PZI - Discontinued

Hello everyone,

I am new to the forum and new to feline diabetes! My 15 year old cat was diagnosed with diabetes on Saturday (2-27-10) and it totally freaked me out until I found this site! I'm glad there is a community of people who can help! My cat is on Lantus now. At first, his vet prescribed PZI which is supposed to be the best for cats. However, PZI (according to the 4th pharmacist I went to looking for the damn stuff) has been discontinued. So anyone who's still on PZI should speak to their vet regarding getting something new for your kitty.

Thanks so much! =^^=
-Breayle

 

Thanks Breayle! It has been a source of much freak-out here. Thankfully they recently came out with a new PZI - ProZinc - so that seems to be working as a replacement, though it is still very new. I'm surprised your vet didn't sell it to you directly - I didn't even know you could ever get PZI from a regular pharmacy (before it ran out)!

Anyhow, many people swear by Lantus and they have gotten good results from what I have heard, so hopefully your kitty will do great on that! If you decide to switch to PZI, there are some ProZinc links in the sticky in this forum, for where to get it at reasonable prices.

 

There is ProZinc and BCP - both excellent substitutes for PZI Vet. I switched to ProZinc and am happy and I just read about another who switched to BCP and was happy.

[BCP procurement instructions/help coming to the sticky soon]

Glad you guys were able to get something going with the Lantus. I hope your kitty is feeling better soon.

 

For information, many years ago, before there were Human Recombinant insulins such as Lilly's Humulin series and analogs such as Lantus were available, humans used animal insulins made with bovine and porcine pancreases. These were mixed with compounds to extend their duration such as zinc and protamine zinc. These insulins were available at human pharmacies. In England one can still buy animal derived insulins for humans.