So we switched from vetsulin to prozinc on 8-5-20. Vet wanted me to start at 3 units 2x a day. I went w 1 unit 2x a day. My question is this morning his was 201 and I overslept so we were 30 mins late for breakfast(he was very upset) but instead of giving his the full dose I gave his .5 instead. Wondering if I should have still given him the full dose. We have had a severe hypo before and I don’t want to see him go through that again. Especially since I won’t be home most of the day to watch him.
Hi Jena, give me just a moment to get on my computer and I'll take a look, sorry you haven't gotten a reply sooner!
Thank u so much. I just took his Pm number now and he’s at 189 I am a little panicked about giving him any tonight so should I also stick w just .5 for tonight too
Okay, on my computer. I'll reply to the rest after since you're nervous about that 189 - if you haven't already, why don't you stall feeding for 20 minutes and re-test? I'll work on the other reply now.
He’s actually eating now he was starting to chew threw bag so I knew he was hungry. I had put tonight’s reading late since I accidentally overslept too.
To start, I think it would have been fine to get him full dose this morning. Being a little late shouldn't change your dosing amount, but if you were concerned about Opi's numbers being a little lower than usual there's nothing wrong with being cautious until you're comfortable shooting lower. Here is what Prozinc's dosing method for SLGS (Start Low, Go Slow) says about lower than average pre-shots: If it helps, you can print this out and stick it on the fridge or somewhere you can reference in case no one is online when you need advice. Usually if the pre-shot is lower than you're no-shoot number you want to stall 20 minutes, retest, and if it's higher you're usually safe to give full (or at least token) dose. If the BG is the same or lower you skip or token dose. What is your no-shoot number for Opi? Are you able to get more mid-cycle tests in during the day and at least one during the night? It depends on your schedule of course but usually a +2 is a good indicator of where the cycle is headed. Another thing is important to sneak in a test right before bed to make sure he's going to be okay. I'm seeing a lot of ups and downs with Opi's dosing too. With SLGS on Prozinc, you want to hold the same dose for 7 days and re-evaluate on whether to maintain or increase. If he ever drops below 90, immediately decrease by .25 units and the 7 day count starts over. We also increase/decrease in .25 unit increments. One more thing I want to mention in case you didn't see it (and if you did just ignore me!), but unlike Vetsulin, Prozinc does not require waiting 30 minutes after feeding to shoot, you can do it at the same time.
Okay, you can either give a token dose tonight or skip since you didn't stall. That 0.5u might not be such a bad idea.
We were on vetsulin for a long time and switched on 8-5. I was hoping to keep him at 1 for a full week then do a curve but since he was so low this morning I normally wouldn’t shoot anything around 200 but I know it’s not the beat for him to miss shots either. But I am home all night tonight so I can watch him.
I will give him the .5 and just keep an eye on him. I knew I was going to be gone most of the day so didn’t want to chance it.
Sounds like a plan! Try to get a +2 to see where he's headed tonight. He may do better sticking with 0.5 for a week and moving up to 1u. @Deb & Wink your thoughts?
I will def check him tonight. Thanks for the help and info too. I was worried about the starting dose. My vet wanted me to start him at 3.7 units 2x a day and I knew I didn’t want to do that much.
No worries at all, hope it helps! And you were spot on, typically you want to maintain the same dose when switching insulin. Glad you went with your gut.
Would you please insert a row on the SS, before the 8/5/20 date and mark that row in big bold letters, color coding it so it stands out better. We can see the comment in the Remarks column, but we want that insulin change to be much more visible. Thanks. When switching insulins, you take the prior insulin dose into consideration. Usually, that means starting a new insulin at the same dose as the prior insulin. With perhaps, a decrease in the dose of 0.25U. So if you were giving 1.5U of Vetsulin, the Prozinc dose would be 1.5U or 1.25U. Your gut was giving you good feedback! Not sure what your vet was basing that 3U prozinc dose on. But since Opi was on 1.5U of Vetsulin, you did not want to start him at a dose any higher than what you selected, the 1.5U. Plus, he's been dropping low, and you've been having to skip shots here and there. We want to find a dose that you can give 2 times a day, the same amount of insulin. If the pre-shot test is high, please do not increase the dose. Our Prozinc dosing protocols, the guidelines, looks at the nadir to know what the dosing changes should be. So it's important to get those mid-cycle numbers, and find out what + hour time Opitumus's nadir is with Prozinc. Try a test around the +5 to +7 time frame. Switch it up, a different time each cycle until you have narrowed down the most likely nadir time for Opi. Please do not increase the dose from the current 0.5U. We need to see how low this dose is dropping Opi in the middle of the cycle before you consider your next step. Are you ok with that approach for now? p.s. Is Optimus a dry food addict?
Did I get to them all? Did I miss any? Too tired to check. Deb and helping during a "pajama party" are 2 things that do NOT belong together.
I think you've at least read them all - been a looong day today on the forum. Bet you're wiped still!
will do w the spreadsheet. Yes he is a kibble junkie. We have been trying since January to get him on wet food. I even tried getting the fortiflora and he will only eat where it is sprinkled and then refuse to eat anything else. And normally I always did no shot when he close to 200. But I’m going to stick w the .5 for a week and then do a curve also.
Opi looked pretty good a nadir today, down into the low blues. Nice. Very nice. Have you seen this? Tips for Transitioning Dry Food Addicts. I tell people that Wink was a founding member of DFAA, Dry Food Addicts Anonymous. He was tough to get to eat wet food. Like he didn't realize it was real food. He did like Halo Liv-a-little chicken treats crushed to a powder and sprinkled on his wet food. I'd often have to sprinkle the chicken treats on his small amount of wet food 3 to 4 times or more to get him to eat the wet food. I had a smorgasbord of 3 flavors out for him to try. Finally, Wink decided that he liked the Fancy Feast Turkey & Giblets flavor. Then I was afraid he'd stop liking that flavor and refuse to eat anything. So I slowly tried other foods and he did eventually eat any canned food put in front of him. It was a case of patience and persistence. Much patience and persistence. You might try crumbling the Dr. Elseys dry food that he eats, and sprinkle that on top of the wet food. Or try the "chip and dip" method, where you take a piece of dry food, dip it in the wet food and do that with maybe 10 pieces and put them on a plate.
yes I have looked up many things for him to try and eat it. And we have tried many brands and flavors. The wet food he will eat is the kind with gravy and he would only eat the lick the gravy up so I mixed it with water to soup it up and he refuses the dry food if there is even the tiniest amount of went food on it I tried drizzling it on and he just walks away and won’t eat. He’s had issues w everything soft since we adopted him even soft treats he won’t eat. We will keep trying it though maybe he will start now that he’s feeling better.
