Frucosamine tests and lowering prozinc so quickly

The vet did a fructosamine test on chloe and said her levels are much much lower than when we have had her do the curve testing . The test showed her Chemistry glucose at 35 and her fructosamine level at 267.6. The lab report said possible in vitro glycolysis. I know these are averages but no idea how they average these out as if they take one low and one high her levels still could be higher. Her morning level that day at the vet after breakfast was 160. Chloe is on prozinc 1.5 units twice daily. They want us to lower her to 1.0 twice daily for one week and then to .5 units twice daily for 2 weeks then have her re-tested. She is also on heart meds and salix so anyone know the protocol to lower the doses as we are concerned that lowering these so quickly also is not a wise idea. She was not tested for any thyroid functions.We hope she stays low but we know how cats can be. Please share your thoughts and experiences as am worried that we are not doing what is best for Chloe. Thank you so much.

 

Here is a link to your other thread with this question. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/post-for-c-c.196098/

Did you see Rachel's response? She had a few questions for you, and when you can respond to those, we'll be better able to help you get this figured out.

 

Yes I did reply to her and she helped me with the posting but figured I would post it under prozinc with a title of what I was looking for. Chloe has been diabetic since 2014 with her prozinc levels going high and then dropping down over time. She did become hypo once and as a result is on the heart medications. She has never been tested for thyroid ie hyper. She has lost weight over time and we can see how the diabetes has taken fat or muscle from her shot sites as I can feel her shoulder bones very easily. She eats and walks around and is active. The past few days she seems more restless and is looking for more food or maybe to eat something different than her fancy feast. I have not noticed any substantial increase in peeing. Today we lowered her insulin to 1.o twice a day. Her insulin check while at the vet was 160 using a pet meter. Her lab work also showed her alk phosphatase level at 152 which is high as is her ALT at 192. Also shows her rbc, hemoglobin and hematocrit as high which the vet said is due to dehydration. She also wants to put her on Denamarin tablets for her liver function. So, other things going on as well. Thank you ….ask away.

 

Are you testing her at home at all? If she's restless and looking for food, that is sometimes an indication of a hypo. I would strongly recommend that you test her at home and not wait three weeks for the vet to check her again.

 

We haven't done any home testing just been taking her to the vets for a quick check or curve. This was the first time that they did a frucosamine test that I can recall. There are usually set times that Chloe wants to eat. Since we brought her to the vet and we had some of her long matted hair shaved she seems to be feeling better. She does come and get us when she wants food and doesn't seem to be eating that much more than before(maybe a little) but we are seeing that she wants to eat since she is getting us and being vocal about it. She also doesn't seem to mind the fancy feast even if the can has been opened already versus it being a new can which last week she was still being fussy about that--but tomorrow is a new day..right.

When a cat goes in remission what is the protocol usually in taking them off of Prozinc? It seemed going cold turkey from 3.0 to 1.0 or nothing would shock her system or is that not the case? Versus weening it down in increments of .25 or .5 over 3 days. I know the vet wanted to see her in 21 days to get another good reading. Today we will give her just 2.0 from the previous 3.0 and then on Friday drop down to 1.0 in total.

So when prozinc insulin is given at 10am when does it get out of her system? 11pm that evening?

We are watching her closely and if something happens we will give her malt or food and take her to the ER since it is a holiday weekend this is a tough call on what to do since we don't home test her. We could if she is ok on Tuesday take her to the vet for a quick reading, I suppose.

I know it's scary since Chloe has already been through a lot!

 

Also can they go hypo and just 1.0 dose per day?

 

Yes.

 

Going cold turkey can be fine if that's what they need. Typically though people do slowly lower the dose, because they are monitoring at home and can adjust the dose to what the cat needs instead of shooting blind.

21 days is a long time to be getting the wrong amount of insulin which is why we've recommended testing at home. If you are more comfortable having the vet do the tests, I would suggest having the vet test as much as possible so you aren't giving her too much or too little insulin.

Prozinc lasts 8-14 hours in most cats.