Jester was just diagnosed four hours ago

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shelaghc

shelaghc

Member Since 2017
Hi

I'm Shelagh and I have three cats - Jester, Bastian, and Sage.

Jester is my oldest and the only one I've had since he was a kitten - he's twelve years old now.

Trying very hard to hold it together for him. I've been mostly unemployed for several years now and am currently pretty poor. I literally had to go price shopping because I couldn't afford the price tag for our regular vet just for the visit and blood tests.

Jester's blood sugar is in the 400s right now and we have an appointment tomorrow to see about getting the insulin and syringes - still don't know how I'm going to pay the $160 for them on top of the visit.

About the only relief I had was that there were no ketones in his urine.

It's hard enough to cope with a new normal, but to have to beg for help from a vet's office to save your baby's life is horrible.

Thank you all for letting me vent.
 
So sorry about the diagnosis.... We are here if you have questions. We all can relate to how scary it is in the beginning.
 
If your vet prescribes either Lantus or Levemir, ask for a prescription for the pens instead of a vial. You may be able to purchase 1 pen at a time from the pharmacy. Also, with pens, you will not be wasting money and insulin. You will not be able to use all of the insulin in a vial of these two types of insulin before it becomes ineffective. With the pens you will be able to use almost every drop.
 
Welcome Shelagh, Jester, Bastian, and Sage!
Venting is totally allowed! Take a look at the link Sharon provided and if something isn't on there, come make a post on Main Health forum and ask :)
 
Welcome! And I know the pain of financially being unable to get what kind of care you want for your kitty. I'm sorry you've had to go through this but it can be managed! Take the advice of the people here as they know so much and I can say they for sure know their stuff!
A tip:: cvs or Walmart or any other store with health things do usually sell a basic glucose meter and budget friendly strips to go with!
 
A friend, who had a diabetic kitty, is mailing me a glucose meter along with a batch of syringes and some expired test strips that she said I could use just for practice.
My appointment with the vet for managing Jester's diabetes is tomorrow morning. I don't think that's enough time to apply for any of those financial aid programs, unfortunately.
 
shelaghc said:
A friend, who had a diabetic kitty, is mailing me a glucose meter along with a batch of syringes and some expired test strips that she said I could use just for practice.
My appointment with the vet for managing Jester's diabetes is tomorrow morning. I don't think that's enough time to apply for any of those financial aid programs, unfortunately.
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One insulin that's more economical to use is Vetsulin (called Caninsulin outside the US). There's a forum on here for it and many experienced people who have used it and can help.
 
Kris & Teasel said:
One insulin that's more economical to use is Vetsulin (called Caninsulin outside the US).
Click to expand...
When comparing price just note that Vetsilin/Caninsulin is a U40 insulin while the human Levemir and Lantus are U100 insulin. That means that a 10 ml vial of Vetsulin/Caninsulin only contains 400 units of insulin compared to the 1000 units in a 10 ml vial of Lantus/Levemir
 
Since my initial post, some amazing things have happened.

Between family and friends, I've received gifts totaling $450 - including two gift cards for Amazon to help with low/no carb foods.

But the astonishing news was from my vet and I cry every time I think about it.

He's waiving all costs - office visits, insulin, syringes, testing - everything.

I offered to do clerical work in exchange and even give him whatever money I had with me. He declined.

All he said was once things were better for me financially that I could give him whatever I could afford.

He did say that I need to be prepared in case Jester isn't out of the woods. Apparently there's still a chance ketones could show up in his urine. And he said the thousands of dollars it could cost from a vet hospital that offers the treatment are no guarantee he'd survive.

But for now all I need to do is learn how to take care of my baby and take him to his checkups.
 
shelaghc said:
Since my initial post, some amazing things have happened.

Between family and friends, I've received gifts totaling $450 - including two gift cards for Amazon to help with low/no carb foods.

But the astonishing news was from my vet and I cry every time I think about it.

He's waiving all costs - office visits, insulin, syringes, testing - everything.

I offered to do clerical work in exchange and even give him whatever money I had with me. He declined.

All he said was once things were better for me financially that I could give him whatever I could afford.

He did say that I need to be prepared in case Jester isn't out of the woods. Apparently there's still a chance ketones could show up in his urine. And he said the thousands of dollars it could cost from a vet hospital that offers the treatment are no guarantee he'd survive.

But for now all I need to do is learn how to take care of my baby and take him to his checkups.
Click to expand...
Wow what a blessing. You must have good karma on your side, and I'm sure you will pay it forward when you can.

And as before if you need help and have questions we are here for you
 
shelaghc said:
Since my initial post, some amazing things have happened.

Between family and friends, I've received gifts totaling $450 - including two gift cards for Amazon to help with low/no carb foods.

But the astonishing news was from my vet and I cry every time I think about it.

He's waiving all costs - office visits, insulin, syringes, testing - everything.

I offered to do clerical work in exchange and even give him whatever money I had with me. He declined.

All he said was once things were better for me financially that I could give him whatever I could afford.

He did say that I need to be prepared in case Jester isn't out of the woods. Apparently there's still a chance ketones could show up in his urine. And he said the thousands of dollars it could cost from a vet hospital that offers the treatment are no guarantee he'd survive.

But for now all I need to do is learn how to take care of my baby and take him to his checkups.
Click to expand...
It's great that friends and family are helping you, and how awesome of your vet to waive his costs!!!
If you have any questions, just post for help!:):):)
 
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