question: NO MORE PZI? What now?

Status
Not open for further replies.
A

abigailnmax

New Member
I am on my last bottle of PZI IDEXX for my cat. She has been diabetic for 5 yrs now, and truthfully, no the most regulated. But I am doing the best I can. (FYI: I used to post under dixiendallas, but lost my registration info so now I am Abigailnmax)
So, when I found out about PZI no longer being produced, I bought the last few bottles up. Now the last one is about 1/2 empty and I am starting to panic.
What is everyone using for insulin? What is the status of PZI? What should I do?
My cat is 13 yrs old, on 2.5 units of PZI 2 times daily. Eats only wet food, mainly 9lives and whiskas (I know not ideal, but again, the best I can do. She would rather STARVE than eat the diabetic food. I also have 3 other cats and a dog and a preschooler and a full time job.)
So, any suggestions on a new insulin would be appreicated. What about BCP (compounded PZI)
my vet is not fond of the compounded stuff due to variability in strength (according to her)
but will probably work with me if I was demanding.

HELP!
 
ProZinc is similar to IDEXX and is manufactured (and FDA approved so your vet should have no problem).
Their website is here: http://www.prozinc.us/. I know some people here have switched and kept the same dose. BCP is also a good PZI.

Lantus and Levemir are two other good choices. They are for humans, but work well in cats.
 
My vet has us switched to ProZinc from Vetsulin, so far, so good....I am posting results of this new insulin as my SugarKitty is adjusting, check the PZI board for updates if you like...
 
What Karen said. Lantus and Levemir are what many cats have been going onto since Idexx made their announcement; most of the folks who wanted to switch to something close to PZI-Vet switched to a compounded form of PZI, frequently that made by BCP, though you may well be able to find a local compounding pharmacy that will make it for you (and save you shipping costs). ProZinc is a new insulin made by BIV, who bought the rights to PZI-Vet from Idexx and are touting it as the replacement insulin. Each of them has their plussesd and minusses; you can get some of those from reading the stickies in each forum, or ask what folks their opinions of the insulins are. Or you can try posting in Supply Cabinet to see if anyone has any PZI-Vet left over to spare.

Also, I wrote the following in response to someone else's question on the subject about a month ago:
If you absolutely must have PZI-Vet, I can't offer you any direct help; the only place that I knew that was still carrying it (Drs Foster and Smith) has switched to ProZinc.

I did contact BIV last summer. Please note that this was *before* ProZinc came on the market. Whether BIV still has their hotline open, whether they're still tracking PZI-Vet or have thrown all their supplies in the garbage, I don't know. When I contacted them last summer, they had a PZI-Vet distributor hotline at 866-638-2226, and they were keeping track of which distributors still had supplies of PZI-Vet available. They have (had?) five main companies handling distribution of PZI-Vet; at least one (Butler) has run out. The other four were MWI, Webster, Columbus Serum, and Professional Vet Products (PVP). You can try calling BIV's PZI-Vet distributor information line to get an updated status on which distributors still have PZI-Vet in stock. Like I said, I've no idea whether the number still works or it's still in stock.

If it *is* available from one or more of the distributors, you might want to ask your vet which supply company sells them their medical stuff, and whether they have alternate distributors they use -- it might be one of the companies which still have it in stock. (Most vets get their supplies from one main company, but may have accounts with other companies for things they need less regularly or as a back-up source, but these alternate suppliers are not necessarily a place that they'll think of checking with when looking for something.)

Alternately, some states allow your vet to call in a prescription to another vet. For example, I'm currently in New Jersey but, if I run out of many (not all) medications, I can call my vet in Maryland and have her fax a prescription to a vet up here who has the medication in stock and the NJ vet can dispense it to me. Not sure what the regulations are where you live. However, if you live in an area where that's legal, and your vet doesn't have a relationship with one of the distributors, you might call one of the distributors directly and explain that you're trying to find a company that still has PZI-Vet in stock, one that's either local to your area or will sell over the internet. Once you've found and confirmed a source that will sell you PZI-Vet, call your vet with the phone/fax info and have your vet send over a prescription for the other company to sell some PZI-Vet for you.
Click to expand...
 
I am in the same situationan and I am going with ProZinc. I already have the ProZinc and I Am finshing the last of the Pzi Vet. My vet wanted to switch to lantus but I decided to go with ProZinc since it is similiar to Pzi Vet. The only reason I didn't want to go with Lantus is I am already familiar with Pzi Vet and figured ProZinc would be easier to switch to. I did tell my vet that if we did not get results with the ProZinc that Lantus would be the second choice. I would suggest going to the PZI forum and post questions there. I asked questions and did my own research and that is how I made my decision and I am comfortable with it. Keep us posted on what you decide. :-D

David
 
We switched to ProZinc from PZI Vet. Things went fine. If you want specifics please come on over to the PZI Insulin Support Group. There is a Sticky at the top of the PZI forum with a sources list of where to get ProZinc at the best prices.

A 50 cat study has been done on the switch from PZI Vet to ProZinc with a 1:1 dosing that went well. You can read it here:
http://www.vetlearn.com/Media/Publicati ... 2_24_0.pdf

As for question about the BCP, it is a good option too. Your vet is right about the potential for variability however IMHO I'd be more inclined to trust BCP compounded EDIT: over a random pharmacy's compounded. A plus on the ProZinc [as opposed to BCP] side is that it is available from many different sources and that it's shelf life is 2 years [from date of manufacture] vs 6 months for BCP. Price wise it's difficult to know the difference since BCP will not give a price for their insulin to the end user [the price is whatever the vet decides to charge].
 
I wanted to add my take on the BCP, My kitty was on idexx for 6 years and I too stock piled what I could until Feb 18th I started on BCP. If I got it through my VET it was over 80.00 bucks but sine she decided not to carry it she writes me a scrpit and I get it direct from the Source. It costs me 58.00 shipped over night to CA, a far cry LESS than I was paying 109-120.00 for my PZI IDEXX from same VET she raised or lower all the time.. UGH.. Connies seems to be doing ok on BCP, the first week she was hungry, more than usual, she soon settled even though the BG was pretty much the same as PZI, I was so scared for almost 2 years since I heard it was not going to be around any more.. Im happy I am paying less ordering direct, and yes they dont give prices out unless you have your vet call and send a script for you. HOPE THIS HELPS!! Oh yes I used the same dose as PZI..

*************************************************************************************************************


Gator & H said:
We switched to ProZinc from PZI Vet. Things went fine. If you want specifics please come on over to the PZI Insulin Support Group. There is a Sticky at the top of the PZI forum with a sources list of where to get ProZinc at the best prices.

A 50 cat study has been done on the switch from PZI Vet to ProZinc with a 1:1 dosing that went well. You can read it here:
http://www.vetlearn.com/Media/Publicati ... 2_24_0.pdf

As for question about the BCP, it is a good option too. Your vet is right about the potential for variability however IMHO I'd be more inclined to trust BCP compounded or a random pharmacy's compounded. A plus on the ProZinc [as opposed to BCP] side is that it is available from many different sources and that it's shelf life is 2 years [from date of manufacture] vs 6 months for BCP. Price wise it's difficult to know the difference since BCP will not give a price for their insulin to the end user [the price is whatever the vet decides to charge].
Click to expand...
 
presouzkitty said:
It costs me 58.00 shipped over night to CA, a far cry LESS than I was paying 109-120.00 for my PZI IDEXX from same VET she raised or lower all the time..
Click to expand...
Thank you for your awesome tips on procuring BCP! I may add some of this to the sticky in the PZI forum. For the $58 shipped did you get 10ml of the U-40? Do you know the base price without shipping?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top