Day One!

[StormysMom]

Today we had our treatment plan appointment with our vet. He's an amazing guy and I trust him 100 percent. At the same time, I thought I'd share his recommendations with you and see if you have any tips, tricks or advice.

1. He recommended feeding only the wet DM food with Fancy Feast as an over the counter alternative.
2. He recommended starting at 1 unit of lantus (glargine) twice per day. He feels like she really might need 2 units but wanted to start conservatively.
3. He recommended home testing and was excited to know that I had already decided to do it. He asked that I get an Abbott Alpha Trak meter because then my numbers will match his numbers.
4. He recommended retesting in 10 days to evaluate whether her dose should be increased.
5. He had us practice giving injections with saline -- it was so scary but much easier than I anticipated.

Questions:
1. I had really been hoping to go with the cheaper Walmart meter -- any advice here? Can I do some sort of conversion to make it work?
2. We'll try the DM food but what is your experience with the food long term? Has it made a huge difference in levels/weight management (our girl needs to GAIN)?
3. Where's the cheapest place to order lantus and syringes? Any online options (I'll check out the buying guides as well).

Thanks in advance for any input you may be able to share.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

3. Where's the cheapest place to order lantus and syringes? Any online options (I'll check out the buying guides as well).

Here's the information on where most of us are buying our Lantus....it's 1/3rd the cost compared to the US

All these have half unit markings and are the correct syringes for U100 insulin and are available from ADW online:
UtiCare
Monoject
Carepoint
Sure Comfort
BD Ultra-Fine

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 (although it seems a lot of WalMart employees don't realize that they DO come with half unit markings!!)

1. I had really been hoping to go with the cheaper Walmart meter -- any advice here? Can I do some sort of conversion to make it work?

The most popular meter around here is the Relion Confirm or Micro from WalMart....it takes the tiniest sample size and the strips are affordable ($35.88/100) ....the biggest problem with the AlphaTrak is the strips are about $1 EACH

The only number that really matters is the "low" (or the "time to act" number)....below 50 on the human meters or below 68 on the AT.....other than that, all our protocols are written for human meters and we're very comfortable using them. It's more about watching for "trends" than it is about getting an exact number.

Other than the low number, you can't really compare them directly...there's no formula that says "if you get X on a human meter, it means Y on the AlphaTrak" (other than the 50 = 68 )

2. We'll try the DM food but what is your experience with the food long term? Has it made a huge difference in levels/weight management (our girl needs to GAIN)?

There's nothing special about DM other than the price!! (check the ingredients!) Most of us here feed Fancy Feast Classics or Friskies pates for a lot less money!! The key is to feed a low carb canned or raw diet that's less than 10% carbs

 

[StormysMom]

Thank you! That price looks much better on the lantus. Our vet said it would be around $200 a bottle and I about fainted! I'm torn on the monitor. I feel like I have to use what he recommends but those strips are steep. Maybe after she is regulated I can switch to a human meter just for every day monitoring....so much to decide!

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

Our vet said it would be around $200 a bottle and I about fainted!

Well you want to get the Solostar pens instead of the vial.....the 10ml vial holds 1000 units and unless your cat ends up being a high dose cat, you'll end up throwing away about half of it when it stops working

With the pens, you use the same insulin syringes and pull the insulin out of the pen but each pen is only 3ml (300 units) and the rest will last up to the expiration date on the box....usually at least 2 years away

One of the other great things about Marks Marine Pharmacy is that since insulin is OTC in Canada, even if your vet writes a script for the vial, you can just call them and request the pens instead....the pharmacist is happy to send you whichever you want!!

 

[Nan & Amber (GA)]

Sounds like your vet is a good one!

On the monitor question: what some people do is have both. They use the human meter for day-to-day monitoring (which, on the kind of testing schedule a lot of us do, burns a ton of strips!), and then do an occasional all-day "curve" (maybe at the 10-day mark he recommends, for example) for data that the vet can look at and interpret.

 

[StormysMom]

Well you want to get the Solostar pens instead of the vial.....the 10ml vial holds 1000 units and unless your cat ends up being a high dose cat, you'll end up throwing away about half of it when it stops working

With the pens, you use the same insulin syringes and pull the insulin out of the pen but each pen is only 3ml (300 units) and the rest will last up to the expiration date on the box....usually at least 2 years away

One of the other great things about Marks Marine Pharmacy is that since insulin is OTC in Canada, even if your vet writes a script for the vial, you can just call them and request the pens instead....the pharmacist is happy to send you whichever you want!!

See, this is the kind of info I would never know on my own! So how do you get the insulin out of the pens and into the syringes? Is there a stopper like the vial? Our vet was saying that 1 vial would be good for about 4 months before it went bad so your right we'd probably be throwing out alot. So one box of pens would last almost the full two years at 1 unit 2 times a day. Is that right?

 

[StormysMom]

Sounds like your vet is a good one!

On the monitor question: what some people do is have both. They use the human meter for day-to-day monitoring (which, on the kind of testing schedule a lot of us do, burns a ton of strips!), and then do an occasional all-day "curve" (maybe at the 10-day mark he recommends, for example) for data that the vet can look at and interpret.

Yep, that's what I'm thinking as well. I'll be the kind of pet mommy to want to test all the time even when she's regulated and I can't imagine doing that at $1 per strip!

 

[Squalliesmom]

Yep, that's what I'm thinking as well. I'll be the kind of pet mommy to want to test all the time even when she's regulated and I can't imagine doing that at $1 per strip!

I have a pet meter and I never use it. I use my Walmart Relion, and my vet has just learned to accept it, lol, even if he's not thrilled about it! (My vet is awesome)

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

So how do you get the insulin out of the pens and into the syringes? Is there a stopper like the vial?

Yes...when you take the cap off the pen, there's a rubber stopper just like there is on the vial

So one box of pens would last almost the full two years at 1 unit 2 times a day. Is that right?

A box of pens is 5 pens....each pen holds 300 units so total is 1500 units......at 1 unit twice a day, that's 750 days....over two years!! Most of the boxes of pens from Marks have an expiration date at least 2 years away so if your cat ends up staying on 1 unit, you're going to be able to use pretty much every drop and it'll end up costing you about $8/month for insulin!

Now cats needs can and do change, so it's possible that yours might end up needing more than 1 unit.....or less!! Until you're testing, there's no way to know how well your kitty will respond.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

I use my Walmart Relion, and my vet has just learned to accept it, lol, even if he's not thrilled about it!

And I use the Relion Confirm too....and my own cat hasn't been back to the vet for her diabetes since she was diagnosed almost 4 years ago.....she's gone in for dentals and for a nasty URI, but I've trusted the people here to educate me and guide me on dosage since the beginning.

The people here have years of real life experience in what works and I trust them completely (and if you look at our spreadsheet in our signature, you'll see China is doing GREAT!)

 

[Kris & Teasel]

Sounds like you have a great vet! You've already been given lots of really useful info from the others here.

 

[Squalliesmom]

And I use the Relion Confirm too....and my own cat hasn't been back to the vet for her diabetes since she was diagnosed almost 4 years ago.....she's gone in for dentals and for a nasty URI, but I've trusted the people here to educate me and guide me on dosage since the beginning.

The people here have years of real life experience in what works and I trust them completely (and if you look at our spreadsheet in our signature, you'll see China is doing GREAT!)

Squallie never goes to the vet for his FD, either. My vet recognizes that I know what I'm doing and leaves me alone to get on with it, lol.