Insulin Recommendations/Advice New Diabetic Cat

[Lisa & Nacho]

Changed Nacho's diet over the last two weeks and he had a follow up vet visit last night at a new vet who I like MUCH better... took a lot of time to speak with me about feline diabetes.

His BG level went from 524 to tested today at 418! Still not low but I was happy that he had an over 100 point drop with being stressed at the vet as well, which I guess causes their levels to rise naturally already.

This vet recommended home treatment of insulin and routine checks at the vet/possibly a curve for 12 hours if needed instead of my previous vet that recommended an almost 600-900 stay for 3-5 days to do a curve.

He talked about a few types of insulin - can anyone give me recommendations/advice on these below:

Novolin N (from walmart - he said most affordable)

Vetsulin (they have this at the vet)

Lantus (he mentioned is good but very expensive)

He mentioned starting on the Novolin-N because I did mention that cost is an issue but I do want to care for my boy.

Where do I find more information about the type to choose?

Does it also depend on what the cat takes to? I guess the vet will start him on a lower dose since I will do it at home after they teach me how.

Any suggestions or areas on this forum I can read more about each? Thank you!!

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

I posted this in your other thread so am repeating it here

Lantus is a MUCH better insulin than Novolin, and yes, it's incredibly expensive in the US.....which is why most of us are buying it from Canada!!

All the information is in this "Insulin from Canadian Pharmacies" post
The 5 pack of pens is the best deal because you'll be able to use every drop...it's like having 5 "mini-vials" instead of a big vial of 10ml .....with the vials, unless Nacho ended up on a high dose, you'll have to throw about half of it away when it stops being effective. Each pen contains 3ml and the whole box is good until the expiration date on the box (usually about 2 years away)

Most cats here end up on 1-2 units twice a day, so a 5 pack could last you 1-2 years....breaking that down to a "by month" cost, it's actually cheaper than Novolin! It would end up being about $8-$16/month

There's all kinds of information on using Lantus in the "Stickys" at the top of the Lantus Forum

 

[Lisa & Nacho]

I posted this in your other thread so am repeating it here

Lantus is a MUCH better insulin than Novolin, and yes, it's incredibly expensive in the US.....which is why most of us are buying it from Canada!!

All the information is in this "Insulin from Canadian Pharmacies" post
The 5 pack of pens is the best deal because you'll be able to use every drop...it's like having 5 "mini-vials" instead of a big vial of 10ml .....with the vials, unless Nacho ended up on a high dose, you'll have to throw about half of it away when it stops being effective. Each pen contains 3ml and the whole box is good until the expiration date on the box (usually about 2 years away)

Most cats here end up on 1-2 units twice a day, so a 5 pack could last you 1-2 years....breaking that down to a "by month" cost, it's actually cheaper than Novolin! It would end up being about $8-$16/month

There's all kinds of information on using Lantus in the "Stickys" at the top of the Lantus Forum

Thank you very much!! I was trying to update the other thread but I couldn't figure it out so I reposted to add the Vetsulin option also. This is great to know though!!