Should we bail?

[Dragonfly229]

Ok, we're just finishing our 4th month and 2nd vial, and I need to reorder. Given what everyone sees in Linus' spreadsheet - should we give up on ProZinc at this point or try another vial? I know our vet isn't going to want to go with another insulin, so that's another battle, but I'm willing to try if need be.

I've just started sliding down again from 2.6u(high pinks and reds) to 2.4u. If his numbers improve (already have, a little), I'll slide down again. I've played with the idea of quitting altogether for a few days to see what he does on his own, but the fear of ketones has kept me from doing that. If I did, I could come up by .2u instead of starting at 1u like we did in January. Maybe we actually missed something there.

In the meantime, Linus seems happy and healthy, he's gained back the weight he lost and his back doesn't stick out anymore. His coat is shiny, and he's doing all the things cats do. With that much improvement, even though his numbers aren't great, I'm willing to keep going down this road if we'll get somewhere eventually.

All input appreciated - thanks everyone!

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

The annoying answer is that ECID, Sue. It looks like Callie and Marty are doing well with Levemir. Other cats who have changed have the same patterns that they did on PZI - Sue and Samwise come to mind.

I would check out the forums, read the info . The nice thing about PZI is that it is flexible in terms of timing the shots; the L insulins are not so friendly. But read up on Levemir. I think it is a little more flexible than Lantus.

I agree that you have given it a good try and although he throws you a promising number once in awhile, he is very inconsistent on PZI. Another insulin certainly could work better for him. It is worth a try.

You won't know unless you switch. If it doesn't work, you can always come back to PZI.

 

[Blue]

I know that many say the L insulins are not flexible, but I have to say that they are very flexible because of the shed.
Both the P and L insulins are to be dosed BID, but sometimes TID is needed for the P insulins because they are not as long lasting as the L insulins. if you want to stay with the P insulin, did you consider going with TID dosing?
When the P insulin dose runs out, you are outta insulin... no spare gas tank at all.
With the L insulins, you have that shed, the spare tank of gas, so if you are a bit late, the cat can surf on the shed. Sure it needs to be topped up later, but your cat is never out of insulin.

If you want to switch, I would talk to the people who have switched and can tell you about their adjusting. Given a choice of Lantus or Levemir, I would suggest Levemir as it's got a later nadir, and gives a much smoother, gentle curve. One of my cats had a choppier curve on Lantus, but was smoother and seemed much less tense on Levemir. The other cat was OK on both but did have a smoother curve on Levemir.

 

[Jenn & Baxter]

Baxters first bottle lasted 6 months. When the bottle was getting low & Baxter was consistently at IHop, you know I had enough. I started to call around to the local vets. I was ready for a change. Every vet around me supported ProZinc. I thought oh joy another bottle of ProZinc! :roll: Well I purchased another bottle of ProZinc from Baxters vet. I did tell myself this will be the last bottle. Unless we see green grass everyday :mrgreen: . When this bottle is up, I'm going back to Baxters vet & asking for a different insulin. If he won't do it then there is another vet who supports ProZinc, but will give me a different one if I ask. After getting the new insulin I plan on taking off work for 2 weeks to closely watch Baxter. Since I opened the new bottle & went back to Baxters old sliding scale I have seen some improvement.

What I'm really trying to say is if something isn't working why keep doing the same thing? You wouldn't ever know if you don't try a change. It might be the dosing amount & times. Consistency is important. It might be the insulin/type. It might be more of a deeper problem other then FD. What about his teeth? Have they been cleaned? The bacteria in the mouth puts toxins into the body. Just like in humans. Which will strain or harm the pancreas. What about insulin resistants? These are just a couple of things to look or think about along with research on the insulin you are interested in.

Linus it time to leave IHop! Go get him momma!!

 

[Grayson & Lu]

Hi Sue -

It's too early for us to say, as Grayson started Lev yesterday...actually about 23 hours ago. I can't accurately compare him to the previous 8 days I was gone as he was getting shot & fed 2x/day... and stayed in the reds and even a black (YIKES!!!). I'm sure it was stressful to have others coming in & out of the house regularly... and his mama gone! That being said, he stayed in the pinks since yesterday, preshots in the upper 300s, spent at least 3 hours at 350 yesterday, and even got down to a 308 at +4.5 this morning. Obviously his insulin resistance hasn't had a chance to kick in yet, but so far so good. We went from 6u PZI to 3u Levemir. I bought the pens - Walgreens beat the price at WalMart and the local pharmacy! The vial supposed to last only 28 days. Pens (5 pack) should last me about 5 months so the longevity and cost helped me choose the pens. Also Walgreens has a family discount plan that costs something like $35 to sign up for, but it already saved me $40 on the first prescription!

Denise started Shakepeare earlier this week. You may want to gander into the Lev forum and see how he's doing. I've been traveling (Wed) and w/o internet access (Thurs), so I don't know if anything has changed yet. Also you'll find Heather there as well. It doesn't hurt to look at their spreadsheets and see if it's making a difference for either of them. If you decide to switch - to Lantus or Lev - I'd just tell my vet that you're not happy with his progress (or lack thereof) on this insulin and request a script for the other. Hopefully they'll be agreeable.

I'll be back & forth on both forums (as available) to post and keep everyone updated on Grayson. I was reluctant to change, but when the resistance test results came in, I knew SOMETHING needed to change. We'll see where it goes from here. If it was you and a med wasn't working, and there were other options, you'd do the same thing, so I would trust your instincts and see how he does.

BTW - I'm hoping to sell my stock in IHOP! :lol: