New to all this. Needing to get this off my chest.

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LaRougeRaven

Member Since 2023
Hello,
I'm new to all this. My female baby, Hitome, was diagnosed on March 19 of this year. She will be 14 years old in June. I've had her since 2021 and have been stressed about her health since then. Last year she went for immediate surgery for kidney stones, couldn't pass her bowel for almost 4 weeks, and hardly ate for 2 weeks. Was at the vet 6 times in 8 days.

I've been so worried about her health, so I try to watch over her carefully. She loves water, but since January of this year, she was drinking a lot and peeing a lot. Usually, I could clean her litter box every couple of days, but then it started to get really bad, I was having to clean it twice a day. I was worried it was UTI, but she was diagnosed with diabetes.

I'm so upset that taking care of a sick pet causes so much money. The vet bill was over $250 for the checkup, bloodwork, and urine test. A 10ML vial of insulin was $80, which has to be tossed after 28 of opening, so there goes like 20 days of meds. (We will be moving to the pen once the 28 days are up). We got the Alphatrak 2 pet glucose monitor, which cost $165. I'm looking at the price of test strip refills...$100 for 50 strips! The startup kit was $165...did that mean the meter itself was only $50?

We are told to take care of our pets, take them to the vet, this and that, but then when we have the grief of our babies being sick, we are being gouged. It's either fork over hundreds of dollars a month to keep your pet alive and healthy or watch them slowly die.

Part of me now understands why my sister told me last year when I spent almost $3000 on surgery, that when her dog gets sick, as much as she loves her, she will have to put her down. I was super upset at the time, but if you don't have the money, what are you supposed to do?

Companies like this break my heart. I'm doing my best to take care of and give Hitome the best life she can have, but it's so stressful.

I'm even more stressed because I lost my job in February, so $100 for stripes and $80 on meds are causing me so much more stress. Luckily my husband is keeping us floating, but this doesn't help.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.
First of all, insulin, if kept in the fridge will last up to 6 months.
Don’t move to a pen. You are far better off using a syringe and drawing up the insulin that way. You can draw up much smaller amounts of insulin than you can with a pen, which only goes up in 1 unit increments.
can you tell me what type of insulin you are using please and the dose?
It sounds as if you may be using Lantus (glargine) or a biosimilar. This is a good insulin.

with regards to the glucose meter…you don’t need to use the alphatrak meter which is very very expensive to run (the test strips are ridiculously expensive). You can get a ReliOn premier meter from Walmart for $9 and 100 test strips for $17.88.
Toy will also need some lancets…get size 26 or 28.
And some cotton balls to hold behind the ear.

Are you feeding a low carb diet?
Here is a link to a FOOD CHART look for canned foods 10% or under carbs. Most of us feed around 4-7% carbs.
You don’t need prescription foods that are expensive and higher carb …you can buy fancy feast pate or a similar priced canned food from the pet stores or supermarkets

We have a spreadsheet here that you can install and use and then we can help you with dosing. It will save on vet costs.
You will find it in this thread
HELP US HELP YOU

I hope this helps you.
 
LaRougeRaven said:
A 10ML vial of insulin was $80, which has to be tossed after 28 of opening, so there goes like 20 days of meds. (We will be moving to the pen once the 28 days are up).
Click to expand...
Please do not throw out your vial of Lantus after 28 days!!! There are many studies that have been done showing that this insulin is much more stable than first thought, and there are likely thousands of people on this site who will use their vials for 6 months or more and even up to the expiry date on the label. There is a sticky here you can read about proper handling and care of insulin if you click on the Lantus Forum (I will see if I can do that and link it here for you) .
You may be hesitant to take this as good advice (I was told by pharmacist to discard after 28 days, also same on maunfacturer's website) but please keep in mind that a vial that size would typically be used up by a 100-240 lb human well within that time frame. And they do want to sell their insulin. Kitties only use a tiny dose, and there is much evidence that when handled properly, kept refridgerated, and dispensed correctly that Lantus is viable for the life of the vial.
I also have a 10ml vial like you, I have used a little less than half of it in the last 5 months.
You will get alot of help as to cost savings here, there are many who are also on a budget,,,, we got tips!!!!!
Welcome, hope we can help further! :bighug:
 
I've been using my first Lantus pen (and drawing from it with a syringe rather than using the pen needles themselves) since February 1 without any decrease in effectiveness; as long as the insulin is refrigerated, appears clear and has no particles or clouding, it should be just fine! I do have a spare, unopened pen in my fridge just in case this one stops being effective, but I think I may finish the pen before that happens :)

Just a heads up--the AlphaTrak 2 will no longer have testing strips made for it after September (which is probably why the strips have gotten even more expensive recently, from what I've seen) but DON'T FRET! You can get a human meter that is cheaper in itself and has cheaper testing strips--but to keep you afloat in the meantime, PetTest is offering a free monitoring kit to people who send them a picture/screenshot of their AT2 purchase. (here is a link: Try PetTest (shoppettest.com) ) I sent mine via email and never received a reply, BUT my kit showed up in the mail yesterday. They ship to the US and Canada, and the kit includes 25 lancets and 25 test strips, as well as the lancing device, monitor, and batteries.

This is an overwhelming diagnosis and the initial expense (of money AND mental/emotional energy!) is high, but it is SO worth it and it does get easier! My cat was diagnosed in November and we switched vets in January; vet costs have gone way down since then--a glucose curve every month or so, though when I brought him in for the last one, I mentioned my home test results and that his dosage was too high even after being reduced, so the vet had us "start over" at a 1 unit dosage, did one test on him, and had me take him home to try the new dosage for another 3 weeks. He could have made the decision and still kept him there to make the money from the tests, but instead I was charged for one test and a reduced-cost "follow up" office visit. With the insulin lasting longer than stated and syringes being *relatively* manageable in cost by comparison, my biggest expenditure is food--and that's because my boy needs Limited Ingredient/Novel Protein food so he's more expensive to feed than most cats :)

Above all else, know that the people in this group (there's also an associated Facebook group that's way easier for me to access when I'm on my phone rather than the computer) are genuinely amazing and are here to help you every step of the way! I was depressed and anxious after first getting our diagnosis, but I spent quite a bit of time browsing through these forums and the linked advice on the site and have finally found my way to feeling like I'm getting a handle on things!
 
LaRougeRaven said:
(We will be moving to the pen once the 28 days are up). We got the Alphatrak 2 pet glucose monitor, which cost $165. I'm looking at the price of test strip refills...$100 for 50 strips! The startup kit was $165...did that mean the meter itself was only $50?
Click to expand...

Strips are expensive in Canada and especially the AlphaTrak (a pet meter). Most people use a human meter. The two measure glucose in slightly different ways.

FreeStyle Lite is a good one. Strips run about $90/100. Shop around for the best price. PC points can be used at Shoppers and PC pharmacies.

There is also the Bravo meter but it has some downsides. It needs a much larger drop of blood and you can only get strips online meaning that if you run out of strips during the middle of a low numbers event, you cannot run out to a pharmacy and buy more. If you go with this meter, you need to have 200-300 strips on hand at all times.
https://diabetesexpress.ca/products/bravo-meter

If your vet says that you need to use a pet meter, tell them you can't afford the strips. Vets used people meters before animal meters were invented. Forum members are very familiar with both types of meters and can help you.

Lantus can be used for more than 28 days as long as it has been kept in the fridge. I used mine for months - until the last drop. What happened was that the FDA asked the Lantus maker to check that Lantus was viable for 28 days - but this was a study for humans who don't keep it in the fridge but carry it around with them. That is where the 28 day thing came from.
 
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