Concerned- Curly at vet

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maggie&curly

maggie&curly

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I took Curly in to the vet today because I finally had a little money and told them he had not been responding to the Humulin N. He has lost a pound in the last 19 days. They said he has no ketones but one kidney test came back higher than another and he is dehydrated so they are giving him fluids. I told her i wanted to switch insulins and she said it is hard to regulate a cat that is diabetic- I told her i had heard that it was hard to regulate them with humulin but had heard that lantus, levemir, or PZI was good. She said they would watch his blood sugar on the humulin today and maybe experiment with another one, glargine. She said it would be expensive, 150-200 dollars up front but would last a while. My problem is i was prepared to be able to pay for insulin but now it looks like his bill is going to be at least 400 dollars for the vet. I don't even really have that much- I dont know how i am going to come up with anything more for insulin. Any ideas? They don't take payments and I have to pick him up this afternoon so have no time to try to arrange payment assistance from anyone. This is taking my entire financial buffer i had built up for emergencies- I am not sure I will even have rent, but he needs to have an insulin that works! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
You want to be sure that they give you a prescription for glargine (Lantus cartridges). The vial is to big and you will end of wasting it. The script can be filled at any pharmacy. Talk to the pharmacist and see if they will sell you one cartridge instead of the 5 pack.

It is worth a try. If you get a prescription for the Lantus cartridges, send me a PM; and we'll see if we can help you get some insulin.

Good luck

Claudia
 
thanks- i will see what she does- I am also concerned that with my irregular work hours i wont be able to keep the strict control that the glargine requires- if i am unable to be there for every 12 hour shots would PZI be a better bet? I also worry about putting him into a hypo and being at work when it happens.
 
I have a left over unopened Lantus pen that I am willing to mail you for free. I also have some needles you could use with it if you'd like. Send me a PM-I'll check in later tonight to see if you want it. You'll need to give me your address. This is the kind that doesn't have to be refridgerated, so I assume I can just mail it in a box. It was Boomer's insulin and I can't say enough about Lantus. It got him OTJ in 5 months. It can be a miracle insulin. My Mom's cat when OTJ in one month after having crazy numbers on PZI.
 
Thats wonderful, thank you so much, that is very kind. I will know in a few hours if he has been switched yo that and will contact you if he has. THANK YOU!
 
maggie&curly said:
thanks- i will see what she does- I am also concerned that with my irregular work hours i wont be able to keep the strict control that the glargine requires- if i am unable to be there for every 12 hour shots would PZI be a better bet? I also worry about putting him into a hypo and being at work when it happens.
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My hours are irregular also, but I still am able to give Ricky his two shots a day. If you are not already doing so, please learn to hometest. By testing before every shot, you are able to fudge with the insulin schedule some. However, you still want to make sure that you do not give insulin less than 10 hours from the previous shot.
 
Thats good to know-- but what happens if his shot is going to be due and you have to work and its too early? Is skipping it and giving it late when you get home a really bad thing with this insulin or is it more or less like any other insulin where you try not to do that but if you can't avoid it its not the end of the world?
 
I can't speak for Lantus, but PZI/ProZinc is more flexible on the timing. Many prozinc users are able to get to tight regulation through shooting 3 times a day even (I am trying this right now).
 
The vet did agree to switch to Lantus. She didn't seem interested in PZI and in fact seemed to think that there was more going on than the insulin because he is not gaining weight and is dehydrated, although no ketones and no uti. She kept saying its very hard to regulate a cat but I have read enough here to know that its most likely he has just not been on the proper insuilin. So she said when I find a pharmacy she would call in the glargine-- can someone tell me how to have her call it in so i can get the cartridges rather than the vial? And tracy, I will pm you about that lantus pen. Thank you so much for that offer- this was over 400 dollars today and she wanted me to bring him back tomorrow for more fluids and another curve and regular insulin sliding scale. It would have been another 100 dollars which I don't have- I am now worried about my rent because this was so high. I would love to get him more fluids but I don't see the point of another curve on an insulin that he is clearly not responsive to, so I hope i made the right call having her give him subq fluids for tonight. She seemed very pessimistic- I think I want to have him see the other vet we saw before the next time we go in.
 
Read this link for info on Lantus.
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=151

Call the pharmacies and see where you can find the best price. You can use the info from the link above to tell the clerk what you want (cartridges). If you have a Costco or Sam's near you they will probably be the cheapest. You do not need to be a member to use the pharmacy. When I called the pharmacy to get the price (I used Costco for Levemir), I then asked them how the vet should write the rx, and then I gave that info to my vet.

Best,
Pam & Layla
 
Maggie,

I have 4 diabetic cats on Lantus. It is really quite forgiving on the time basis. An hour + or - does not seem to affect any of my guys too much.

Be sure that the vet writes the script for cartridges. You don't want the vial. Traci offered you a Lantus cartridge and some start up syringes. I can also help. I have a lot of Lantus on hand at the moment.

Let me know what you need. Would you be able to give subcutaneous fluids at home?

Also, unflavored Pedialytye works to help balnace the electrolytes. I mix it half and half with the normal water that you give Curly. You can oral syringe some pedialyte as well.

Hope this helps,

Claudia
 
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