CharlotteDenmark said:
But why is U 40 bad, my cat seems to react pretty good to it?
It is Caninsulin, and I think it is for dogs, and many cats who start on that later shift to Lantus or Levemir. The two latter are better for cats and long acting and more steady acting. You can stay with the Caninsulin for so long, but ask your vet if he/she has heard of Levemir and Lantus. He can call my large animal hospital in Göteborg where we go, since they are having hundreds of diabetic cat patients and all are on Lantus or Levemir.
Let's see first though what others here has to say about the Caninsulin.
Meanwhile, here is what I wrote in November on facebook (are you on facebook?, I'd like to add you if ok)
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Life with a Diabetic
If a person brings in their 2 year old child to the hospital because the child seem sick, the hospital runs blood sample and urine sample tests. Of course the parents are worried sick that it is something serious and that the child will die. After a long wait the doctor comes out to the parents and say: I am sorry, your child suffer from .... diabetes. And he only give them ONE option and that is TREATMENT.
If a person brings in her cat to the hospital because the cat seem sick, the hospital runs blood sample and urine sample tests too. And of course the person is worried sick from all the waiting and that it is something serious. Also after a long wait the doctor comes out to the person and say: I am sorry, your cat suffer from .... diabetes. BUT he doesn't stop there, he continues with giving the person TWO options and the first is DEATH SENTENCE right there and then, or TREATMENT.
This is what happened to me and Simba when he was 10 and we found out he had diabetes in fall 2006, and since he is my kid I chosed TREATMENT of course.
Human diabetics in Sweden gets all their supplies for free, as insulin, syringens/pens, bloodsugar meter and more. Animal diabetics however have to pay the full price and no discounts. But I can live with that, it is my Simba and the only Simba I have.
This is the supply costs we have:
Insulin - Insulatard vial 184 kr/$24
Insulin - Lantus vial 394 kr/$51
Syringes - BD Microfine+Demi 100 pack 165,50 kr/$21.50
Blood sugar meter - Bayer Acsensia Contur 0kr/$0 - Thank you vet hospital
Blood b-ketone meter - Abbott Precision Xceed 0kr/$0 - Thank you Abbott Sweden
Ascensia Contour Microfill 50 blood test strips 362,50 kr/$50
Abbott Precision Xtra 10 blood b-ketone test strips 270,50 kr/$38
Urine testing - Keto-Diabur-Test 5000 50 urine test strips 173 kr/$24
Urinanalysis - Bayer Multistix 10 SG 100 urine test strips 371 kr/$58,56
The Insulatard insulin we used in the beginning, before the hospital was learning about the long term insulins Lantus and Levemir. Besides that they act different the price for Lantus is a huge difference than the price for the Insulatard - and it is insulin we use the most of! Simba's current dose is 5 IE BID and on that we use half a bottle of Lantus every month. Lantus doesn't last as many weeks as Insulatard did, Insulatard lasted for 6 weeks but Lantus for only 4 week.
So take the Lantus cost times 12, a year, that is 4728 kr/$657 for the insulin every year.
The other supply we really need so we can administer the insulin are syringes. They are less expensive than the insulin, and cost for a year 1986 kr/$276.
Now we come to the really expensive supplies and I simply fail to see how the manufactures can justify these high prices on so few strips. A home tester need many test strips, both blood test strips and urine test strips. There is different methods in taking the blood glucose tests. Some do it every morning, in the middle of the day and in the evening, and this they do EVERY day. Let's say they test 4 times a day, every day, 50 test strips won't last long, instead they will need 120. Others don't test every day, but does curves instead over 1 to 3 days. If one do that 50 strips will last. I have my own method to see how Simba's daily BID does function. I can do test at home and do it very seldom, but know from previous testing how he works with his food and insulin. Now I don't test him but govern him by going to the vet hospital and take a fructosamine blood sample every halfyear. When he had over 500 in fructosamine I knew his insulin dose was too low and I raised it to a comfy zone at 5 IE BID, which was just right for now he is in 360, which is very good regulated for a diabetic.
Another supply we have is the Keto-Diabur-Test 5000 which is a urine dip stick. It measures urine glucose level and a-ketone level. It DOES NOT measure the crucial b-ketone level, no matter what advice others give. Moreover it cleary state that in the information sheet that is in the box. To get into the biological technical stuff, the b-ketones are from the long fatty chain and they are so long they can't enter into the urine, but float around freely in the blood system.
The acetone or a-ketones that are what is measured in the urine, are the short fatty chain that has already been broken down.
The only thing that measure the crucial b-ketone level is the blood meter Blood b-ketone meter - Abbott Precision Xceed 0kr/$0. Abbott gave mine for free. I can understand that they can give the meter away for free, when they charge 270,50 kr/$38 for a pack of only 10 blood test strips!
The last supply we have is Urinanalysis - Bayer Multistix 10 SG 100 urine test strips for 371 kr/$58,56. This is the same as the vet hospital use for their urine analysis there. I have used it for screening at home, first learning what is normal on us all three, I, Gustav and Simba, so I can determin when it is not normal and something the vet hospital needs to check.
Through it all, since 2006, Simba is my hero. He is an expert on himself and he has been the teacher and I have been the student.
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There is hope Charlotte!
