? Getting insulin in UK

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barryho2000

barryho2000

Member Since 2021
My kitty is SAM, 11 years old. He was diagnosed diabetic at Jan 2021.

We are planning to immigrate from Hong Kong to Edinburgh at July this year,

I would like to ask:

Sam now is taking Caninsulin, is it a prescribed medicine in UK? How much did it cost?

Thank you.
 
I can't help you with the insulin prices in UK.

But I can help you with suggesting you ask your Hong Kong vet to put Sam on either Lantus or a Lantus biosimilar insulin. So you don't have to hassle with the butt backwards weird U.K insulin system for cats, because your prescription and use will already then be Lantus in Hong Kong and the U.K have to continue prescribe that for Sam in U.K then.


Then I can help you prepare Sam for his long flights as diabetic. You have to find an airline that #1 allows cabin seated cats, #2 then book a seat for Sam next to yours.
Water for Sam you bring on plastic bottle or how the airline approves. Along with fair sized plastic syringes to syringe water feed him so he keeps hydrated.
And then you buy kid diapers you can fold out at the bottom of the carrier so he can instant pee in them, and sets of diapers to carrier change with.
 
Have you flown with a cat before? Some airlines say one thing on the ground and then the "rules" change when you get on the plane. Air Canada is known for doing this.
 
The link below may help. Jenna and her cat Kitsu had a seven hour drive to the airport, west coast US to Toronto, a long layover and then across the pond to Ireland.
It's a long list of everything you never thought of, never thought possible, the worst and best in human beings. Bringing sharp objects into an airport is only the beginning but a few of us have done this. I've also seen security lose their mind over breast milk, you never know.

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...tty-mission-accomplished.196999/#post-2237148
 
barryho2000 said:
My kitty is SAM, 11 years old. He was diagnosed diabetic at Jan 2021.

We are planning to immigrate from Hong Kong to Edinburgh at July this year,

I would like to ask:

Sam now is taking Caninsulin, is it a prescribed medicine in UK? How much did it cost?

Thank you.
Click to expand...

Hello, waving from England!
I can check prices of Caninsulin later (just busy with stuff at the mo, sorry).

However, I feel bound to point out that it looks like your current Caninsulin dose is too high...
You've been skipping some insulin shots because the pre-shot number was too low to shoot. ...And, it looks like your kitty has dropped into hypo numbers on this dose; and that means the dose should be reduced immediately for safety's sake...

Are you having any issues with testing blood glucose? If so maybe we can make some suggestions about that that may make it easier for you.
But if you 'can' test then I'd suggest that - as a minimum - you test blood glucose before every insulin shot. ...The more information/data you can get 'before' you travel, the easier it will be to manage your kitty's blood glucose during the journey.

Back later...
 
Hi again @barryho2000

Caninsulin is still quite commonly used in the UK, with many vets still prescribing it.

Quite often it's possible to save money on insulin by getting a prescription from the vet and then using that prescription to buy the Caninsulin online. But 'how much' you can save by doing this will depend on how much insulin your vet is willing to prescribe, and on what they would charge in their own clinic if you bought it from them.

A prescription from the vet will typically cost around £15, give or take a few pounds (say between £13 - £18).

You can buy Caninsulin in 10ml vials, in mini vials, or in cartridges to use with a Vetpen. Quite a few people try to get their vet to prescribe a pack of 10 x 2.5ml vials, as this can work out cheaper than buying a single 10ml vial.
'Petdrugsonline' is a popular place to buy from. Currently a 10ml vial of Caninsulin is £21.79. A box of 10 x 2.5ml mini vials is £59.28.
The cost of chilled overnight postage is £5.99.
So, the cost of buying Caninsulin online will be the prescription cost + product cost + postage.

Here's the link to the Petdrugsonline Caninsulin page:
https://www.petdrugsonline.co.uk/search/go?asug=&w=Caninsulin

Eliz
 
Hi @Ann & Scatcats ,

I have discussed with Vet, unfortunately, they only provide Caninsulin.
UK allows Pet import by flight cargo only, for another route which was allowed pet in cabin (Hong Kong to France by Air France) is no longer allow pet in cabin due to Covid19.
Thank you for your information.

Hi @Noah & me (GA) ,

This is my first time to fly with pet. I am very worrying based on his health status.
Vet told us to put a towel with "Feliway" spray in the cage, then he will be more calm and comfortable during the flight.
Jenna's experience is very informative, thank you

Hi @Elizabeth and Bertie ,

Should I decrease 0.25u dose? His BG reading is not stable so I do not know should I change the dose.
I skipped BG test when Sam is super hungry and made him difficult to be caught, especially at the morning or I back home very late.. I know it is risky :(
Thank you for the costing information !!
 
This is obviously an incomplete list and repeats some things already said. It's more about the human factor than diabetes and dosing.
Get a small binder and print out everything from airline regulations to current national security regulations. No one wants to cause a disturbance in an airport so if you have their own laws and regulations in print just calmly ask to speak with whomever is in charge if someone is just guessing.
Covid has changed everything and there have been unconfirmed cases of a cat or dog carrying the virus. You're more likely to be abducted by aliens.
Someone along the way won't like cats or may have an allergy, that can't be helped. It can't be any worse that the adult behind you that keeps kicking your seat or a screaming baby. Let the flight attendants know what's going on and if it helps get some mommy/daddy time in the washroom with Sam. If he needs his shot on a long flight just wait for things to slow down and explain to the attendant why you're going to be in the washroom a bit longer than usual.
You'll never have enough piddle pads and they're not a security issue. Make sure you have enough bags to put the used ones in so you don't have to continually leave your seat.
Seating... If possible sit in the last row where the least amount of traffic will pass by and you're close to the washroom. Some airlines will have their seating plans on the internet, if possible book the emergency exit with an extra foot of legroom. Of course if they think you look old/frail/incompetent they may ask you to move.
It's not well known that upstairs in a 747 is NOT business/1st class. There aren't many passengers up there, it's nice and quiet. If you get a window seat up there the window seats have an extra foot of elbow room because of the slope of the ceiling/fuselage.
Seating plans on the internet can be different than a particular airline if they install an extra row or rows of seats.
If everything goes wrong and you get kicked off the plane in Toronto I can come get Sam for a night.
Do not even consider flying Ryanair.
 
When are you flying? Are you here yet? If so, how was the flight?
I brought mine to uk from Singapore pre-diabetes diagnosis, now he has been diagnosed, I have ruled out any future moves/travel…
Yes, inbound flights to UK always need the animal in the hold. If you could do into Europe on a carrier that allows incabin you could then travel to uk by car/ferry but I’m not sure if this isn’t more stressful.
Alternatively just break up the journey and have a short break in European country to enable the monitoring.
You can’t have things in thr carrier - for safety- apart from blankie , water bottle on door. No food , only in a bag outside carrier for when landed. No other drugs - sedatives etc. Feliway could help, but obv do a short but detailed bio of his needs to pin on outside of cage.
Either way, I advise getting a pet relocation company to help you with it all.. mine was in his carrier looong time , no diabetes at that stage though. I used Singapore Airlines, he was fine .. but I wouldn’t travel with him again unless he was in stable remission tbh.
 
I was thinking an indirect flight with Dubai transit etc but direct although longer probably better. With vets, they are not taken out of the carriers at all, even if they stop/ or when the land I’m prior to onward travel. Dogs are taken out for stretch etc, cats not.
 
Re: caninsulin - yes prescribed here, seems to be first line of treatment. You are on what my vets would say is a low dose. Can get it from vet - £20 let’s say for 2.5ml vial and prescription or can get from many online websites - but need to get prescription from vet first to send to the company. I’ve used a couple of different ones already : vetpen and cartridges from animed, 2.5ml vial from paw heads, vial from my vet directly also, syringes from several other sites, including in Europe.
 
I would ensure you a get a good sized carrier - perhaps one size up so there is plenty of room (mine was supplied by my animal travel company) and get him used to both the carrier and drinking from the water bottle before you go (it is like the ones used by rabbits they they need to lick the end to get a drip), not sure how his weeing is but he might well wee a lot? Obviously puppy pads are your friend . Mine didn’t wee at all .. held it in
 
You will also need Transfer of Residency forms to avoid VAT at uk side (for all your other stuff as well)
 
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