are natural grazers so having many small meals throughout the day is preferred. Since I'm not always home to monitor food, I generally leave 1 can out for most of the day. I pick up any leftovers when I get home from work, which is about 2 hours before her next shot (no food 2 hours before the shot so BG testing is not food influenced) The stuff I have stays pretty wet all day, but you can also add water to keep it moist. An auto feeder is also a great solution, but I don't have one of those so I can't offer tips on that.

I also have a non-diabetic cat, but he mostly seems uninterested in the wet food I leave out. He does get low carb dry (there are 3 low-carb brands: Dr. Elsey's, Young Again, and Wysong Epigen 90), so I have that out in a place where my diabetic cat can't get to (not a great jumper so it's up high).
 
Also, I'm not a ProZinc user, but you can edit your post title to include "ProZinc" and maybe catch the eyes of some users more experienced with that insulin. I would tag them, but I don't know who they are.
 
Thank you! Yeah, I was pretty mad when I realized how dangerous what I was instructed to do was. She wasn’t due for a curve (at the vets office) until 7/27 so if I hadn’t discovered the low number on 7/24, I could’ve killed her! It makes me sick to think about! I am frustrated that they don’t seem to know what they are doing and I don’t know how to find a vet that can properly monitor this. Glad to know she can graze, guess I’ll be purchasing another $160 feeder :)
 
I've learned so much from this group. I don't want to be the person to tell my vet how to do her job, but I kind of keep her out of the loop on the diabetes stuff because the advice was just not good. Unless they specialize in the disease or choose to keep up on the updated practices, many vets only get nominal training in diabetes covering ALL animals. It's not great.

I just realized what food you're feeding her, and I wanted to let you know that you DO NOT need to feed her prescription food. It's expensive and most cats don't like it. Many users here do Friskies or Fancy Feast pates. They're low in carbs, so they're great for diabetics, and they're much cheaper.

Along with the lack of diabetic education, vet schools tend to lean on sales reps for nutrition "education," so they are going to push their most expensive stuff that actually isn't any healthier for animals. And often worse. This food chart (PDF or Google Sheet) is a few years old, but still has great info on it for finding low-carb food. You want anything <10%.
 
Thank you Diane :)

I also wanted to ask how much she needs to be eating before insulin? Just a few spoonfuls or most of the can? She is 15 lbs.
 
Is Penny over weight.
The rule thumb is about 20 calories per pound of ideal weight. If 15 lbs is a good weight for her she should be eating 300 calories a day
15x20= 300
The Purina DM wet that you are feeding how many ounces are they
I would say a 1/2 can is fine to feed before the insulin shot, maybe a smidge more, add water to it also

I guess @JanetNJ
or @Panic
Weren't around today

I can also tag
@Bandit's Mom and
@Bron and Sheba (GA)
I don't think they have used Prozinc but maybe they can read your intro and take a look at your SS
 
Hi Meredith and Penny and welcome!:)
3 units twice a day is too high a dose to start a kitty off on.
The usual starting dose is 1 unit twice a day.
The reason you are seeing some black, red, pink, yellow, blue and green numbers is because Penny is bouncing from the low numbers, which is common in newly diagnosed diabetic cat.
Bouncing happens when the BG drops too fast, too low or lower than the kitty is currently used to. The body then dumps stored glucose and counter regulatory hormones into the system and the cat shoots up high. Bounces can last from 1 to 6 cycles. There is nothing you can do but wait them out.

With regards to the food……you don’t need to feed the food all at once. It is better to give a main meal before the insulin and then give a couple of snacks during the first half of the cycles. If you don’t have a timed automatic feeder, I would have a look at getting one. They are one of the best investments you can get for a diabetic cat.
The dry food you are feeding is a medium carb food so will not be helping in bringing the BGs down but may have helped keep her safe when you were giving the 3 units!

There is no need to have any curves done at the vet if you are home testing,….and well done for home testing!
I would stay with the 1 unit for now until you can gather some data so we can see how well the 1 unit is working for Penny.

If you don’t have a hypo kit set up yet, I would get it done as soon as possible.

LINK TO HYPO KIT

HERE is a link to prozinc basics

HERE is a link to prozinc dosing

Keep asking lots of questions, we are happy to help
Bron
 
Thank you all for the replies so far! Penny’s last injection was yesterday morning, and I skipped PM and AM this morning because she was staying in the 100s. I just checked her and this was her first reading over 200 (251) so she has been without insulin for about 32 hours. Is .25 enough of a drop or should I try for half?
Also, I always just assumed she was overweight at 15 pounds so I am not sure if she is or isn’t!
 
If she is high enough I would try 0.5 units each dose to see if that allows you to shoot. If she is not high enough STALL, DONT FEED, AND TEST 20MINUTES LATER. AND POST AND ASK FOR HELP.
Also if you are skipping dose please test for ketones in the urine using KETOSTIX which you can buy from a pharmacy or Walmart.
 
If you are stalling and needing help, I should have mentioned that you will need to change your subject line to reflect your problem.
Example …you could write in the subject line that appears at the top of your thread…..Stalling BG xxx PLEASE HELP!
That will alert us.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
If you are stalling and needing help, I should have mentioned that you will need to change your subject line to reflect your problem.
Example …you could write in the subject line that appears at the top of your thread…..Stalling BG xxx PLEASE HELP!
That will alert us.
Click to expand...
Thank you! I went ahead with .5 units tonight since she was over 200. Hopefully we will be more regulated with that!
 
If you can get another test in around +4 or +5 tonight, that would be helpful.
You mention in the remarks column Penny did not eat as well at preshot….is that a one off or is her appetite not as good as normal.
 
She has been only eating around 50-60g even with me consistently putting it under her nose and trying for 30 min. I had one good feed over 100, but that was the one off. I am still trying to adapt her to mealtime feeding and have been putting her food out so she can eat a little more (except 2 hours prior to test/shot) but it’s a work in progress!
 
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