Lantus or Levemir?

[maggie&curly]

My cat Curly is currently on Humulin-N and is not responding well to it at all. He was on 3 units a day, then the vet took him down to 1.5 units a day thinking he was having rebound high sugars. He is still not gaining weight, still looks like a ragamuffin, and still pees way too much. I am thinking of asking the vet to switch him to Lantus or Levemir as I have been told by others on the board these seem to be better insulins for most cats. I am just not sure how to know which one to go with. Cost is an issue, and also there is the fact that I live alone and work on call so I am not always able to stick to the 12/12 shot schedule. There are times I have had to either skip a shot or push it back several hours in order to be able to give the second shot later that day. So I need to know if that would make either of these insulins a bad choice. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[D and Noisy]

I was just going to sign off when I saw your post. Hoping some Lev people stop in. I only used Lantus but think Lev may be better cost wise. They work the same so we use the same protocol for them.
I did use Humulin N and U and can say I love Lantus.
Are you blood glucose (BG) testing?
We can help you with the scheduling issue you mentioned -- can worry about that later, would be good to have your kitty feeling better ASAP.

 

[OptOut]

They are both good insulins and are dosed the same. Some believe that Levemir lasts a bit longer than Lantus, but it's not a proven fact. Whichever you go with, you will want to get the 5-pack of pens or cartridges, not the 10ml vial. Also, you can get them cheaper if you order from Canada, but it can take a couple of weeks to arrive.

 

[Pat+Raja+Shadow (GA)]

I have been using Levemir for my two since mid Sept after about 6 weeks on Vetsulin. I really like it very much. I do order it from Canada and the pens last somewhere between 5-6 weeks, maybe more. I do believe that Lantus might last longer than the recommended 28 days but I am not sure how long a duration people have gotten with it.
Both are longer acting insulins and kitties do very very well on both. If you go to Candian drugs online...you can ask your vet to fax the scrip to them...
http://www.canadadrugsonline.com

My Raja had lower numbers than her brother and she went OTJ on Dec. 5th. The longer acting insulin stays with them for a little more than 12 hours so there is a bit of an overlap and it really gives nice gradual curves that are better to work with. Wishing you all the best with your decisions and the switch.
Once you are ready to begin, please come back and post a "condo" each day with your kitty's name as we do here. Everyone is a big happy family here...whether you are on Lantus or Lev...please come back to us, k?
:razz: