New Member - Overwhelmed and feeling hopeless

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JC&Yuki

JC&Yuki

Member Since 2020
Hi Everyone!

My cat, Yuki, was recently diagnosed with diabetes (May 19th 2020). She is about 9 years old and for a few months I’d been noticing increased thirst and then she started urinating on my carpet, which was weird because she never has accidents. Brought her in and she was diagnosed. The vet started her on 1.5 units of Lantus on May 23rd 2020 and she gets two doses every day (12 hours apart). I started this journey in the hopes of getting her into remission, but I brought her in today for a routine teeth cleaning and the vet said that remission is unlikely since she’s been on insulin for a month already. This is really stressful because her insulin comes out to over $300 a vial and although it will last me a long time this is still a pretty big expense for me along with higher expenses for cat food since I’ve switched her over to an all wet food diet. I guess I’m just asking if my vet is likely correct and remission is somewhat out of the question at this point, or if there is anything I can do to get Yuki into remission?

I brought her in to do a BG curve on June 2nd and her results were as follows:
7:16am: 183
9:16am: 201
11:24am: 197
1:55pm: 238
3:30pm: 205
5:30pm: 225

I’m slowly working through the material on this forum, but any advice on where to start with regards to my specific situation would be greatly appreciated.
 

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WELCOME TO FDMB! So glad you found us! First of all I dont know why yor vet told you that long time insulin users have achieved remission. So without know your vet I would say he is wrong. There ARE other insulin's that are cheaper. But I wll let others address that.
From the number you have posted they are terribly bad. So you do have something to work with.

You've found a safe place here. Yuki is adorable btw! We are a community of dedicated care givers and cat lovers and know the struggles you've been through, (and then some) Theres a wealth of information here with good people to help you decipher it all.

Are you willing to learn to home test Yuki's blood glucose daily? It truly is the only way to keep Yuki safe. We CAN and will help you with that.
All you have to do is say yes! BTW your first post here makes you one of our large family WELCOME!:bighug:
This is the best darn place n this planet to get all your questions answered and Yuki on the right path.;)
jeanne
 
jt and trouble (GA) said:
WELCOME TO FDMB! So glad you found us! First of all I dont know why yor vet told you that long time insulin users have achieved remission. So without know your vet I would say he is wrong. There ARE other insulin's that are cheaper. But I wll let others address that.
From the number you have posted they are terribly bad. So you do have something to work with.

You've found a safe place here. Yuki is adorable btw! We are a community of dedicated care givers and cat lovers and know the struggles you've been through, (and then some) Theres a wealth of information here with good people to help you decipher it all.

Are you willing to learn to home test Yuki's blood glucose daily? It truly is the only way to keep Yuki safe. We CAN and will help you with that.
All you have to do is say yes! BTW your first post here makes you one of our large family WELCOME!:bighug:
This is the best darn place n this planet to get all your questions answered and Yuki on the right path.;)
jeanne
Click to expand...

Hi Jeanne!

Okay now I’m really concerned about my vet choice because he said her blood glucose results were great! Haha. I am actually attempting to learn to test her at home and I bought an AlphaTRAK 2 off of amazon, but the lancet was not drawing blood and it was starting to get really stressful after a few attempts. I’m scheduling an appointment in a week or so so that the vet techs can hopefully teach me how to do it. It’s so comforting to hear that remission is possible! Should I shop around for a better vet? Or should I attempt to adjust her insulin dosage myself once I learn to get her blood glucose numbers? If her initial numbers were bad, should I be concerned that my vet did not adjust her insulin dose at all? Thank you so much for the support and the warm welcome!
 
A large number of people from the US here buy their insulin from Canada. I am assuming you are American because of the cost of insulin you quoted. A vial in Canada where I am costs me under $100 over the counter. This post here (click on the blue link), has more details.

Many people find the lancets that come with the kits are too small. You want a larger lancet, a 26 or 28 gauge to start. Over time their ears learn to bleed better and you can used the smaller gauge lancets. This post has a bunch of tips for you: Hometesting Links and Tips

As for remission, if you can get her regulated within six months on Lantus, the odds are still pretty good. We still see cats go into remission who've been on Lantus longer than that, so it's not impossible, just a bit harder. A lot of us just use human blood glucose meters, the test strips are MUCH cheaper and easier to come buy. Our dosing methodologies for Lantus were created back when people used human meters and before the Alphatrak were marketed heavily to vets.

What wet food are you eating now? There are some good economical low carb options out there.

What number did your vet say her blood sugars were?
 
Wendy&Neko said:
A large number of people from the US here buy their insulin from Canada. I am assuming you are American because of the cost of insulin you quoted. A vial in Canada where I am costs me under $100 over the counter. This post here (click on the blue link), has more details.

Many people find the lancets that come with the kits are too small. You want a larger lancet, a 26 or 28 gauge to start. Over time their ears learn to bleed better and you can used the smaller gauge lancets. This post has a bunch of tips for you: Hometesting Links and Tips

As for remission, if you can get her regulated within six months on Lantus, the odds are still pretty good. We still see cats go into remission who've been on Lantus longer than that, so it's not impossible, just a bit harder. A lot of us just use human blood glucose meters, the test strips are MUCH cheaper and easier to come buy. Our dosing methodologies for Lantus were created back when people used human meters and before the Alphatrak were marketed heavily to vets.

What wet food are you eating now? There are some good economical low carb options out there.

What number did your vet say her blood sugars were?
Click to expand...

Hi Wendy!

Thank you so much for the Canada tip. I will definitely be doing that in the future. Right now I’m feeding Yuki two 2.8 oz cans of the Tiki Cat brand wet food (12 hours apart with 1.5 units of Lantus). Her initial blood sugar number upon diagnosis was 527 and that number and the results from her blood glucose curve on June 2nd are the only numbers I have.
 
JC&Yuki said:
Okay now I’m really concerned about my vet choice because he said her blood glucose results were great! Haha.
Click to expand...

JC&Yuki said:
If her initial numbers were bad, should I be concerned that my vet did not adjust her insulin dose at all
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that Jeanne, in her rush to type out her welcoming message,

jt and trouble (GA) said:
From the number you have posted they are terribly bad. So you do have something to work with.
Click to expand...

meant to say that the numbers aren't terribly bad. Or at least that's how they look to me ;). Just to put your mind at ease a bit!
 
I would definitely look into buying the Lantus Solostar pens from Canada, Wendy gave you the link above
You can get 5 pens that might last you a year
Put them in the fridge. They have the expiration date on them and as long as you don't use the other 4 pens they are good until the expiration dates

We don't use the pen because you can only increase by full units
We buy the syringes with half unit markings , we increase or decrease by 0.25 units
Take the top off of the pen and stick the syringe in the little rubber stopper and draw the insulin from there

Money wise the Alpha Trak Strips will cost you a fortune
Most of us use human meters
The Relion Prime from Walmart it's 9 bucks and for 100 test strips 17.88
Rather than wait for shipping you can just go to Walmart and pick them up there
Their shipping is really fast if they are out of stock in the stores
 
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JC&Yuki said:
Hi Jeanne!

Okay now I’m really concerned about my vet choice because he said her blood glucose results were great! Haha. I am actually attempting to learn to test her at home and I bought an AlphaTRAK 2 off of amazon, but the lancet was not drawing blood and it was starting to get really stressful after a few attempts. I’m scheduling an appointment in a week or so so that the vet techs can hopefully teach me how to do it. It’s so comforting to hear that remission is possible! Should I shop around for a better vet? Or should I attempt to adjust her insulin dosage myself once I learn to get her blood glucose numbers? If her initial numbers were bad, should I be concerned that my vet did not adjust her insulin dose at all? Thank you so much for the support and the warm welcome!
Click to expand...
JT meant not that bad. The numbers are pretty good especially with the added stress of being at a vet welcome!!! Yuki is such a cutie!!!

I’m one of those people who gets her Lantus from Canada. I use the pens and I get their 5-pack for about $169 plus shipping. 5 pens will last over a year so I highly recommend looking into that. Lantus is a great insulin, don’t change just because of the price :cat:

I also use ReliOn and it works great. You can get about 100 strips for $17.99 it’s a bargain compared to pet meters! Call the store first if you decide to go this route because the Walmart near me was out of stock and I had to order online last time
 
And don’t feel hopeless! We’ve all been there but it’s all manageable and you’ll get all the support you need and then some here!

what food are you feeding? Most of us feed fancy feast pate and it’s kinda affordable. No need to buy a super expensive cat food unless you want to. The key is to make sure it’s 10% carbs or less
 
Aleluia Grugru & Minnie said:
And don’t feel hopeless! We’ve all been there but it’s all manageable and you’ll get all the support you need and then some here!

what food are you feeding? Most of us feed fancy feast pate and it’s kinda affordable. No need to buy a super expensive cat food unless you want to. The key is to make sure it’s 10% carbs or less
Click to expand...

Hello! She gets two 2.8 oz cans of the Tiki Cat brand wet food. I will look into fancy feast to see if that’s cheaper. Thank you for the tip and the reassurance! I definitely feel better already with the responses I’ve received so far!
 
JC&Yuki said:
Hi Everyone!

My cat, Yuki, was recently diagnosed with diabetes (May 19th 2020). She is about 9 years old and for a few months I’d been noticing increased thirst and then she started urinating on my carpet, which was weird because she never has accidents. Brought her in and she was diagnosed. The vet started her on 1.5 units of Lantus on May 23rd 2020 and she gets two doses every day (12 hours apart). I started this journey in the hopes of getting her into remission, but I brought her in today for a routine teeth cleaning and the vet said that remission is unlikely since she’s been on insulin for a month already. This is really stressful because her insulin comes out to over $300 a vial and although it will last me a long time this is still a pretty big expense for me along with higher expenses for cat food since I’ve switched her over to an all wet food diet. I guess I’m just asking if my vet is likely correct and remission is somewhat out of the question at this point, or if there is anything I can do to get Yuki into remission?

I brought her in to do a BG curve on June 2nd and her results were as follows:
7:16am: 183
9:16am: 201
11:24am: 197
1:55pm: 238
3:30pm: 205
5:30pm: 225

I’m slowly working through the material on this forum, but any advice on where to start with regards to my specific situation would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Hi JC what a Cutie Yuki is when my cat was diagnosed her numbers were 479 .
She was on Lantus but I paid $62.00 dollars for a pen . You can still use a syringe with the pen . My Vet told me 1 pen should last 300 shots ( not sure if that is true )
Fancy Feast is much cheaper but Don’t buy the gravy ones too high in carbohydrates.
I also used Tiki Cat and Weruva which is a little less costly and right now Petco is offering 35% off on Weruva my cat enjoyed their paw lickin chicken lol
 
Having the teeth cleaned could help. A lot of high glucoses could be from bad teeth. Depending where in the US you are, and getting insulin from Canada, you need to keep the temperature in mind. On the East Coast it's best to order in April/May before the heat hits and in October/November before freezing temps. Your 1st order from them takes a bit longer so plan ahead. The box of pens is more bang for your bucks. Total of 15 ml instead of the 10 ml the bottle holds. And expiration date is 2 yrs out so it will last if kept in fridge.

There is also a section here called Supply Closet. People will offer their unused insulin.
 
JC&Yuki said:
Hi Everyone!

My cat, Yuki, was recently diagnosed with diabetes (May 19th 2020). She is about 9 years old and for a few months I’d been noticing increased thirst and then she started urinating on my carpet, which was weird because she never has accidents. Brought her in and she was diagnosed. The vet started her on 1.5 units of Lantus on May 23rd 2020 and she gets two doses every day (12 hours apart). I started this journey in the hopes of getting her into remission, but I brought her in today for a routine teeth cleaning and the vet said that remission is unlikely since she’s been on insulin for a month already. This is really stressful because her insulin comes out to over $300 a vial and although it will last me a long time this is still a pretty big expense for me along with higher expenses for cat food since I’ve switched her over to an all wet food diet. I guess I’m just asking if my vet is likely correct and remission is somewhat out of the question at this point, or if there is anything I can do to get Yuki into remission?

I brought her in to do a BG curve on June 2nd and her results were as follows:
7:16am: 183
9:16am: 201
11:24am: 197
1:55pm: 238
3:30pm: 205
5:30pm: 225

I’m slowly working through the material on this forum, but any advice on where to start with regards to my specific situation would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Hi JC just checking in with you to see how Yuki and you are doing today . I know all too well how Overwhelming this all can be , it’s all so much to process . Just know this forum has the most knowledgeable nicest people that do not mind questions at all
 
Dusty & Roe said:
Hi JC just checking in with you to see how Yuki and you are doing today . I know all too well how Overwhelming this all can be , it’s all so much to process . Just know this forum has the most knowledgeable nicest people that do not mind questions at all
Click to expand...

We are doing well! She just got her teeth cleaned yesterday and a few teeth removed, so she’s in a little bit of pain, but I am feeling A LOT less stressed and am just working on reading through some of the material on this forum. The responses have been so helpful and I’m so thankful for all of the advice and support! I was feeling a little down yesterday after my vet told me remission wasn’t likely a possibility at this point, but you all helped me feel a lot better! Thank you for checking in and I’m sure I’ll be posting again for advice at some point haha!
 
JC&Yuki said:
We are doing well! She just got her teeth cleaned yesterday and a few teeth removed, so she’s in a little bit of pain, but I am feeling A LOT less stressed and am just working on reading through some of the material on this forum. The responses have been so helpful and I’m so thankful for all of the advice and support! I was feeling a little down yesterday after my vet told me remission wasn’t likely a possibility at this point, but you all helped me feel a lot better! Thank you for checking in and I’m sure I’ll be posting again for advice at some point haha!
Click to expand...
Glad she had the teeth fixed!! The bg might come down after that! Diabetes is not a death sentence and they can live a long healthy life. This forum is a tremendous support! You aren't alone. :)
 
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