Howdy - I'm new to the forum

[heatherNthelma]

Hi there, I am new to this forum and wanted to provide some background. I have 4 cat kids, three are under 5 years old; Mojo, Axle & Onyx, and one is 12; Thelma. Thelma has diabetes. She came to us from a friend of my sons, who was moving and could not take her along. We adopted her for my mother-in-law as a companion. At the time, she showed no symptoms of being diabetic. My MOL cared for her for 3 years until December 2011, when she could no longer live in her home. So Thelma came home to live with our three. At the time we took over Thelma's care, we noticed she had become very thin and frail. I immediatelly contacted our vet and made an emergency appointment. It was discovered then that Thelma was diabetic. We started her on Humulin N, but over several weeks of different doses and constant glucose monitoring by our vet, it was determined she was not responding to this tye of insulin. The doctor recomented a synthetic insulin and warned us that the cost was much higher. Our first script for Lantus was $125, second was $137, and just today I paid $152. This is what prompted my search for alternatives. I am hoping somewhere out there is someone with a similar circumstance and found a less costly alternative. I will do whatever is needed for my cats and Thelma is no different. She is a lovely, sweet girl and I want to provide her the quality of life she deserves. I'm just trying not to go broke in the process. I have looked all over the net for coupons, discount cards and even contacted the manufacturer to see if I could get some kind of help with the cost. Any information would be appreciated.

 

[MaryB & Chester]

Welcome!
I don't know if there's much to be done about the cost of Lantus. Somewhere around here someone had a coupon or savings card...Maybe they'll repost the link for you. I have heard that a vial of Lantus CAN last up toward 4-6 months if kept properly. I know they say to throw it out after a month but my vet told me that It will really last about 3 months and I've read a few references to up to six months. That can save a lot of money. There's evidence that Lantus can help some cats go into remission, as well, which would save money over the long haul as well.

A lot of us save money everywhere else. Home glucose testing saves a lot of money for vet visits/tests. Human BG meters work fine and can be much less expensive than the special pet meters. The Relion Confirm and Micro are available at Walmart for low cost and they have some of the most affordable test strips around. I lot of people here seem to use those. I use an Arkray Glucocard Vital that I bought online with 200 test strips for less than $50. Home testing may seem daunting, but it's really not hard with a little practice. The cats don't really mind it much, either - much better than any trip to the vet! My Chester already knows the phrase "Test & Treat" and he'll come running. Testing at home lets' me know that it's safe for me to give him his shot and it lets me run data curves at home instead of paying the vet for more tests. I just call her with his numbers and we adjust his dose from there.

There's no need for any special "diabetic" food. Any decent low-carb canned option is fine.
Here's a great link about diabetes on a budget:
Frugal Feline Diabetes
And a couple of links to food charts listing the nutritional breakdown (including carbs) of a number of commercial cat foods:
Binky's Canned Food Chart
Dr Pierson's Food Chart

Thank you for taking care of the sweet ol' girl!

 

[Denise & Honey]

hi Heather

we use lantus but are still on our first vial (opened October 2012). I got it from costco for $125 with a prescription card for Honey - funny having to put her dob down and say she doesn't have id.
If you go to the lantus web site, there's an option to get a coupon to use with the lantus pens - which are initially more expensive but last longer as the use-by date has a longer expiration.

I also save the money on the vet bills (no bg tests at the vet since first diagnosed), using the cheaper test strips with the Walmart Relion meters (Prime is the cheapest) and sticking with low carb non-prescription food, eg. Friskies classic pate is ok.

Welcome to the forum!
Denise

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

Welcome! Bless you for taking on and caring for your Thelma. The initial costs are expensive but Lantus is much more likely to lead you to regulation and maybe remission than Humulin. As others have said, you can feed wet low carb food inexpensively and test at home, eliminating expensive vet visits.

Let us know if you would like to know about our protocol of hometesting, wet low carb and the use of Lantus in cats. You might check out our Lantus support group. They have some stickies full of information at the top of their page: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewforum.php?f=9

 

[heatherNthelma]

Thank you all for the warm welcome and the much appreciated information[/b]. I have been on here all day reading everything. Thelma is doing wonderfully and we have a super vet here locally that doesn't charge me for the BG check and just did an IDEXX Fructonemine and reported the following day that her levels are perfect. So, she is doing quite well. I did find a discount card that I sent for that covers Lantus at Walmart so we will see what happens when I try to use it.

 

[Shelly/Boots]

Hello there,
Welcome and good for you for checking out all your options. Lantus is by far your best bet for stability in your
cat's diabetes and in the long run will save you money. The issue with Lantus expiration is the sterility more than the potency.
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/conten ... 5.full.pdf (3rd page explains)

 

[Wendy&Tiggy(GA)]

Its great that you adopted Thelma and are taking care of her! In my experience, Lantus has a longer shelf life than the bottle implies. I have seen numerous references to it lasting six months if you handle it right... keep it in the fridge (not the door though), dont roll or shake it. It should be clear - no cloudyness or flakes or anything.

I have two diabetic cats and they share the same vial so I do twice a many draws a day from it as people with one cat. My last vial lasted me 4 months. I replaced it only when I suspected it had gone bad based on my cats blood glucose levels , however the new vial did exactly the same to their levels so I now know the old vial was fine!. I suspect I could well have gotten six months out of it.

Not sure where you live, but some people here order their insulin from Canadian pharmacies which are cheaper. I am Canadian and I get a 10ml vial for $70 or 5*3ml Solostar pens for $99. Some pharmacies will ship if you are close enough to the border (it needs to stay cold so cant ship far).

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

Ordering from a Canadian Pharmacy is much cheaper. But I also recommend that you also ask your vet for a prescription for the pens instead of a vial. The initial cost is higher than a vial, however you get 5 pens. You should be able to use almost every drop in each pen before it becomes ineffective. Depending on your dose, one package of pens could be enough insulin for almost a year.