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ryeguyy84

ryeguyy84

Member Since 2016
Hi my name is Ryan and my Cat Teddy was diagnosed with diagnosed on Monday 2/22 and received his first shot of insulin 1 unit this morning 2/25. his initial blood work showed a glucose level of 478 mg/dl, but 6 months prior he was fine so the vet says we caught it early. Like I've read a few times on this site, the vet gave us a prescription for Lantus and syringes showed us how to do it and sent us on our way. he was also switched to a prescription Hills M/D diet of wet and dry. they said to feed him twice a day 1/2 can wet mixed with 1/6 cup dry food I guess to get him off dry food slowly?

there was never any mention of at home testing and from what i'm reading here that's pretty common. What meter do I get? is there a Human to Feline conversion chart that I need to use?

Also (sorry for being all over the place) what is a common price for Lantus? I was charged $320 for the 10ML bottle of insulin and $35 for a 100 pack of needles. If I have to buy a new bottle every 28 days i'm going to go bankrupt. that bottle costs more than my car payment.
 
Most pet owners are sent home with a vial of insulin, a prescription for Science Diet and vague instructions regarding how to treat their pets diabetes. That's how I found this site. Firstly, go buy a Relion Prime meter. The meter is around $12 at Walmart and the strips are $17 for 100. I just bought some Relion lancets the other day and they were having a roll back sale of $1.50 for 100 lancets. You will want to start out with the larger size lancets at first until you perfect your technique and the cats ears have time to develop more capillaries to allow blood to be drawn from a smaller needle. Getting enough blood with a 30 or 31 gauge lancet at the beginning will be a challenge. I don't use the lancing pen device to test his ears, I free hand it and a lot of people here just free hand as well. I find it's more gentle on the ears, there's no loud click, and he usually doesn't even feel me do the poke.

Did you buy the Lantus from your vet? You won't have to spend that much again...even Walmart sells it for less than that. About $180 but there are online Canadian pharmacies that charge $99 for a 10ml vial. If you refrigerate the vial, it will remain active for (some say 2-3 and some say up to 6) months. So $100 for possibly up to 6 months isnt a bad deal. I hear that people around here use the Lantus pens and draw the dose up from the pen into an insulin syringe. Better value and less waste, since the pens are 3ml. I haven't used Lantus on Diego yet but my vet is wanting to go that route in the future. As far as syringes go, idk how the person who sold you those can sleep at night. Go to the Walmart pharmacy and ask for a box of 100 of whatever size needle your vet instructed you to use. I pay $13 after tax for a box of 100 Relion 3/10 ml insulin syringes. You've found a good group. A lot of the members are very experienced owners of diabetics, and can help with all kinds of stuff. I'm just starting out with my Diego being diagnosed on 2/2 but they've already done so much to make me more confident in my ability to give him the best possible care.
 
Ryan, where are your from? (Country) most in the states buy Lantus in the pen form (so it's only 3ml and there is less waste). It still has a rubber stopper just like the 10mL vial and we still use syringes. $35 for 100 is too much again in the US. Either Walmart or ADW (American Diabetes Warehouse online) has them for about $15/100. I think Marks Marine in Canada sells 5 pens for less then $200. (so actually 15ml total)

Testing. Many use the Walmart Relion Confirm/Micro or Prime The Confirm/Micro strips cost $.35 a strip the prime is cheaper. I personally use a Meter from Meijer (same meter is sold by CVS) and recently stocked up on strips because they were on sale for $0.15 each.
 
Welcome, Ryan!

Well, it seems like your vet at least got you started with a good insulin! $320 for a vial is high, though, even at US prices (I think it's around $288 at Walmart). However, as others have mentioned, many of us get a 5 pack of the pens from Mark's Marine Pharmacy in Canada. All you need to order is a script for the Lantus Solostar pens from your vet. A 5 pack is $170 after shipping, but each pen will last you 2-3 months if handled properly (or more). That works out to be around $15 a month for insulin.

Any human glucose meter is fine to use (although I would stay away from the Walgreens "Tru" brand meter--they don't seem to be very consistent). The Relion from Walmart is a popular meter, as are many others. You want a meter where you can afford the strips to test multiple times a day. There is no conversion chart needed because the dosing protocols for Lantus are already written for both human and pet meters--you just need to refer to the right one after you get your meter.

Hills M/D, both canned and dry, is too high in carbohydrates for diabetic cats, and will present problems with getting your cat's blood sugar under control. Purina DM canned is the only prescription diet appropriate for a diabetic cat, but you don't need to buy a prescription diet. Any low carb, canned commercial food is fine to feed--there is nothing special about the prescription diets that makes them better to feed (in fact, the ingredients are often worse than many commerical foods). There's a chart here that lists the protein, fat, and carb content of many canned foods. Just pick any one that fits in your budget that is less than 10% (preferably less than 8%) carbs. You can return the M/D to your vet and just say your cat won't eat it.

Diabetic cats (and cats in general) do best with multiple small meals a day--4x a day is ideal. I have two auto feeders (one for each cat), and I freeze food and stick it in the feeder to go off at lunch time when I'm at work and not home to feed the cats. Feeding several smaller meals helps to spread out the effect food has on your cat's blood sugar. Cats have metabolisms which are twice as fast as people's or dogs', so going 12 hours between meals is usually too long for them.
 
WOW, thank you all for the info. it might take me some time to digest :-)

I didn't realize you could order insulin from Canada, I was preparing a secret insulin compartment in my car to smuggle over the border haha.

I am in the USA, specifically NJ and I bought the first bottle and syringes from CVS so I won't be doing that again. Julia, thank you for the food chart and the frozen food in a feeder idea that is brilliant. I thought Teddy was going to start eating my face this morning he was so hungry.

Thanks again everyone, i'm going to read through some more tonight. I'm sure i'll have tons more questions about my little guys diabetes
 
ryeguyy84 said:
WOW, thank you all for the info. it might take me some time to digest :)
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Oh, trust me, everyone has information overload when they're first diagnosed! If you have any questions at all, or need advice, tips, or pointers on anything, just post here and there are tons of super helpful folks that can steer you in the right direction. :)

Bandit had to go back on insulin for a few months last year because he needed steroids, and I hadn't bought Lantus since 2010. I just about died from sticker shock when I found out it more than doubled in price (a vial of Lantus was about $110 in 2010 and is now $288, and a five pack of pens was $230 and is now over $500). Luckily, I headed right back to this website before buying it to see where everyone was getting their insulin, and I'm so glad I did!

The most popular feeder here is probably the PetSafe 5--i just picked a couple up a few weeks ago when they were on sale on Amazon for $30. It looks like the price went back up to $45 on Amazon, but there are a few up on Ebay right now that are less than $40. Until recently when I bought the PetSafe 5 feeders, I've used these feeders for years (the 4 meal), and while they program like a 1980s VCR, they worked fine.
 
Welcome to the FDMB Ryan and extra sweet Teddy!! This is the best place you never wanted to be if you have a diabetic cat!!

You've gotten lots of great info, so I don't want to add too much....just thought you might like the information on where most of us are buying our insulin in Canada. Marks is great to work with and nobody has had any trouble getting their insulin from them in good shape and within usually 5-7 days

The pens are the better deal (and don't break if you drop them like the vials do!) and will last until the expiration date on the box...usually at least 2 years away

All these syringes have half unit markings (very important when you're doing microdosing) and are the correct syringes for U100 insulin and are available from ADW online:
UtiCare
Monoject
Carepoint
Sure Comfort

They're also available at WalMart if you have one near you..Their Relion Brand 3/10ml, 3o or 31 gauge, 8mm insulin syringes all come with half unit markings and are only $12.58 for a box of 100
 
Welcome to you and Teddy. Everything everyone said is right on! You've found a great place for support and help and lots to read and absorb. Take your time. Patience is key.

I use the WalMart Relion Prime. They are on rollback right now for $9 and like someone else said, the lancets are on roll back from $3.50 to $1.50. I've been buying all the lancets I can find since that is a pretty nice discount. I test my cat, Sparkles, a lot since he doesn't mind it at all and I'm home nearly all the time. Oh, whatever meter you decide to use, you might want to get two so you have a back up if one fails or the battery quits. Also, on the Relio Prime strips, they aren't that different per 100 or per 50 so I buy the 50 bottle so I'm using a fresh bottle more often. I also had the unfortunate luck to have been really tired one night and I opened the vial over the kitchen sink and spilled them all. It didn't upset me too much (embarrassed, yes) since the bottle only cost $9, but now I make sure I am not close to the sink when I get out a fresh strip.

Pepper + Sparkle + 12 civies (non-diabetic cats)
 
ryeguyy84 said:
WOW, thank you all for the info. it might take me some time to digest :)

I didn't realize you could order insulin from Canada, I was preparing a secret insulin compartment in my car to smuggle over the border haha.

I am in the USA, specifically NJ and I bought the first bottle and syringes from CVS so I won't be doing that again. Julia, thank you for the food chart and the frozen food in a feeder idea that is brilliant. I thought Teddy was going to start eating my face this morning he was so hungry.

Thanks again everyone, i'm going to read through some more tonight. I'm sure i'll have tons more questions about my little guys diabetes
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I am close enough to the border with Canada that if I chose to switch Fern to Lantus from Prozinc I am likely to drive to the Walmart in Windsor for the Medication.
 
Somebody made a comment about the Tru meters from Walgreen's being ridiculous. Omg yes. Avoid these. I have a TRU meter and a Relion meter but the other day I had run out of Relion strips and my city was under a severe thunderstorm/tornado warning so I didn't want to get on the road to buy more until the tornado warning was lifted. Used the TRU meter, it gave me an E-5 error 3 different times (meaning a "very" high glucose reading--so high that the meter can't even register it). Well I have an absolute heart attack and in the middle of a tornado warning I drive to Walmart to get the Relion strips. Come home, his BG is 327. Not the best by any means but at the same time, it's not 600 and his organs weren't failing. Poor babys BG might have even been a bit lower than that but my stress levels probably made him antsy. Trashed that stupid meter that day. It was a lot more expensive than my Relion too.
 
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ja9390 said:
I didn't want to get on the road to buy more until the tornado warning was lifted.
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What's a little wind when you need a BG reading??
icon_lol.gif
 
@ryeguyy84
Just skimmed but I didn't see anyone mention that your 10ml vial will last far longer than 28 days if properly handles/stored. The 28 days guideline is if unrefrigerated and transported around. I'm still getting good control with a vial that was opened almost 5 months ago...and it's only half gone.
ja9390 said:
.even Walmart sells it for less than that. About $180
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Walmart was $283 in Oct.
Sparkle said:
the Relio Prime strips, they aren't that different per 100 or per 50 so I buy the 50 bottle so I'm using a fresh bottle more often.
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Prime 100 packs are two vials of 50, and only $0.12 cheaper. It makes no difference except convenience of purchase.
 
If you decide to move ahead with the Lantus Solostar pens (think of it as a 3ml vial), it would be worth your while to check out the Lantus Discount Card program. It's a "Your Mileage May Vary" kind of thing, but if you're lucky enough to find a pharmacy who will work with you (by breaking apart the 5-pack of pens and selling them individually, and also not requiring a special prescription ID number only available to human physicians), then you'll pay only $25 per pen for up to 12 pens throughout the year. It's a fantastic deal.

If you choose to register, just make sure to enter your cat's name and whatever birthday you choose that makes it 18+ years of age. Then write that info down somewhere. You may need it again in the future.
 
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ja9390 said:
Somebody made a comment about the Tru meters from Walgreen's being ridiculous. Omg yes. Avoid these. I have a TRU meter and a Relion meter but the other day I had run out of Relion strips and my city was under a severe thunderstorm/tornado warning so I didn't want to get on the road to buy more until the tornado warning was lifted. Used the TRU meter, it gave me an E-5 error 3 different times (meaning a "very" high glucose reading--so high that the meter can't even register it). Well I have an absolute heart attack and in the middle of a tornado warning I drive to Walmart to get the Relion strips. Come home, his BG is 327. Not the best by any means but at the same time, it's not 600 and his organs weren't failing. Poor babys BG might have even been a bit lower than that but my stress levels probably made him antsy. Trashed that stupid meter that day. It was a lot more expensive than my Relion too.
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There's been complaints about these meters on FDMB for years--I'm surprised that they still haven't improved them. You'd think the human diabetics would be complaining, also!
 
this site is awesome! so I found a friend at work with a diabetic cat and I've been asking her all kinds of questions. She goes to walmart for insulin and syringes and pays the $280 for lantus. shes almost ready to pickup more insulin so I sent her the Marks Marine link above and she ordered a bottle yesterday for $99 or $120 I forget what it came to but significantly cheaper. she's my guinea pig :-)

She has never tested at home, and seemed surprised that people are doing it because her vet said the human meters wouldn't work for cats. I'm going to look at some meters at walmart today, I have a reef tank and I would never add anything without testing first so to inject insulin with no idea what his base BG is a little scary.
 
ryeguyy84 said:
this site is awesome! so I found a friend at work with a diabetic cat and I've been asking her all kinds of questions. She goes to walmart for insulin and syringes and pays the $280 for lantus. shes almost ready to pickup more insulin so I sent her the Marks Marine link above and she ordered a bottle yesterday for $99 or $120 I forget what it came to but significantly cheaper. she's my guinea pig :)

She has never tested at home, and seemed surprised that people are doing it because her vet said the human meters wouldn't work for cats. I'm going to look at some meters at walmart today, I have a reef tank and I would never add anything without testing first so to inject insulin with no idea what his base BG is a little scary.
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Blood glucose is blood glucose is blood glucose. It only makes sense to test. Blindly shooting any amount of a dangerous hormone into an 8 pound cat and leaving the house for 9 hours is a good way to come home to a dead or dying cat. The scary part is that most of us here were never instructed to home test by our vets. We just did it anyway :D

At first my vet told me to monitor him for clinical signs that something has gone wrong. I told her it makes more sense for me to actively play a role in preventing a hypo incident than to directly cause one and then spend a lot of time and money trying to correct it. Fortunately she is on board with me testing him at home now.
 
My old vet didn't really want me to test at all. She insisted that, if I did, I would have to use an AlphaTrak meter and only draw blood from a vein in his back leg, using a syringe! When I asked about human meters and ear sticks she told me it was inhumane because it hurt the cats and was inaccurate using a human meter. Pffftt! She also told me I was killing my cat because I didn't want to use the high carb Rx food she tried to sell me. I now have a new vet!

@AZJenks, could you please tell me more about this Lantus Discount Card program?
 
ja9390 said:
Blood glucose is blood glucose is blood glucose. It only makes sense to test. Blindly shooting any amount of a dangerous hormone into an 8 pound cat and leaving the house for 9 hours is a good way to come home to a dead or dying cat.
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well put. . . maybe it's just me but day 2 and it seems like he's going back to his old self. he has more energy, he still sleeps a lot but i was happy when I came home last night and he was sitting by the door waiting for me. for the last few weeks I had to get him out of the basement to eat.
 
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