4/9 calliecat wanting to switch to Levemir

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calliecat an marty

calliecat an marty

Member Since 2011
Hello everyone !! cat_pet_icon

my name is Marty and my sugar baby is callie, I am not new to FD callie was dx last june and we have been on prozinc, I have tried everything to get callie regulated !! we have tried tid, 11 and 11 instead of 12 and 12 and I had one good month with her, callie had dental in october everything was good with that she had her teeth cleaned and there was a little bit of gingivitious, she was on clavamox and baytril for that , I have a blood pannel done every 3 months she just had one done and everything was good.

I have wanted to try a different insulin with her for some time and I think Levemir would be a good switch ( I'm just waiting for the vet ) <---- grrrrrr..... could you please take a look at callies ss and let me know what you think any feed back would be greattttt ;-) and how would I switch ?? if I can get the Levemir today would it be all right to start for pm shot ??


callie and I hope you all have a great day :YMHUG:
 
Hi Marty (and Callie).

I think that you will find lev to be a gentler insulin - it has longer duration than ProZinc so you won't see the steep climb back to high numbers once you are at the right dose.

Are you still feeding FF classics? How much does she weigh and how much total food is she getting?

Yes, you can just start lev at any time - any cycle. The PZI will be out of her system by 12 hours later. I would suggest starting at either .5u or .75u and let that settle for 3-5 days before making any dose change decisions (unless she drops low).

You might want to read through this thread on the switch from PZI to Lev:
http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=67872
it will give you some idea of the benefits of lev over other insulins - people's experiences with their cats. You might find it interesting and/or helpful.
 
thank you Shelia,

when callie was dx she was 17 pounds she was down to 13.2 for a while and now is 14 pounds, she still gets ff classics and she gets 3 cans in a 24 hour period , what she don't eat in an hour I take away , at least 50% of the time she doesn't eat it all and I give her pure bites freeze dried chicken for testing treats ! I just checked her +4 and she was 208 thats the lowest she has been in a while .

I have been after callies vet for a week on a script for levemir and she promised me last Friday she would get back to me Monday morning I have called her twice today with no luck in speaking to her :-x

Shelia do you know the cost of a bottle of levemir ??? I just got callie a new bottle of prozinc and it cost me 145.00 , I know the pens are better but around 250 bucks right ??? so I thought if I get a vial to start with I will get the pens later !


thank you for your feed back :YMHUG:
 
Hi Marty,
If your vet gives you a scrip, your cheapest bet for the pens would be a Canadian pharmacy, I believe there is an info sticky in Supply Closet about doing that. It would take longer.
The vial would befine, I don't know how long a vial will last, but a 10ml vial is a little over 3 pens worth (pens are 3ml each) and they can last 9 months or longer. Since there is greater chance of contamination withthe vials, they may not be viable that long.

I'm sorry I don't know the cost of a vial. Let us knowwhatelse we can help with.
 
I did a quick search for "Levemir insulin to buy" and it looks like a vial is around $140 and the flexpens (5) are $115-160. You can call nearby pharmacies and ask their pricing. If you buy online, call and ask where the product is shipped from. One of those Canadian online places was shipping flexpens from Turkey a few years ago and it took 2-3 weeks. I got mine from Canada in 4-5 days. You don't want to order insulin when the weather is below freezing (even at night) or above about 60 degrees. You just never know how long a package will sit outside or in a truck in the sun.
 
good morning eveyone !!

I at last got the script from the vet I will start callie on her wednesday pm shot I'm doing this because I want to be with her at all times when I start and tomorrow I have a dr. appt and have to be a way for a few hours !! The vet wants me to start callie on 1.5 units and I'm not going to do that I will start her at .75 and go from there what do you think ???? my way of thinking is once its in its not coming out ( insulin ) so I want to start slow and go from there. I got callies levemir for $137.00 they tried to sell me syringes for 3.99 for 10 I said thats ok I get mine at walmart for 12.58 for 100 of them :smile:

callie and I want to thank you for your responces and look forward to getting to know all of you and your fur babies cat_pet_icon dancing_cat :YMHUG: have a great day !!
 
That seems like it was a decent price. You do know that lev is never rolled or shaken, right? Store it in the fridge on a lower shelf away from the vent of cold air from the freezer. Mine is in the center top shelf so I keep my lev below the meat tray on the second shelf. You don't want to store it in the door where it gets jarred every time the door opens and closes.

I think .75u is a safe start. Since you are starting on Weds evening, can you do a curve on the weekend? By then you should be able to see what the dose is doing for her. Good luck!

Is Callie a dilute tortie? I can't tell if she has peach on her face or not. Maybe just gray and white? I have two 4 year old dilute tories. That are real characters!
 
callie is calico, but she is grey , white and peach ! I was looking at posts yesterday and I think one of yours and callie look alot alike ;-) pretty cute if you ask me :lol:

I have done alot of reading on levemir and right now I keep callies prozinc in the box it came in , and I store it in a cup in the drawer in my frig, I will do the same with the levemir and I know not to mix it ;-)

tomorrow night I will give callie .75 of levemir and stay up with her all night and check her every 2 hours to see what its doing , sound like a good plan ??
 
Yeah, I don't think you need to stay up all night with her. Get a before bed check and maybe set the alarm and get a +6 or +8 (depending on when the before bed check was and how low she was) if you are worried, but I doubt you will see much action the first cycle. Now I DID see a big drop on Beau's third shot, but i would have caught his dip to low on a +4/before bed check.
 
When I switched Gandalf years ago (yes, it was over 4 years ago) I checked him every hour! That was not necessary, but I was nervous about it I guess. Evry few hours is more than enough. It will take at least 3 days probably to get reliable bgs that are showing what Levemir will do for Callie!
Glad you made the switch, you won't regret it.
 
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