7/30/21 New Member--Affordable insulin for newly diagnosed cat?

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Amanda B

Amanda B

Member Since 2021
Hi, all!

I'm Amanda, mom to two kids--a four year old boy and a baby boy due in October--and two cats, an 8 year old orange tabby male, Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and a 4 year old grey female named Jill Pole. I've had type 1 diabetes myself for nearly ten years, so I'm very familiar with the symptoms and began noticing all the classic signs with my male cat, Scrubb. I finally got him to the vet yesterday and my suspicions were correct: my poor kitty has diabetes too! There's never a good time for diabetes, but this feels like particularly bad timing with the baby coming and school starting soon (I teach part time). It's all a bit daunting!

I'm grateful to have pretty good insurance that makes my own insulin reasonably affordable, but sadly my cat doesn't have my insurance! I've been prescribed Lantus, which is pretty pricey out of pocket. NPH insulin is much cheaper out of pocket from Wal Mart, but I also know it's not as recommended for cats because it isn't as long acting and some sites say it doesn't end up being as affordable because it expires more quickly than it can be used (unlike Lantus). My vet has also suggested Vetsulin has a more affordable alternative to Lantus, although she would strongly prefer I start with Lantus. Levemir is similarly expensive to Lantus, but seems like it works similarly for cats (as it does for people).

I'd love to hear what insulins others are using for their cats and where they get it. I want to do what I can to keep my cat healthy, but I'd like to minimize costs too, especially since I have my own medical bills to pay!
 
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A lot of us are buying our Lantus from Canada because it's 1/3 to 1/2 the price. You can get 5 pens of Lantus for $190 (including shipping). That's a total of 1500 units which is enough for most cats to last a year and some cats, up to 2 years!

Here's the info on Mark's Marine Pharmacy. They really are fantastic to work with and have saved a lot of kitty lives by making it affordable

It can take 7-10 days for the first order but refills are faster. While you're waiting, one of the best things you can do is switch to a low carb canned food like Fancy Feast Classics, Friskies pates or 9-Lives ground. They're under 10% carbs, easy to find and affordable. Reducing the carbs in the diet can drastically reduce the blood glucose and therefore reduce the need for insulin. Some cats only require a diet change to go into remission!

It also will give you time to learn how to home test so that IF the diet change isn't enough, you will be ready to start insulin and keep kitty safe (as well as knowing how well kitty is responding to treatment).

Until you get your insulin, it's a good idea to be checking for ketones too. You can get urine ketone test strips at any pharmacy with diabetic supplies.
 
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Welcome Amanda , Scrubbs is adorable
I second Marks Marine
With the 5 Solostar pens you can only increase or decrease by whole units
Just keep them in the fridge ,middle shelf, expiration dates are probably 2023 you can ask them

So we buy U -100 syringes with half unit markings and just take the top off the pen and insert it into the little rubber stopper and draw the insulin from there so with the syringes we increase or decrease by 0.25 units
If you live in the US you can buy The Relion Prime Meter for 9 dollars and 100 test strips for 17.89 from Walmart. You can also order them from ADW Diabetes

Lancets 26 or 28 gauge lancets, any brand most of us just hold the lancet and test freehand instead of using a lancet device. I feel I can see better where I'm aiming
You can also get the U-100 syringes with half unit markings from Walmart , those you have to go there in person they don't show them online

Some cotton rounds to put behind your cats ears so you don't accidentally poje your finger and then just fold it over and gently press for about 15-20 seconds to stop the bleeding

Using syringes with a pen, cartridge, or vial:
  • U-100 3/10cc syringes with half unit markings are the best to use for drawing Lantus, Basaglar, or Levemir from vials, cartridges, and pens.
  • BD Ultra-Fine, CarePoint Vet, Monoject, GNP, UltiCare Vet Rx, Sure Comfort, and ReliOn are just some of the brands available with half unit markings.
  • Syringes come in ½ inch or 5/16 inch needle lengths. Needle gauges are 29, 30 or 31 (31 being the thinnest)
  • Full and half-unit syringe scales:
 
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Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up
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6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
You will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand
I find it better to see where I'm aiming
 
Lantus and Levemir, if kept in the fridge, lasts a long time. Much longer than the 28 days at room temperature (which is how long the FDA asked the Lantus people to test for).
It is only humans who carry their insulin around with them. For cats, insulin is kept in the fridge, taken out twice a day for shots.
If you use the vials (not the pen because you will likely be giving half units and quarter units), you could probably get away with dedicating a vial of your own insulin for Scrubbs. If Scrubbs.
Tagging a Levemir and Lantus user to confirm all this:
@Wendy&Neko
 
Red & Rover (GA) said:
If you use the vials (not the pen because you will likely be giving half units and quarter units), you could probably get away with dedicating a vial of your own insulin for Scrubbs. If Scrubbs.
Tagging a Levemir and Lantus user to confirm all this:
@Wendy&Neko
Click to expand...
Not sure exactly what the question is. In general, it's more cost effective in the long run to get pens (Lantus or Levemir), cause you use them to the last drop. Unless your cat is on a large dose, a vial for a cat usually goes off before you use it up.
 
Hello, all! Thank you so much for the advice. While I was prescribed Lantus, I have put Scrubb on Levemir since I was able to obtain a vial using a backup prescription of my own. (So much cheaper that way and I feel super sneaky dedicating a vial of my own insulin to my cat! The Levemir is a backup prescription I have in case my insulin pump fails and only needs to be filled in rare emergencies, so I can easily get another for myself if I need it.)

Shots are going very smoothly; Scrubb doesn't even notice! I have yet to try checking his blood sugar. This is a goal for me, but I will be using Freestyle Libre sensors, per my vet's recommendation, for now. The vet will be inserting the first sensor tomorrow. It's more expensive than checking his sugar with a meter, but I think it's worth a little extra expense here at the beginning, especially since Scrubb was diagnosed right as school was about to start and I'm a teacher!

I have found with my own insulin that even unrefrigerated vials last longer than pharmacists and doctors tell you they will, but anyone have experience with how long a refrigerated vial will last?
 
I did a search on the forumn and found this posted by a member
A vial of Lantus or Levemir will last up to 6 months in the fridge and so its not as costly.
Keep it on the middle of a shelf
Can you add Levemir to your signature please :cat:
 
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