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Meighan Robles

Meighan Robles

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my baby was prescribed prozinc- is this a insulin that has a generic version (like with human rx) any suggestions or recommendations to make this easier on my girl? she was diagnosed this past saturday, and this is all so overwhelming
 
Oh Meighan - welcome and I know how overwhelming it is - Just know that it is that way for everyone, and it really does get better!!
What is the name of your fur baby? Can you tell us a little more about her -how old is she, other health problems, where you live (there are people here from all over), how she was diagnosed, what her blood sugar is, what she eats, how much insulin are you supposed to give her........
Prozinc is actually an insulin specifically for cats - the best thing you can do now is to read the yellow stickies at the very top of the Prozinc forum - do you see them? It will tell you all about the insulin - it is given every 12 hours It's very important to roll the vial gently before you draw up the dose and it is a suspension and you need to get it back in suspension
We all do home testing - I use an alphatrak (pet) meter - but most people use a human meter because the testing strips are cheaper The human meters give lower results than the alphatrak but everyone is aware of that and the protocols here are all written for the human meter results - so its' really up to you - the most important thing is to test before every shot, and in between shots to see how she is reacting to the insulin - there is a lot of information on home testing along with links and videos on the home page of FDMB - please take a look
The other important thing is food - I see from your health post that she is in kidney failure and you have already gotten some advice about that you have to be careful about switching to low carb diets while on insulin as it can drastically lower the insulin requirements

We will also need you to set up a spreadsheet to keep all of your data - See: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/ the amps = morning pre shot test results u=units of insulin given, and the +1, +2, etc is for the test result from the time of the shot (for example, you gave insulin at 7 am , and then tested at noon - the noon result would be recorded as +5 click on Murphy's spreadsheet under my signature to see how it looks Keeping these spreadsheets makes it easy for members to make dosing recommendations

If you look at the top of the forum page, there is also a stickie about hypos - please read that very carefully and print it out - having a cat go "hypo" hypoglycemic is all of our nightmares as it can be life threatening - better the blood sugar too high for a day than too low for a minute

Look, I know this is overwhelming - why don't you just write back a little about your cat, look at the stickies, ask some more questions for now
 
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First, breathe!
You can do this!
ProZinc is a pet-specific insulin and has no generic. Kept refrigerated, it may last about 3-4 months (Your mileage may vary). Roll gently to mix before using; do not shake! To protect against breakage of the vial (and I've done that!), wrap in some elastic bandage wrap or something similar.
Compounded PZI is similar and works similarly, however, some compounders do not have good consistency from time to time. A good compounder of PZI is BCP Pharmaceuticals out of TX.
Human insulins Lantus and Levemir also work well; to use those, order from Canda where the cost is about 1/3 of the US.
 
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:bighug: You made it!!

This is the forum that will help you so much. Please do reply and tell us more about your kitty. I saw her photo on FB and she is a doll. You will find that we ALL care about each other's kitties a lot here!

Folks, I sent @Meighan Robles the 3/4 full Prozinc vial that Wynken stopped needing on Friday. She should get it tomorrow. I opened it Jan 16 and I would have used it until at least mid-May (not disagreeing with you, BJ, just my experience that it's still effective for more than 3 months). Also sent the syringes with half unit markings and conversion tables. And a Relion meter and strips. Just wanted her to have a great start... Was really shaken by the couple that lost their kitty this weekend.

So I'm off to the vet tonight with 2 civvies (17 year old calico and 20 year old marmalade boy) for regular wellness exams.

Going to tell my vet to have people call me that want help with new diabetics. I was inspired this weekend by Chris Ronkoski and many others.

So glad you are with us, Meighan!!:joyful:
 
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you are all so amazing!!! our little family is so grateful for all the support and help!! :cat: we are so blessed- i will add a photo of my little Gracie Mae. she is 18, and she has been with my family since she was a kitten. she has renal failure and recently had some teeth pulled. we rescued her from my sister, who had her locked in a bathroom with her litter box (for years) i wish i could have saved her sooner, but i am determined to make the last years of her life make up for the h e l l of being locked in that small room. when we got her, we took her to the vet (first time she had been in at least 7 years) at that point the vet diagnosed her with kidney failure and infections in her gums, we went right into making sure she was happy and healthy- and we havent looked back- we will make sure that she sticks around for years to come! thanks especially to all the loving support she is getting
 
Well that story just makes us more determined to help her. I can't even think about her life before you without getting upset So happy she is with you You're among family now How is Gracie doing? Peeing a lot? Urine output can be a secondary monitoring tool but if she has renal failure, I don't think it's possible to separate the two. What was her blood sugar at the vets?
 
Meighan, has your vet mentioned a dose she wants you to start with for Gracie? We will walk you through the first dose tomorrow night, when you get the insulin. You will want to test her first... The key to doing this is to build up a very positive association when you mess with her ears. Does she have a favorite treat? If it's low carb it will work, but even if it's not, one or two might work in the short-term. I encourage you to read about and watch videos on home testing TONIGHT so you'll be ready to start tomorrow night. Also, maybe gently mess with her ears a little TONIGHT... and then give her BIG praise and petting and fussing. :D

My Wynk does not get treats but he still runs to me and jumps up (usually) when I need to poke his ears because he LOVES the stroking and the warm rice-filled footie sock I use to warm his ear up (warm ears bleed well, while cool or cold ears don't bleed much). It's only a TINY drop so don't worry.

Do you know any human diabetics?
 
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Cara is right The keyto getting blood on home testing is to make sure the ear is warm. Sometimes I just blow on Murphy's ear and that can warm it up enough He hates the warm sock
 
When you have a moment, could you add a few tidbits to your signature? It will help us give you feedback.

Editing your Signature

In the upper right corner of the screen, within the dark blue bar, you will see ID, Inbox, and Alerts

Click on your ID.

On the left, under Settings, Click on Signature.
This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback. You are limited to 2 hard returns, so separate pieces by | or -.
This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
Add any other text, such as your name | cat's name | date of Dx (diagnosis) | insulin | meter general location (city and state/province) any other pertinent issues like if there are any food issues, history of DKA, hepatic lipidosis, pancreatitis, allergies, IBD, etc.

Click the Save Changes button at the bottom.

Always click the Save Changes button at the bottom when you have changed anything.
 
How are things this morning with Gracie?

Besides warming the ear, our favorite helpful hint was to buy 25-27 gauge lancets. The 30/31 gauge ones used by humans can be too small at first for cats. It also helps to have sometime behind the ear to poke against. We used one of the small makeup sponges.
 
Grace is doing well! we are very optimistic, her attitude and personality have gone back to her normal self :-) she is even extra affectionate!!:cat: her appointment for follow up after the initial treatment and first week of insulin injections and adjustments is tuesday. the vet said her initial levels were in the high 600's, we are aiming for the 400s. we will try home testing after the appointment once we have an idea what we r to aim for- optimistic and keeping her healthy :-)
 
Hi Meighan - those are very high numbers you are talking about - high 600s even 400s are way too high. Vets will ultimately say they are aiming for 200-250 but people on this board aim for normal blood sugar (80-120) how are you doing on setting up a spreadsheet? Have you started insulin yet? Hopefully, you will have the home testing down before you start insulin. you should also read the stickies about DKA and get some urine ketostix (at any drug store - they are cheap) and test her urine (I watch for when my cat goes in the litter box and put the stick in his urine stream) Is she on low carb wet food?

by the way, Gracie is beautiful
 
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Wonderful that Gracie is getting back to her old self!

I agree that the 400 range is too high. We think the renal threshold is somewhere in the 200-250 range and aim for that before we fine tune to get the numbers lower. Renal threshold is the range under which we think the pancreas can heal.

Just for reference, we generally consider a cat regulated if they are in the mid 200s at preshot and in low 100s or higher double digits 5-7 hours after the shot, but not under 50 on a human meter and 68 on a pet meter. Those levels are approaching hypo territory. Once a kitty reaches the regulated ranges, then you can fine tune.

Let us know if we can help with the home testing. We know stress raises blood glucose levels and most cats are very stressed at the vet, so we think numbers gotten at home are more accurate.
 
I'm glad to hear she's feeling more like her old self! I agree, those are high numbers. Once you start home testing, we can probably help bring those numbers down.
 
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