Hello

Hi,
My name is Lyne` and my ragdoll cat "DUDE" was diagnosed late Jan 2015; as you all know it hasn't been easy on him nor I We have been to the vet's every other day for weeks now, I've been giving him Pro-Zinc twice per day now at varying units until this past week now up to 12 units (U100).
So glad I've found this site and message board;already I have learned so much more then the vet's office! Any help and support will be most appreciated -

 

Hi Lynne!

Welcome! My kitty, Moby, was diagnosed in January, too, and I totally understand how it hasn't been easy for you and Dude. It hasn't been easy for me and Moby, either. However, I have found a wealth of information here and everyone here has been supportive and so willing to help!

How old is Dude? What is he eating? And I love ragdoll kitties, they're so gorgeous!

 

Hi Lyne & Dude and welcome to FDMB.

12 units is an extremely high dose, especially for a cat that was recently diagnosed. Unless there are other health issues, most cats only need 1-2 units. How did your vet determine that is the correct dose?

Are you hometesting? This means testing a drop of blood from Dude's ear before every dose to make sure it is safe to give insulin. This will also help you determine how well the current dose is working and if it needs to be adjusted. Your current dose is extremely high and could be dangerous. You are at great risk of hypoglycemia and that could be dangerous or deadly.

A low carb/high protein diet also helps manage FD. However, do not change Dude's diet until you lower his dose. A diet change can significantly drop glucose levels and if you no not change your dose, that could cause hypoglycemia. Dry food is high in carbs. Most of us feed our cats canned food such as Fancy Feast or Friskies pate flavors. You do not need to feed prescription cat foods.

My recommendation is to start over with your dose - at 1 to 2 units twice a day, start hometesting and change the diet. You will stay at the same dose for at least a week before determining if an increase is needed. If so, then only increase by 1/2 unit and test another week before changing it again. It takes that long for a cat's body to adjust to the dose change. By following this method, you will find the dose that works best for Dude.

 

Hi Marciegee,
Thank you for your reply Dude was born April 30, 2002 , in Narraganset RI , he is or rather was a big boy 26lb give or take, I now believe this is what led to his health issues....funny he never looked that big, currently he is at 13lbs, and his vet doesn't want him more then 14lb.
As of now he is eating wet Classic Fancy Feast, the wet DM from Purina, his vet had recommended the dry Purina DM and although he did like it I have decided not to feed him dry any further.
To be very honest right now I'm very confused, upset and I guess somewhat distraught, sound familiar?
Early Sunday morning he had an episode , throwing up, peeing all over himself and diarrhea, he crashed badly. So off to the Vets, he is dong very well at the moment but his BG went down to 50 ......
I'm taking a big breath and slowing down for the moment, too much info to fast.
How are you and your Moby doing, have you been able to regulate , how much insulin are you giving now?
Thanks for your support so appreciated
Lyne`

 

Hi Lyne and sugarcat Dude, and welcome to FDMB

While there are some cats (a very small minority) who need higher doses of insulin, most cats need only a small amount; and a dose of around 1 - 2 units is pretty common.

We quite often see cats arrive on this forum who are on too much insulin.

May I ask you some questions:
Can you tell us how your vet arrived at this large dose?
Does Dude have any other health issues that you know of?
What are you feeding Dude at the moment?
And would you be willing to learn to test Dude's blood glucose levels at home? It's not that hard to learn, it's not expensive, it won't hurt Dude, and it will help you to manage his diabetes like nothing else can. We can help you learn to do this. Please let us help you.

Best wishes to you,

Eliz

 

Well you pretty much called it; my poor Dude had a horrible event; luckily, he is doing much better.
I began the insulin back in January starting at 2 units and increasing by the same weekly, the vet did the BG testing and gave her orders as such. His numbers were quite high and remained so .....this is how his dosage got up there....
After his event , I didn't administer any insulin until this morning and I brought him down by 2 units and will again tomorrow , so that he will be at 8 units . We will be at the Vets this Thursday for more BG testing.
I have been feeding him the Fancy Feast now ( I'm gradually stopping the DM Wet and although we tried the DM dry I have now stopped that...These changes although gradual may have contributed to his crash.
Obviously this is all new to me, I have been researching so much and thank god for the internet.....and this site. I've learned so much and yet I know nothing......Thank you so much for your advise and your willingness to share knowledge. I've a long road to haul, but I love my Dude and will learn what I need to and keep him healthy........
Next the meter and learning that

 

Please do not stop the dry until you lower the dose considerably more. Even 8 units is very high and he could become hypoglycemic again. It is better to be too high for a few hours than to low for even a moment. The dry food may be the only thing that keeps him from crashing again.

 

Lisa
Thank you, I will continue with the dry until he has regulated.
Lyne

 

Hello Elizabeth,
Please note that I'm still trying to learn how to navigate this pages
Other then being overweight , Dude has no other health issues.
Our Vet had us start at 2 units and increased it by two units as each BG continued to come in high, until last week he came in at 70, he had started in the 600's
He is currently eating DM Purina Wet, Fancy Feast Classic's and DM Purina Dry, I had started to decrease the dry as I want to stop all together, however, I have been advised not to discontinue at this time esp. since his crash Sunday at 2:30am.
Yes I do want to learn how to test his glucose levels at home I really feel like I'm doing this blind, I am open to all the help available.
There is so much to learn, however, I will learn it I will need all the help I can get to do so!

Thank you so very much!

 

Lyne, how frightening for you & Dude *HUGS* my cat Squiggles was diagnosed with Diabetes last November & it's taken me some time to sort her out & understand what I'm supposed to be doing , (with some help from my vet, but mostly from the lovely people on here.) Try not too get too overwhelmed with details, it's easy to panic. It sounds as if you're making progress. My vet taught me how to blood test Squiggles at home, it's not difficult, but it helps if you've got someone to hold Dude to start with.

Take lots of deep breaths & read people's advice on here, you'll get Dude stabilised after a little while. The very best of luck xx

 

Hi and welcome

I would echo what others have said about that being a high dose of insulin. Whilst I am not very experienced with prozinc as with most insulins it is better to start low and increase very slowly ie 0.25 units. I believe High flat numbers can indicate too high I dose

Here is the prozinc protocol developed on the forum
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/protocol-for-prozinc-pzi.109077/

This will get you started on hometesting. Most US members use relion or confirm meters.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/#post-1377533

If you can test at home it will save you money going to the vet, stress for you and dude and you will be able to keep him safe. Until then I really would think about reducing the dose very significantly, much lower than 8 units.

In case you think he is going low again

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/

Most if us use the vet to get the insulin but then monitor at home and alter the dose based on the advice of members here as you will find these people eat, sleep and drink feline diabetes.

 

Something doesn't sound right...
Are you using "Prozinc" or "compounded PZI?

I ask because to the best of my knowledge, Prozinc only comes in "U40" strength. Compounded PZI comes in U40 and can come in U100. What does it say on the vial? Is the word "bovine" written anywhere?

And what color caps are on your syringes?

 

See my signature link Glucometer Notes for cat-specific reference ranges using various meter types and measurement units.
And see Secondary Monitoring Tools for additional assessments you may wish to make.

 

Hi Carl,
Perhaps I didn't account properly? I'm using Pro Zinc ( protamine zinc) 40 units per mL, and BD Insulin Syringes
capacity 1/2 mL cc, length 12.7 gauge 30G the caps are orange.
Dude was up to 12 units until he crashed over the weekend, now he is down to 8 units as his BG was 54 this afternoon, I'm going to get a meter so I can monitor his BG daily with the help of others here I should be able to get him adjusted thank you for your concern.
Lyne`

 

OK, if you are using orange caps, you have U100 syringes but are using a U40 insulin with them.
Are you drawing up to the "12" mark on the syringe? Or "8" currently?

 

The Pro Zinc is a U40 insulin, and I've given him the 8 units this evening.

 

U-100 means 100 units per mL
U-40 means 40 units per mL
If you use a U-100 syringe to measure U-40 insulin, you must use a conversion chart, or multiply the syringe mark by 0.4.

Ex 0.4*8 unit mark on U-100 = 3.2 units of U-40

 

BJ is correct.
If you are using the orange cap syringes and drawing it up to the 8 line, you are actually giving him 3.2 units of insulin.
Which is fairly large a dose, but not scary high like 8 or 12 units.

 

Oh boy, I totally know that distraught feeling. It sounds extremely familiar. I felt very unsupported by my vet(s). When we began insulin we, too, had a crash incident and needed to take Moby to the ER for two days. I felt so guilty, like it was my fault. But what helped me was taking control of Moby's health and learning how to test his levels so I knew what was going on inside his body. I also did a lot of research about food choices.

It's a lot of information to take in, and it can feel overwhelming. But you're not alone! And we are all here to help!