Lantus pen and the 28 day mark

[Taters and Kasey]

Does anyone really toss their cat's Lantus pen after 28 days? I am almost to the 28 day mark with Tater's first pen. But they are so so expensive! Also does anyone keep it in the fridge the whole time? When I draw out her dose I let it get to room temp but leaving the whole thing out for almost a month seems unsafe to me...

 

[Kris & Teasel]

Does anyone really toss their cat's Lantus pen after 28 days? I am almost to the 28 day mark with Tater's first pen. But they are so so expensive! Also does anyone keep it in the fridge the whole time? When I draw out her dose I let it get to room temp but leaving the whole thing out for almost a month seems unsafe to me...

It should last a lot longer than 28 days, regardless of what it says on the package. Keep it in the fridge. You don't need to get it to room temp. either. The amount of insulin you're injecting is small so temperature shouldn't be a problem.

How is Taters doing? What was the cause of her belly distension?

 

[Taters and Kasey]

Oh good. I didn't want to throw away good insulin and I had never heard of leaving insulin unrefrigerated before. Her belly was distended because she was eating more. So it was kind of like how kittens get a milk belly. She's looking much better now!

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

But they are so so expensive!

That's why most of us are buying our Lantus from Canada now! It's 1/3rd the price!!

Next time you need more, you might want to check into this "Buying insulin from Canadian Pharmacies" post

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

You should be able to use almost every drop of it. When I used the pens they would normally last about 2 months

 

[Larry and Kitties]

I had never heard of leaving insulin unrefrigerated before.

The package insert for Lantus includes:
16.2 storage
LANTUS should not be stored in the freezer and should not be allowed to freeze. Discard LANTUS if it has been frozen. Protect LANTUS from direct heat and light.

Storage conditions are summarized in the following table:
Not in-use (unopened) Refrigerated Not in-use (unopened) Room Temperature In-use (opened) (See Temperature Below)


3 mL SoloStar® disposable insulin device Until expiration date 28 days 28 days Room temperature only (Do not refrigerate)

10 mL Vial Until expiration date 28 days 28 days Refrigerated or room temperature

from:
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2007/021081s024lbl.pdf

I have used one vial of Lantus for over a year. I kept except when taken out to draw out the dose.
With my three cats I use up an entire pen in a little over a month

 

[Veronica & Babu-chiri]

For what I know is not the same refrigerated than freezed, the freezeeing does damage Lantus, but as long as is refrigerated and unopened the pen should be ok until the expiration date.

Once opened I think almos everyone uses it for more than the 28 days but they keep it refrigerated, I did usually took one pen out of the fridge and I leaved it at room temperature because Babu hated when insulin was cold and I never had any problem with it , but I did usually discarded the pen after a month, Insulin down here si much less expensive than in the US, so it was not such a big deal.

For what I know the reason that the pen says do not refrigerate after opened is because the shooting mechanism (which we do not use anyway) may get damaged with the cold, not the insulin itself

 

[Larry and Kitties]

I did usually took one pen out of the fridge and I leaved it at room temperature because Babu hated when insulin was cold and I never had any problem with it , but I did usually discarded the pen after a month, Insulin down here si much less expensive than in the US, so it was not such a big deal.

I doubt the insulin when injected would be cold unless you:
- Had a high dose of insulin like >10 units
and
- immediately injected the cat after drawing the cold insulin out of the pen/vial.

This is because the room temperature syringe would warm a small amount of insulin.