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Diane Turbide

Diane Turbide

Member Since 2022
My name is Diane, my fur-baby is Nala she is a 10-year-old Bangal. We live in Virginia Beach. Nala has been a very health cat. Recently, we noticed she was drink large amounts of water. She also started urinating outside of the litter box, it was at this point I discovered that her urine was sticky. I immediately made her a vet appointment thinking she might have diabetes-sadly I was correct. She was diagnosed with diabetes Monday, her glucose was 426 but she was extremely stressed at the time. I am at a complete loss and need help. I have read so much in the last two days I don’t know what to believe. I found this group on FB and feel so much better and hopeful. She was put on DM wet and dry. She did eat fancy feast with gravy and is a Temptation treats addict. So far she’s eating DM food but she doesn’t love it. No more Temptations. I did notice a big decrease in her thirst within 24 hours of being on the new food.

I have a prescription for Lantus U-100 insulin 100 units/ml 10 ml vial 1 unit every 12 hours after a meal. My vet told me that the prescription would be about $100 and would last me for six months. Well that wasn’t true I went to several pharmacies all of them were over $300. The companies coupon was declined as well as Good RX. According to the CVS and Walmart they are not valid for pets. I don’t know where to get this for her but I need to get it right away. I saw companies in Canada but am not sure if they are real or a scam. The price is very cheap. How do they prevent it from getting shaken on route? All the pharmacies told me vial had to be throw away after 28 days. I am willing to pay the $300 but would hate to throw away so much every 28 days. One pharmacy told me the vial had 50 doses with the current dose. Another told me 500. So confused.

Vet also told me I didn’t need a meter. I will be changing vets. I did pick up a meter today-not sure how it’s going to go. She loves to cuddle and sit on my lap but does not like to be held so I expecting it to be a challenge. Please help, this little girl brings me so much happiness and love and I am very scared for her.

If you managed to read all of this-thank you for hanging in there.

My main questions are:

Where can I buy Lantus at a reasonable price?

What is the shelf life of Lantus once opened?

What cat treats are low carb?

Any suggestions for the blood testing so we aren’t both traumatized
 
Hi there I am new to this also, my 10-year-old Siamese buddy Hendrick diagnosed last week Wed
As far as Lantus goes our vet was able to place an order for us via vetsource and the Lantus showed up at our door the next day. It was about $125.09 for the pen and $20 for syringes from vetsource. As far as the shelf life I have the same question -- on Lantus' site they say once it is opened, the pen should not be refrigerated and should be discarded in 28 days. But my vet said keep it in the fridge and that it would last months? I haven't had a chance to ask my vet about this yet. Our boy is due to go back to vet on Tuesday next week for curve, although I am reading people at this site strongly recommend doing curve at home.

I need to get my signature and stuff set up as well
 
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Hi there! I'm going to answer your questions first, then pop back later once I have time for more detailed stuff.

Was she diagnosed just from a blood test? Or did they do fructosamine?

The majority of us in the US buy from Mark's Marine Pharmacy in Vancouver. Not a scam. It does take about 7-10 days to receive it, so in the meantime I'd call around to local pharmacies and see if they'll sell you just a single pen. You do not need the needles for them, you just stick syringe straight into the membrane (more info/pictures later). I do prefer pens because they're smaller volume, less likely to go bad from being open too long.

The shelf life is whatever the expiration date is, or once you open it (pierce it) the package insert says 28 days. BUT that assumes it's stored at room temperature - we recommend refrigerating...nearly all of us use pens/vials last that 28 day mark without issue, up to 6 months easily.

Look for the freeze dried/pure meat treats. My cats absolutely loves PureBites.

The DM dry is high in carbs; the wet is expensive but fine carb wise but if she isn't a fan I'd return it - they guarantee the product. You can actually feed any low carb Pate (just not too much fish). Here's a list of foods and their carb content - aim for something lower than 10%, ideally around 5-6% https://catinfo.org/chart/index.php

With a change to low carb diet, we actually recommend starting at 0.5U. So if you aren't giving the DM dry or temptations, I'd start there.

I'll be back (probably much later) with more links and such
 
Oh I forgot to say welcome! You are in the right place. The best place to start is here. It's a big help to use if you can get a signature and spreadsheet set up.

You'll also want some ketone test strips (from any pharmacy) as well as a hypo kit. We recommend testing ketones weekly; more often if there's a history of ketones or DKA.

You'll want U100 syringes with half unit markings. You'll want 0.3cc, around 31 gauge. There's two different needle lengths, I prefer the shorter ones to reduce risk of needle going straight through the other side :rolleyes: I buy these, they do sell single boxes. But you can get syringes anywhere really.

Here's a link on measuring doses, how to draw up and administer from vials and pens.

Home testing tips - the key thing really is warming the ear up, hitting the sweet spot (there's a pic in the link), and using large enough lancet. Most of us freehand the lancet, I personally don't use the device because the click seems to scare them more than the actual poke. And treats, lots of treats! Before and after tests. There's a learning curve, don't get discouraged.
 
Hi welcome to the site.

As for your questions about Lantus, most can be answered here.

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...info-proper-handling-drawing-fine-dosing.151/

In the US you can get a biosimilar insulin called Semiglee, which is about the same price as getting insulin from Canada without the hassle.

Also if your vet is not onboard with you testing his blood glucose at home, there are members here that can help you with dosing advice:D. Though we will need some more information about you kitty as well as the results of your blood glucose tests (we have spreadsheets to keep track of that).

Here is the link for getting started
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-how-you-can-help-us-help-you.216696/1

It is understandable that you are feeling overwhelmed by the diagnosis of diabetes but there is a lot of help

Also you can use it much longer than the 28 days, provided you refrigerate it, and handle it carefully. I opened my vial of insulin in August and it is still working:).

Here is a link for low carb treats, freeze dried bits of meat are the ideal.
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/list-of-low-carb-healthy-treats.9172/

For help with testing here is a link, it seems scary and challenging at first but it gets easier, now my kitty reminds me when it is time to test (giving him treats after really helps:D)

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

Also with regard to food, there is no end to use prescription food and wet food is best. Food less than 10% carbs is best for diabetic cats and most of us aim for less than 5%. If your kitty likes Fancy Feast, the pates (also called classic) are all below 5%, also some of the flaked and chunky varieties. Here is a link to food charts to help you pick the right food.

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/links-to-food-charts.174182/
 
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