We're baaack.... Coke is no longer OTJ

Status
Not open for further replies.
Vicki and Coke

Vicki and Coke

New Member
After 4.5 years of not needing insulin injections, Coke is now back on the juice. It was a sad realization that he needed to be treated again with injections, but we're hoping he'll do what he did the last time, go a few weeks with shots and then the pancreas kick starts back into gear and we'll be good to go again. Here was our profile information back in 2006:

Vicki and Coke (and Cola too) Coke DX 2/14/06, 13 years old. Switched from dry food to canned after DX. Humulin U, 2 units BID (U100) since 2/14/06, diet controlled (no shots since 3/5/06) Optimal weight: 14 lbs, Current weight 13 lbs Started hometesting 2-23-06 No other known health problems. Dallas, TX, USA

And here's our profile now:

Vicki and Coke (Cola passed on March 21, 2009 at age 16). RE-DX 11/15/2010. Coke is now 17 years old. Still on canned food since original DX in 2006. No longer diet controlled, insulin shots starting again on 11/16/2010. Optimal weight: 14 lbs, Current weight: 9.5 pounds. Coke also has a hyperactive thyroid (thus, the weight problem) since the last time we were here and takes 5mg b.i.d. Methimazole.

Did a curve on him yesterday (before re-starting shots tomorrow) and here's what we're looking at as our new starting point:

8:00am - 435
8:00am - Food
9:00am - 515
10:00am - 528
11:00am - 505
12:00pm - 437
1:00pm - 396
2:30pm - 366
4:00pm - 442 (he had finished his morning food earlier)

Vet is prescribing Prozinc, 1 unit twice a day. I'll be testing prior to the shot and afterwards for the next several days and then we'll do another curve on him this weekend. Wish us luck! :)
 
Hi Vicki, sorry you had to come back, but welcome.

At least you already know the routine, be sure to read the stickies on Prozinc in the PZI ISG.

Good luck tomorrow.
 
Hi Vicki, my tomtom is a retreader too. after 2.5 years otj.
of course it's dissapointing at first...but we'll get thru it.
it looks like coke has a wee little curve going on even without the juice.
since it's been awhile update yourself on the pro zinc (is that your insulin of choice?) and also the new food chart.
your starting on 1u right?
guess i'll be seeing you in the pzi room.
lori
and tomtom
 
Yeah, vet is starting him off at one unit BID of the Prozinc. I had never heard of that brand before, she told me it was new since the last time we had to use insulin. So I guess we go with that as a starting point and then see what we need to do as things progress. We had been feeding Coke three times a day (every 8 hours) while he was diet controlled, but with the re-introduction of the shots, I guess we'll need to switch that over to twice a day to fall in line with the shot times.
 
well depending on your shot time you can probably feed 3 meals. tom eats and gets shot at 7:30 to 8:00 am and pm...but before i go to bed he gets what we call a midnight snack (raw rabbit his favorite meal of the day.) and the midnight snack is more like 10:30 or 11:00
 
Actually alot of us these days free feed all day so they can eat if they feel they are going low or use timed feeders set to feed every 2 or 3 hours. So there is no need to change your schedule.
 
would you like some help getting your spread sheet up? it's different than what we used to use but actually alot better.
 
Be sure to read the stickies in the PZI forum so you get familiar with the typical action of Prozinc.
Most of us have seen onset around +2, nadir somewhere between +4 through +8
I'm sure Coke will start feeling so much better when those numbers come down!
 
As far as his eating goes... well he's always been a "free feeder" in that he never eats all his portion at one time. So yes, we FEED him three times a day, but that's just when we lay out his food. Then he nibbles on it all throughout the 8 hours its down, then we do it all over again. I thought you had to get them to eat a big dose of food around shot time to help counteract the glucose drop, that's not the case anymore? So the feeding at 8:30am, 4:30pm, 12:30am will work ok as long as he's nibbling on it all day long? And if that's the case, when should I give him the shots?
 
Thanks Angela for the condolences regarding the loss of Coke's brother Cola. His passing REALLY took us by surprise. At the time, Coke had completely stopped eating, so we were super-focused on Coke's cessation of eating, worrying about his liver, etc. In hindsight, the vet thinks Coke stopped eating because he realized his brother was very sick, but Cola still wasn't showing US any symptoms so we could try to help him. When Cola finally started to show he was having problems, we had them BOTH in the hospital at the same time, Cola for congestive heart failure, Coke for IV feeding. What a mess that was. But I also think that was the beginning of Coke's reactivation of his diabetes. The vet staff was so desperate to get Coke to eat, they gave him dry food, and continued to do so for awhile until after Cola died and Coke really started to eat again. Due to that, I think the damage had been done, and it started to slowly progress to the point where it is now, where we're back to the shots. What's done is done unfortunately, and now we're left to deal with the results of that. But we're troopers and we'll get through this like we did the time before. :)
 
Wow, I'm sorry you had to go through all of that, losing Cola sounds very traumatic for both you and Coke.

Food & Prozinc - We still don't give insulin if they stop eating. The newer insulins aren't as harsh or as fast acting as Humulin. In the beginning with Prozinc you can get a very early onset like +1 or +2 but as Coke gets used to the insulin onset and nadir will get later. Usually their bg's will continue to rise the first 2 hours after injection and food, then they should start to drop around +3 or +4 and coast along until +8 to +10 and start to rise again to +12.

Test, feed, shoot is still the order. We stop feeding 2 hours before PS so we get a true bg # and not a food spike.

Shots are still 12 hours apart. When you shoot is up to you, when ever is convenient for you to keep the 12/12 schedule. Although Prozinc is very flexible if you need to shoot early or late occationally.

Keep asking whatver questions you have to make sure we get all bases covered.
 
Lori,
Thanks for the offer of help for the spreadsheet. I'm going to take you up on that. Where can I find it and how are you able to post it to the forum?
 
wow, that was fast. i personnaly don't know how to do it but the resident expert sue and oliver always takes care of that. we were just pming to find you :lol:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top