Hello...New to site...Looking for help for Alvin

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Clarisse

Member Since 2016
Hello All,

My cat Alvin was just diagnosed yesterday with feline diabetes. He's 11 years old. I'm new to the site and this is the first post/thread I've done. I'm looking through this to educate myself on how to help Alvin. The vet gave me a prescription for Lantus (generic name I was told is Glargine). First on my list is to find the best "cost effective" place to fill his prescription tonight, looking for info on diet changes to do, home testing kits (the vet recommended Alpha Trak II). My head is spinning right now just to get organized. I need to get the prescription asap and plan to go back to the vet office tomorrow to be shown how to administer it. Sorry for the rambling but I'm sure you all know the feeling! I'm also going to familiarize myself with the site tonight. Thank you!!!
 
Hi Clarisse, and welcome to you and Alvin.

You've found a great place to learn about feline diabetes and to get plenty of support with all manner of practical aspects of its treatment.

Clarisse said:
The vet gave me a prescription for Lantus (generic name I was told is Glargine). First on my list is to find the best "cost effective" place to fill his prescription tonight,
Click to expand...

Lantus is a very good insulin choice for feline diabetics. It gentle-acting and long-lasting. It is expensive in the US. Many members here order from Marks Marine Pharmacy in Canada. They order the Lantus pens and use a conventional U100 0.3ml syringe with half-unit markings to draw up the doses from the insulin cartridge in the pen. You'll find more info on how to order at the end of this thread:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/insulin-from-canadian-pharmacies.49608/page-2#post-1344374

It usually takes a few days for the order to arrive. If you need Lantus now perhaps you could find a local pharmacy where you can purchase a small vial (I think they may do a 3ml vial) or perhaps where they might sell you a single Lantus pen and you'd have the order in from Canada ready for use once the first purchase is used up.

The Alphatrak 2 veterinary meter is good and it's calibrated for animal blood but the strips are quite expensive. Most of the members here use human glucometers (and a cat-specific reference range for same). Walmart's Relion Confirm and Relion Micro meters are popular. The strips are much cheaper than the ones for the Alphatrak and they only require a small blood sample. You'll also need a supply of test strips for the meter, 28 or 29 gauge lancets for drawing the blood sample, and ketone test strips (e.g. Keto-diastix or Relion ketone strips). I believe that Walmart also do the U100 0.3ml syringes with the half-unit markings. Vaseline or neosporin ointment makes it easier to gather blood samples so are a good addition to the shopping list. And pick up an orange; it's helpful to do practice injections on one!

Many commercial foods are diabetic-friendly. Here is a thread with a list of foods for the US:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/shortcut-shopping-list-all-8-or-less-updated.117688/

(Locate the text 'Click to expand' in the opening post and click there to display the full list.)

Here are some helpful links on blood glucose and urine ketone testing to get you started:

Home testing tips and links

Testing and injecting tips (very helpful diagram here showing testing 'sweet spot' on the ear)

Are you testing kitty for ketones? If not, do it!

Tips for catching and testing urine

There are a lot of educational stickies where you can start learning about how Lantus works at the top of this board:

http://levehttp://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/

When you're ready to ask questions a good place to start is in the Feline Health section of the board. Here's a link:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/
There's a bit of a vertical learning curve at first so please give a shout out for any help you need. :)


Mogs
.
 
Hi Clarisse!
So glad you found your way to this site! These folks are the best.....I don't know what I would have done without their help and support so many years ago. There is a lot of info to sift through so don't be afraid to ask questions or ask for hand holding ;)

Even though my Houdini has been gone 2 years now I stilll visit regularly - after 9 years some habits are hard to break.

As I said Dr B is the best and he will work with you even if you decide to do things your own way. Feel free to call me anytime!
 
Critter Mom said:
Hi Clarisse, and welcome to you and Alvin.

You've found a great place to learn about feline diabetes and to get plenty of support with all manner of practical aspects of its treatment.



Lantus is a very good insulin choice for feline diabetics. It gentle-acting and long-lasting. It is expensive in the US. Many members here order from Marks Marine Pharmacy in Canada. They order the Lantus pens and use a conventional U100 0.3ml syringe with half-unit markings to draw up the doses from the insulin cartridge in the pen. You'll find more info on how to order at the end of this thread:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/insulin-from-canadian-pharmacies.49608/page-2#post-1344374

It usually takes a few days for the order to arrive. If you need Lantus now perhaps you could find a local pharmacy where you can purchase a small vial (I think they may do a 3ml vial) or perhaps where they might sell you a single Lantus pen and you'd have the order in from Canada ready for use once the first purchase is used up.

The Alphatrak 2 veterinary meter is good and it's calibrated for animal blood but the strips are quite expensive. Most of the members here use human glucometers (and a cat-specific reference range for same). Walmart's Relion Confirm and Relion Micro meters are popular. The strips are much cheaper than the ones for the Alphatrak and they only require a small blood sample. You'll also need a supply of test strips for the meter, 28 or 29 gauge lancets for drawing the blood sample, and ketone test strips (e.g. Keto-diastix or Relion ketone strips). I believe that Walmart also do the U100 0.3ml syringes with the half-unit markings. Vaseline or neosporin ointment makes it easier to gather blood samples so are a good addition to the shopping list. And pick up an orange; it's helpful to do practice injections on one!

Many commercial foods are diabetic-friendly. Here is a thread with a list of foods for the US:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/shortcut-shopping-list-all-8-or-less-updated.117688/

(Locate the text 'Click to expand' in the opening post and click there to display the full list.)

Here are some helpful links on blood glucose and urine ketone testing to get you started:

Home testing tips and links

Testing and injecting tips (very helpful diagram here showing testing 'sweet spot' on the ear)

Are you testing kitty for ketones? If not, do it!

Tips for catching and testing urine

There are a lot of educational stickies where you can start learning about how Lantus works at the top of this board:

http://levehttp://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/

When you're ready to ask questions a good place to start is in the Feline Health section of the board. Here's a link:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/
There's a bit of a vertical learning curve at first so please give a shout out for any help you need. :)


Mogs
.
Click to expand...

Hello Mogs! Thank you so, so much! This is very helpful. There definitely is a steep vertical learning curve, but I'm up for it! Having the support and wealth of information available on this site is amazing!!! Thank you again!
 
Gail & Houdini (GA) said:
Hi Clarisse!
So glad you found your way to this site! These folks are the best.....I don't know what I would have done without their help and support so many years ago. There is a lot of info to sift through so don't be afraid to ask questions or ask for hand holding ;)

Even though my Houdini has been gone 2 years now I stilll visit regularly - after 9 years some habits are hard to break.

As I said Dr B is the best and he will work with you even if you decide to do things your own way. Feel free to call me anytime!
Click to expand...

Thank you, Gail!!! I can't thank you and Dr. B for referring me to this site. Thank you again for taking the time to speak with me. At the end of our conversation I felt less stressed and overwhelmed...and more motivated!! Thank you again for your continued support!!! It's very much appreciated and welcomed!!!
 
Welcome we are here to help. I love my alphatrak meter, but the strips are pricy at about a dollar per strip. (Adwdiabetes.com is the cheapest supplier I've found for them, and I can usually find a discount code). If the cost is prohibitive for you then a human meter might work. There's also a new brand of pet meter that's cheaper but I don't remember the name of the brand.
 
JanetNJ said:
Welcome we are here to help. I love my alphatrak meter, but the strips are pricy at about a dollar per strip. (Adwdiabetes.com is the cheapest supplier I've found for them, and I can usually find a discount code). If the cost is prohibitive for you then a human meter might work. There's also a new brand of pet meter that's cheaper but I don't remember the name of the brand.
Click to expand...

Thank you Janet NJ. One of the vet techs at the vet office mentioned she uses iPet. I'm going to look into this as well.
 
BTW for lancets just get cheap ones... As long as they are 28 gauge it doesn't matter the brand.
 
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