My Lantus has lost the potent smell?

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Katlyn

Member Since 2012
I am asking the Lantus pros a question about my Lantus vial. It was opened on 12/8/12. It is still
Clear with no floaties, but it used to smell alot stronger. You all know the smell. Now it is very faint. Is this a bad sign in general? I am thinking about getting a new vial today because I cannot mess around with a former DKA cat. Even though I test her urine daily for ketones. Her last Fructosamine showed a bit of an increase in her average BG. When opening a new vial, is there an increased risk of Hypo because it is more potent? Luckily, She is monitored 24/7 and is never left alone. I do not do hometesting like I want to because of her asthma issues. She is doing very well overall for a cat that was supposed to be dead by March.. Thankyou.
 
Lantus is a solution. It doesn't lose potency unless the insulin is either old or has been compromised. You would know if it was toasty or had been mishandled if you had test data. The smell doesn't indicate anything. The only way you know if your insulin is any good is based on your cat's BG numbers.

Just as an FYI, there's a member here with an asthmatic cat. Her vet noted that very high or very low numbers can be related to triggering asthma symptoms. There's not a relationship to testing and testing tells you where your dose needs to be. Fructosamine tests tell you an average BG over 3 weeks. Do you really think the parent of an asthmatic, diabetic child wouldn't test their child's BG prior to giving a shot?
 
Good Morning Lynn,
It's more likely olfactory fatigue for your nose that makes it seems less smelly. Repeated smelling will make it
seem less.

Testing her yourself is a lot more beneficial to her health overall and keeps her the safest.
Your vial should be still good but it's the numbers that tell you when it's losing its potency.

Scritches to Kitten... :-D
 
Sienne and Gabby said:
Lantus is a solution. It doesn't lose potency unless the insulin is either old or has been compromised. You would know if it was toasty or had been mishandled if you had test data. The smell doesn't indicate anything. The only way you know if your insulin is any good is based on your cat's BG numbers.

Just as an FYI, there's a member here with an asthmatic cat. Her vet noted that very high or very low numbers can be related to triggering asthma symptoms. There's not a relationship to testing and testing tells you where your dose needs to be. Fructosamine tests tell you an average BG over 3 weeks. Do you really think the parent of an asthmatic, diabetic child wouldn't test their child's BG prior to giving a shot?
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I ask that you be respectful and more mindful in how you phrase your opinions. Kitten had asthma long time before diabetes. Kitten is receiving best care for her circumstances period. I have done an amazing job with her and I know how to care for her much better than anyone. Please do not respond to my questions in a rather nasty manner again. I did predict that u would. Being rude and pushy is not the way. I waa saying that testing brings on stress and massive coughing fits. That is a big relationship. Please, watch your words.
 
rhiannon and shadow said:
Good Morning Lynn,
It's more likely olfactory fatigue for your nose that makes it seems less smelly. Repeated smelling will make it
seem less.

Testing her yourself is a lot more beneficial to her health overall and keeps her the safest.
Your vial should be still good but it's the numbers that tell you when it's losing its potency.

Scritches to Kitten... :-D
Click to expand...
Hi Rhiannon. Nice to hear from you again. Some members need to take a cue from you in how to respond to members. Your post is respectful. Sienne's has me very upset. I do not appreciate her judgemental manner and will ignore her in the future. Sorry.. Venting.
 
Sorry if you took offense. The goal is to keep your cat safe in both domains. It's your choice what you do. My point was that testing gives you much greater control and knowledge of what's going on and could ultimately help to protect your cat from the undue stress of either high or low numbers. Unfortunately, urine glucose testing is inaccurate at the high and low ranges. Again, it's your choice and your cat.
 
I think you may be seeing a tone that isn't there.
Sienne is very informative and knows her stuff. I'm not reading any attitude. Testing is difficult at times but
absolutely necessary ... it's truly our feedback on how our cats are doing.
You have been a true rebel... :lol: ;-) :roll: and others don't know your story.

She also might not know of Kitten's prognosis.
How is Kitten doing with all the other issues... Is your vet adjusting her timeline?
 
Sienne and Gabby said:
Sorry if you took offense. The goal is to keep your cat safe in both domains. It's your choice what you do. My point was that testing gives you much greater control and knowledge of what's going on and could ultimately help to protect your cat from the undue stress of either high or low numbers. Unfortunately, urine glucose testing is inaccurate at the high and low ranges. Again, it's your choice and your cat.
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I do not think u are sorry.. Because you just did it again. You are preaching to the choir about the testing and urine strips. It is Diabetes 101. You seem to think that coughing fits are not as dangerous as extreme BG numbers. She does not cough otherwise unless an environmental aspect triggers it. You ssume you know the ins and outs of my cat's care and health and treatment when you absolutely do not. The hospital is amazed at how well she is doing thanks to ME and my constant care , research, tx and observations and extensive records. So, while u say it is my cat and my choice u are once again being judgemental. Not one word of positive support. Alienating members is not helpful and it would be wise to tweak your tone. But you posts and your choice. I am not engaging anymore i this topic. Thankyou but no thanks Sienne.
 
rhiannon and shadow said:
I think you may be seeing a tone that isn't there.
Sienne is very informative and knows her stuff. I'm not reading any attitude. Testing is difficult at times but
absolutely necessary ... it's truly our feedback on how our cats are doing.
You have been a true rebel... :lol: ;-) :roll: and others don't know your story.

She also might not know of Kitten's prognosis.
How is Kitten doing with all the other issues... Is your vet adjusting her timeline?
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Rhiannon... I respectfully disagree about the tone. Her info is in her profile for others to read. My point is that people so not know the whole picture. I was actually very hesitant to post my question because I knew I would get a post from a certain member pushing the home testing with no regard to my input as the caregiver. Most posts like yours are very supportive and encouraging without the pushiness. Kitten's coughing is mostly under control thanks to the Atopica and I have increased her inhalers. She just had extensive urinalysis and bloodwork and testing again. Her numbers are all good except for the ionized calcium which is just above normal now. That is not good as it causes the tumors. She is overall happy and playing and grooming quite a bit. I am lucky that I can tend to her around the clock. The IM is saying the max is two years which is better than the 3 months she got in December. Kitten's quality of life is very important as the oncologist says 6 mos to a year thanks to ionized calcium. I email regularly with a member with an asthmatic kitty and we trade notes. Her cat refuses inhalers and she was bullied on one board. My cat accepts it now but hates the ear pricks with a passion. This is her temperment. Im sure I could make her but quality of life is important. No issues at all wih hypo. She is Alert and acting normally most the time. Hope your Shadow is doing well and on his way to OTJ.
 
Whether you accept an apology is again, up to you. I hope I answered the question you posted about.

Since you do seem to take exception to any information I am able to provide and since I don't know what your baseline of information is, I will gladly take my leave.
 
I didn't see any undue tone coming from Sienne, either. She was simply stating the obvious, and has been here for a very long time, and has helped a whole lot of people, myself included. Hometesting is extremely beneficial to Kitten, and would help you maintain her health at all hours of the day, and would also help you see a potential mishap like a falling # or #s. If you saw that, you would know what to do to help Kitten get back to normal. In the beginning, I took my cat, Blackie, to the vet on a weekly basis for several weeks. It got to the point where it got too costly for us, and through the help of someone on here, she came over to teach me how to hometest. I'm glad she did because the very next day after she was here, Blackie dropped down to 21. That was dangerous for her, and for any cat for that matter. Personally, I wouldn't want your cat to experience what Blackie, and many others have gone through. I highly recommend that you learn how to hometest as soon as possible.

When you do begin to hometest, the key is to keep calm while you're doing the procedure. The best thing to do is warm the ear first, and then gently insert the lancet (if you're not using the lancing device that is) at an angle. I have learned to only insert as little of the tip as possible into the ear. Once you're done collecting your blood sample, use Neosporin with Pain Relief on the wound so that it'll heal nicely. You'll want to poke in different areas along the area of the ear, similar to shooting in different areas on the body.

Hope that helps. :smile:
 
Am I missing something here (yet again?!!) = I have never noticed a smell from our vial of Lantus and I am super sensitive to most smells. Should I be checking for an odor?
 
I've never noticed a smell from my vial of Lantus either. I do get a smell if I draw too much insulin into the syringe and have to squirt some out or I give a fur shot. I will be interested to see what anyone else has to say.

Lynn, it looks like you have a lot to deal with taking care of Kitten. I think it's wonderful you have decided to do all you can to give her the best quality of life she can have.
 
carfurby said:
I've never noticed a smell from my vial of Lantus either. I do get a smell if I draw too much insulin into the syringe and have to squirt some out or I give a fur shot. I will be interested to see what anyone else has to say.

Lynn, it looks like you have a lot to deal with taking care of Kitten. I think it's wonderful you have decided to do all you can to give her the best quality of life she can have.
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Yes.... That is what I meant about the smell. My method is to squirt the excess out and that is when I smell it. I tried not to get it on my hands so Kitten would not smell it on me. I could really smell it with a furshot(twice). So, I decided to open up a new vial and the odor is not as potent as the first one in December. Even hubby said so and he has poor sense of smell. Thanks for your support! Kitten is good and has decided to move out of the bathroom and back to her bedroom. She was very angry after the last vet appt and went on strike. She is not used to so many vet appts. Chest xrays and such. The hospital deals well with Kitten but they all say she "hates" being there and is very "fesity". I let up on her inhalers and prn pills for a bit because she was so agitated. Back to normal but the bathroom has been converted into her private space with some new beds and the space tower is hers. This is her retreat. By the way.. The Lantus vial was $144 and change at Rite Aide with AAA discount. I cannot imagine paying that every month. So glad I found out on this board that the vials did last longer. Whew! Without the AAA, the price is $188. thanks again.
 
Sienne and Gabby said:
Whether you accept an apology is again, up to you. I hope I answered the question you posted about.

Since you do seem to take exception to any information I am able to provide and since I don't know what your baseline of information is, I will gladly take my leave.
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Thankyou for your apology. I freaked cuz you compared me to basically a responsible parent and well, that stung cuz ofcourse I want to hometest. I would not have bought all the supplies, watched videos, read all info, joined this board, practiced on my other cat and then Kitten. I can draw blood now thanks to trial and error( like diff size lancets) I even have a rice sock. Everytime Kitten is in a good and stable place, there is an issue. I think it is her Atopica giving her some GI tract issues which has caused her some serious pain. The pepcid helps but it is a serious matter. Or something else with the allergies. I am a responsible and good parent as everyone on here but ECID.
 
Are you giving a shot 2x/day? If so, would you please put the information on the spreadsheet so that the experts (Sienne, and others) can look at how Kitten's doing?

Remember, Lantus is a 12 hour insulin, meaning it needs to be administered every 12 hours in order for it to work properly, and help Kitten's #s. You may get bouncing, and perhaps a higher # or 2, however, just continue to give the shots, and they too will pass.

Kitten's already starting to look good. Keep up the excellent work!
 
Sienne and Gabby said:
Thank you.
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Sienne... I also wanted to let u know that I used to dry heave before the shots because of my fear of Hypo. I have worked with human Diabetics for over a decade and I know how BG fluctuates from seeing the numbers. This is why Kitten has to have a caregiver with her all the time. She has not been left alone since the Diabetes happened. I also have a baby monitor on her. I operate under the assumption that hypo will happen. I have the Hypo box and testing kit and instructions in her room. The carrier is by the bedroom door ready to go to the ER hosp 5 mins away. I am able to test her if needed. I am focusing on her tumors. I found out that there is a test only done at MSU that will tell me if it is cancer. Also, her diet needs tweaking and she needs an oncologist appt which is coming up. The tumors are predicted to kill her and I am focused on keeping them stagnant. I often wonder what will kill her first, the unregulated numbers or the tumors. She is very happy though. She groomed me for an hour today( she gets me while I am asleep). I am on a mission to learn and control her high calcium. I am not willing to just let the tumors grow as they please. She will be here next xmas. I will test her when she starts having alot of good days in a row. I wish I had a crystal ball.
 
Angela & Blackie & 8 Others said:
Are you giving a shot 2x/day? If so, would you please put the information on the spreadsheet so that the experts (Sienne, and others) can look at how Kitten's doing?

Remember, Lantus is a 12 hour insulin, meaning it needs to be administered every 12 hours in order for it to work properly, and help Kitten's #s. You may get bouncing, and perhaps a higher # or 2, however, just continue to give the shots, and they too will pass.

Kitten's already starting to look good. Keep up the excellent work!
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Hi. Yes.. Kitten is injected twice daily like clockwork. She is pretty good about getting her shots. If I hometest, she starts acting out during the injections requiring two people or risk of furshot if she jumps. That has happened.
 
Lynn -

You are not the average person who comes to FDMB. Your baseline of knowledge is different and, unfortunately, I had no means of knowing that. In addition, writing loses the nuance of face-to-face communication. What I was trying to communicate is that to respond to your original question regarding whether your insulin had lost potency, there are only two ways to know: the appearance of the insulin has changed (i.e., "floaties") or your cat's response to the insulin has changed. The only way to gauge the latter is with test data. If the information is not possible to obtain, your only option is to try new insulin.

I can appreciate your vigilance regarding the potential for a hypo. I wish testing was less stressful for Kitten. It would probably make things easier for you, too.
 
An update:I bought the new vial of Lantus and it does have a bit of " a smell" which the other one had lost completely. I think my first vial smelled so much when I first started, because I used to really roll the vial per my vet's instructions. Even though the urine strips are NOT the same as blood testing.. I could see within just a couple of days that her BG readings had dropped. If u do up to 4 tests a day everyday at different times u start to notice patterns. My Lantus had lost its potency. I am going to try to get a script for the pens today. My IM is not open to new ideas and I cannit afford a new vial every month or two.
 
There are some places that will sell individual pens. You will need to call around and see if you can find a place (e.g., some Sam's Clubs, Costco, Target or other pharmacy -- often a hospital outpatient pharmacy) that breaks up the boxes. Overall, a box of 5 pens is less expensive than the vial since you can use the pen almost to the last drop.

FWIW, over the years, I've noticed that sometimes there is a noticeable odor (that "bandaid" smell) to Lantus and other times, even with a new pen, I don't notice a smell.
 
Hi Lynn,

I'm sorry to hear that Kitten has asthma. I am the member who Sienne was referring to with the asthmatic cat. Kismet's asthma is also triggered by stress; in fact, he recently had an asthma attack when I brushed his teeth (which I do frequently) so I just never know what might set it off. He has never has an attack when I brushed before, but I am not going to stop brushing either. Fortunately, he has no qualms with testing. It was very difficult and stressful at first, but now it is second nature to both of us and a necessary evil. What Sienne was trying to explain is that there can be a correlation between extreme BGs and asthma attacks, at least in my cat. I've noticed that if he goes too low, or more often when he goes too high, the stress can trigger a flare. Every cat is different, though, and stress exhibits differently from cat to cat. It's a catch 22, the stress of testing can trigger asthma, but not testing and oscillating between extreme BGs can also trigger asthma! ohmygod_smile

I understand how stressful treating a dual diagnosis kitty is, which can really complicate treatment. I don't think Sienne meant any disrespect, she really is just trying to help. There are many members here that deal with multiple illnesses, and Sienne is one of our most knowledgeable members on feline health in general.

Many of us here with asthmatic cats have been able to successfully treat diabetes and home test. It sounds like you are doing the best you can, though, and you have to keep Kitten's other health issues in mind. It's wonderful that someone is around 24/7 to monitor her, and it sounds like you have got it under control to the best that you can. I wish I could be a stay at home Mamabean, but alas, it's not possible.

Personally, I find that the seriousness of the diabetes necessitates action that may not be the best thing for Kismet's asthma, but is necessary nonetheless because I am not around to monitor him all day. I've had to choose to put him at risk for stress (teeth brushing, testing, shooting, etc.) because the asthma isn't as potentially life threatening as diabetes, imo. If Kismet is in danger of hypo, a little discomfort is a necessary evil. The coughing will eventually subside, but there's no guarantee that he will bounce back from a hypo event. That's just my personal feelings about it, but you know your Kitten best and have to treat her according to what you think is most effective and appropriate.

I wish you and Kitten the best!
 
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