Help with diabe supplies

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Angel-007

Member Since 2015
Hi,
About 3 weeks agomy cat was diagnosed with diabetes then diabetec ketosis. He's been hospitalized since last Thursday and costs are mounting. How do you deal with the expenses of Insulin,diabetec food etc one bag of cat food was 35.00 for a 6 pound bag.
I've looked on line for agencys however the I haven't had any luck finding one which helps work people who are employed
 
Once your kitty returns home, it will be very helpful and inexpensive to test for ketones at home. You can buy inexpensive ketones strips anywhere diabetic supplies are sold or stores like Walmart and Target.

Home testing your cat's BG (blood glucose) levels is very important and will ensure the correct dose of insulin has been given. Expert members here at FDMB will be able to guide you. Plus, you'll spare yourself considerable time and money running back and forth to the vet to check BG levels. The BG curve, something many vets try to push to do at the vet, can be done at home. Also, with home testing, you'll get more accurate BG #'s than you would at the vet since vet BG #'s tend to be higher, especially with a stressed cat.

As Larry mentioned, a lot of us use Walmart's ReliOn Micro or Confirm human glucomters and strips. They are inexpensive compared to pet-specific glucometers and strips. Your vet may push you to buy a pet glucometer but there's no need for one. We have an excellent glucometer chart you can show your vet if there's ever an issue: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oI_34_EgqeKdpyttFW0oLoG1mbw16IkATAWHhoQD2JU/pub

Plus, the chart will be a good reference for you to have on hand when you give insulin.

Has your cat been hospitalized since yesterday or Thursday of last week?

Welcome and glad you found us. You'll be in good hands with FDMB.
 
Welcome to FDMB, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.
- Home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!). This saves you the cost of going to the vet for curves and done regularly, removes the need for a fructosamine test.
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as many Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet. Food changes should be gradual to avoid GI upsets - 20-25% different food each day until switched. There are 2 low carb, dry, over the counter foods in the US - Evo Cat and Kitten dry found at pet specialty stores and Young Again 0 Carb found online.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir. No insulin lasts 24 hours in the cat, so giving it every 12 hours is optimal for control.
 
Larry and Kitties said:
First there is not need for special diabetic cat food. Most of us here just feed low-carb, commercial cat food. That is actually better that diabetic dry food. For a listing:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/shortcut-shopping-list-all-8-or-less-updated.117688/
What insulin are you using?
A lot of use here us a human BG meter:
WalMart ReliOn Confirm or Confirm Micro, aka Glucocard 01 or 01 Mini from American Diabetes Warehouse
Click to expand...
I'm using Humlin...its several hundred dollars and its what the vrt recommended. I'm feeding him Purina DM dry n wetfood.
 
BJM said:
Welcome to FDMB, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.
- Home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!). This saves you the cost of going to the vet for curves and done regularly, removes the need for a fructosamine test.
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as many Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet. Food changes should be gradual to avoid GI upsets - 20-25% different food each day until switched. There are 2 low carb, dry, over the counter foods in the US - Evo Cat and Kitten dry found at pet specialty stores and Young Again 0 Carb found online.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir. No insulin lasts 24 hours in the cat, so giving it every 12 hours is optimal for control.
Click to expand...
Hi,
Thank you for responding. I will seek out the dry food you mentioned. He is on Humlin insulin twice daily...it's very expensive,several hundred dollars.
 
Where do you live? Humulin NPH is fairly cheap in the continental US.
 
Dry food is not recommended for diabetic cats. Please see the links we gave you above. Diabetic cats need wet food in their diets.

Humulin/Novolin is cheap to purchase in the U.S. They are short-acting and fast-acting so at most, your cat may get up to 6 to 8 hours of benefit, not 12 hours. IT can be quite harsh on cats.
 
Humulin is Eli Lilly's trade name for a family of Recombinant DNA origin insulins. They include N (sometimes called NPH), and R (very fast actions) and mixture of the two. Only N/NPH is OK, but not that good, for cats.
Novolin is Novo Nordisk's trade name for a family of Recombinant DNA origin insulins. They include N (sometimes called NPH), and R (very fast actions) and mixture of the two. Only N/NPH is OK, but not that good, for cats.
Novo Nordisk's Novolin insulin is typically less expensive that Eli Lilly's Humilin
Walmart also the same insulin under there house brand of Relion and it less expensive than Humulin and Novolin
Enter you location i the following to find prices near you
http://www.goodrx.com/novolin-n
 
I buy lancets off eBay, 300 for $10 delivered, test strips from Amazon, 300 for $50 or $25 for 50, syringes from ADW diabetes, I bought 600 for $110, and Friskies Pate food 48 cans for $25 from costco, and lantus insulin from a canadian pharmacy, 1000units for $150 shipped. Shopping around is basically required with FD but it's manageable, doing all this I save literally thousands on supplies over the year.
 
Angel-007 said:
The vet said I could use the dry food. I didn't know it was harsh. Where I live it's 400.00
Click to expand...

This link many of us use is helpful in explaining why feeding dry food for cats isn't good: http://catinfo.org

Many vets are unfortunately unfamiliar with feline diabetes, diets and insulins. That's why we have wonderful FDMB. There are lots of members here with tons of knowledge and experience in managing feline diabetes.

As Larry and Kitties pointed out, you can buy Novolin N at Walmart under their ReliOn brand but it isn't the best insulin for cats. Last time I checked, the price was under $25 for a vial. It is the same as Humulin, just under a different manufacturer. Humulin is indeed more expensive simply because it is sold by another manufacturer.

Yes, Humulin can be quite harsh on a cat. To get optimum benefit, you'd likely have to give it every 8 hours instead of 12 hours if your cat is bouncing a lot, which is common with Novolin and Humulin.
 
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Add any other text, such as
your name,
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Thanks a million.
As I write this I am very sad. His levels dropped last night & he wouldn't...he had a seizure... so I took him to the emergency vet. They gave hin medcine & feed hin tuna. The MD recommends tranferring him to another vet on Sunday because my normal vet is closed today.
 
@Angel-007, I am very sorry to hear about your kitty. How old is he and what is his name? Does your kitty have other medical conditions?

Were you able to get into to another vet today? How is your kitty today? Keep us posted, please.
 
So sorry to hear about your kitty. DKA is a pretty expensive illness to treat, and takes some time to recover from. The best way to keep your cat from having more complications from it is to home test the blood sugar. This will save you $ and vet visits, as you'll be able to spot and respond to problems right away. It's not difficult, and the supplies to home test will cost about $30 only to get started. See if your vet is able to show you how, otherwise, we can show you here through videos.
 
Angel-007 said:
I'm feeding him Purina DM dry n wetfood.
Click to expand...

Hi Angel,

I'm very sorry to hear about the tough time your little kitty's having at the moment. I'm glad you've found FDMB. We'll do everything we can to help you both. :)

I see that you're feeding some dry food. If you decide to switch to wet low-carb food only, I recommend strongly that you don't do this change until you are home testing your kitty's blood glucose. Diet changes can result in blood glucose levels going lower. If a kitty is on insulin this may mean that his dose needs reducing as his carbohydrate intake gets less. Home testing will allow you to keep tabs on any lowering of your kitty's blood glucose levels during a food change, and that will keep him safe because you will be able to tell if his insulin dose needs to be reduced during the transition.

Please ask as many questions as you need, both here and at your vet's, especially if you're not sure about anything. Has your vet given you instructions on when to feed kitty to suit the insulin you're currently using? If you let us know what instructions the vet has given you, we can maybe add supportive information to help you through these early days of your kitty's diabetes treatment? And as you've already seen, we'll be able to share lots of tips on how to save money on supplies, etc.

I hope your kitty feels much better soon. Please keep us updated on his progress. The first while after diagnosis can be quite challenging: it's important to look after yourself as well as your kitty. If your kitty needs to stay at the vets for a little bit, try to get as much rest as you can while he's there.


Mogs
.
 
Cat Ma said:
@Angel-007, I am very sorry to hear about your kitty. How old is he and what is his name? Does your kitty have other medical conditions?

Were you able to get into to another vet today? How is your kitty today? Keep us posted, please.
Click to expand...

Honey is his name. He is 10 years old and one month. The vet said since he glocuse levels were ok I could bring him home. She said do not give him insulun or sub Q fluids.

He will not eat. I brought the fancy feast food and tuna since the vet feed it to him last night. He does not have any other medical conditions..thank goodness.

He walks different than usual..thw vettech said he has diabetec neuropathy which causes him to walk differently. She also said he won't be able to jump on things anymore..counters etc.

Tomorrow, I'm taking off work to take him to the normalvet.

What type of glucose meter is good? Do I get one for animals or humans?
 
Hi Angel,

Thanks for the update. Honey is a perfect name for your little sugar cat. I'm sorry to hear he's not eating properly. I know how worrying that is. :bighug: I am sure he is glad to be at home with you right now.

What sort of number range is Honey's blood glucose in at the moment? And did the emergency vet test him for ketones?
.
 
If your cat had ketones, it's actually important that he is able to get insulin, however, it has to be done safely and with frequent testing. It's not safe to give it right now if you aren't testing. As for eating, cats can have nausea with the ketones, so there are a couple medications that your vet can give you to help with nausea. You can also use a baby syringe to force feed wet food that you add a little water to. A cat really can't go for more than a day or two without eating, so it helps to do the syringe feeding. It will help him get stronger so he can eat on his own.

Human glucometers are fine, you can pick up the relion from walmart or the Up&Up from target. Both have very cheap strips.
 
Hi again, Angel.

I'm in the UK and it's very late this side of the Atlantic. I need to give you some info now before I sign off.

When you take Honey to the vet tomorrow:

1. Get him tested for ketones.

2. Get them to check his blood glucose level and make a note of the number.

3. Let the vet know everything you can about Honey's behaviour around food (no interest, sniffs but won't eat, licks a bit then leaves it, tries to eat a but but then starts unusual lip licking - anything like this can indicate nausea). It is vital that cats don't go very long without food because of the way their metabolisms work. If you see signs of nausea ask your vet for anti-nausea meds (e.g. generic ondansetron (not Zofran, the branded version, which is more expensive) and possibly an appetite stimulant e.g. cyproheptadine. You need to get to the root of what is putting Honey off his food.

4. It is unclear what Honey's status is insulin-wise at the moment because we need more information. However, it is important for you to know that not having enough food and not having enough insulin puts Honey at risk of going into DKA again. You really need to discuss this with your vet tomorrow and get detailed advice on exactly what to do about insulin while Honey continues to have appetite problems (it may be necessary to give token doses but you need to get veterinary advice on this A.S.A.P.)

The test strips for veterinary meters are much more expensive than strips for human meters so they're much more expensive to run. Many FDMB US members use the Relion Micro and Relion Confirm human meters. They're available from Walmart and the test strips are reasonably priced. (Note: human meters give lower numbers than the pet meters, but through use of a cat-specific BG reference range human meters are perfectly adequate for home BG monitoring of feline diabetics.)

Diabetic neuropathy is treatable with daily B12 methylcobalamin oral supplementation. Vitacost B12 methylcobalamin and Zobaline are diabetic-friendly supplements and are available online. Here is a video to show you what a difference methylcobalamin supplementation can make to a diabetic cat.

 
Critter Mom said:
Hi Angel,

Thanks for the update. Honey is a perfect name for your little sugar cat. I'm sorry to hear he's not eating properly. I know how worrying that is. :bighug: I am sure he is glad to be at home with you right now.

What sort of number range is Honey's blood glucose in at the moment? And did the emergency vet test him for ketones?
.
Click to expand...
I don't know hos glucose levels now. At 2:30 pm at the vet it was 330. I'm going to buy a glucose monitor so I can check his levels.
I am happy he's home with me!

My regular vet called. She recommended an abdominal ultrasound on Tuesday to see if there is an underlying issue why he won't eat.

This is so scary. I've read articles that diabetes can be managed but we are having a hard time. I am reading as much I can to educate myself however I am overwhelmed.
 
Great for the no ketones! How are his litterbox habits? Diarrhea or straining issues? Has he gone to the litterbox in the past few days?
 
That's good news about no ketones and no litter box issues!

There's a lot to learn here and when I was starting out, I felt so overwhelmed. But it will get easier with guidance from members here!

Is Honey drinking water on her own? It is very important that Honey eat and stay hydrated. If she's not eating on her own, force feed her via a syringe. When CJ wasn't eating, I forced down Wellness (grain-free).

If not drinking on her own, force down unflavored pedialyte (found in the baby section of grocery stores, chain stores, etc).

You can check for dehydration by pulling on Honey's nape (her neck). If it "tents up" and stays that way, she is dehydrated. Another sign of dehydration is checking her gums. Tacky gums is a sign of dehydration.

Honey is young and has a lot of lives left. You have made the right decision by being here at FDMB. Keep us posted.
 
Regarding the cost of the insulin (or other meds your cat might need), you can print out a couple of prescription discount cards, like this one: http://unarxcard.com/create-card.php Bring them with you to a participating pharmacy (we use CVS) and sometimes it gets you a nice discount. We save $75 off our cat's desmopressin. As Larry mentioned above, you can compare prices at different pharmacies and then use these cards on top of that to make it cheaper. It may not always give you a discount but it's worth a shot.
 
SpecklesandMe said:
Regarding the cost of the insulin (or other meds your cat might need), you can print out a couple of prescription discount cards, like this one: http://unarxcard.com/create-card.php Bring them with you to a participating pharmacy (we use CVS) and sometimes it gets you a nice discount. We save $75 off our cat's desmopressin. As Larry mentioned above, you can compare prices at different pharmacies and then use these cards on top of that to make it cheaper. It may not always give you a discount but it's worth a shot.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much. I appreciate your advice.
Cat Ma said:
That's good news about no ketones and no litter box issues!

There's a lot to learn here and when I was starting out, I felt so overwhelmed. But it will get easier with guidance from members here!

Is Honey drinking water on her own? It is very important that Honey eat and stay hydrated. If she's not eating on her own, force feed her via a syringe. When CJ wasn't eating, I forced down Wellness (grain-free).

If not drinking on her own, force down unflavored pedialyte (found in the baby section of grocery stores, chain stores, etc).

You can check for dehydration by pulling on Honey's nape (her neck). If it "tents up" and stays that way, she is dehydrated. Another sign of dehydration is checking her gums. Tacky gums is a sign of dehydration.

Honey is young and has a lot of lives left. You have made the right decision by being here at FDMB. Keep us posted.
Click to expand...
Critter Mom said:
Hi again, Angel.

I'm in the UK and it's very late this side of the Atlantic. I need to give you some info now before I sign off.

When you take Honey to the vet tomorrow:

1. Get him tested for ketones.

2. Get them to check his blood glucose level and make a note of the number.

3. Let the vet know everything you can about Honey's behaviour around food (no interest, sniffs but won't eat, licks a bit then leaves it, tries to eat a but but then starts unusual lip licking - anything like this can indicate nausea). It is vital that cats don't go very long without food because of the way their metabolisms work. If you see signs of nausea ask your vet for anti-nausea meds (e.g. generic ondansetron (not Zofran, the branded version, which is more expensive) and possibly an appetite stimulant e.g. cyproheptadine. You need to get to the root of what is putting Honey off his food.

4. It is unclear what Honey's status is insulin-wise at the moment because we need more information. However, it is important for you to know that not having enough food and not having enough insulin puts Honey at risk of going into DKA again. You really need to discuss this with your vet tomorrow and get detailed advice on exactly what to do about insulin while Honey continues to have appetite problems (it may be necessary to give token doses but you need to get veterinary advice on this A.S.A.P.)

The test strips for veterinary meters are much more expensive than strips for human meters so they're much more expensive to run. Many FDMB US members use the Relion Micro and Relion Confirm human meters. They're available from Walmart and the test strips are reasonably priced. (Note: human meters give lower numbers than the pet meters, but through use of a cat-specific BG reference range human meters are perfectly adequate for home BG monitoring of feline diabetics.)

Diabetic neuropathy is treatable with daily B12 methylcobalamin oral supplementation. Vitacost B12 methylcobalamin and Zobaline are diabetic-friendly supplements and are available online. Here is a video to show you what a difference methylcobalamin supplementation can make to a diabetic cat.

Click to expand...
 
Angel-007 said:
Thank you very much. I appreciate your advice.
Click to expand...
Hi,
You'll see this in the morning when you log on. He was tested for ketones...and it was negative.

He has no interest in eating or drinking.

He ate a little on Sunday 12 a.m. On Monday about 10:00 a.m. the Dr showed me how to feed him with a syringe. By 5:00 p.m. he was vomiting.

Today, his sonogram revealed inflammation(kidney & tummy lining..he may have IBD) Dr. Gave him antinaseu & probotic injections. She also gave me Science Diet ID canned food & medcine to give him @ home. I also give him IV fluids.

Dr tests his blood glucose...its about 178 now. He cannot have insulin if he's not eTing.
 
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