Jeanne & Buddy
New Member
Well, our old vet has been giving us a very hard time about returning the Vetsulin. As I said in a previous post, our vet did not inform us at all about the Vetsulin warning/recall (even though we've been in there several times during the past few months to get Buddy's BG tested and for check-ups). We didn't find out about the warning until last month and we came upon it accidentally while looking for lower prices on Vetsulin. They sold us a vial of it early last month, right before we found out about the warning. They said nothing to us.
We printed out the FDA warning and other notices from Vetsulin's website that people on here linked us to and showed it to them yesterday. The staff told us they'd give the notices to the vet and that she'd call us back. They acted like it was no big deal that they were still selling it.
Today, we received a call back from one of the staff telling us that Vetsulin is perfectly safe and that ALL insulin is unstable. She said the vet told her that none of her other patients have had any problems and that the whole Vetsulin warning/recall is being blown way out of proportion. They are still continuing to sell it and won't give us a refund, even a partial one. I don't understand this because the company that makes it sent out notices to vets telling them to not use it anymore and to transition pets to other insulin as soon as possible. I thought they were trying to get it out of circulation, but our old vet is still somehow selling it.
I don't know what to do at this point. I almost feel like suing them or reporting them somehow (but to who?). Our cat has been steadily getting worse since late November and his BG level is all over the place. We would really like to get our money back, but our old vet is determined not to let that happen. Needless to say, we will NEVER give that vet our business again. We even called around to other vets in town and none of them are carrying Vetsulin anymore.
We are currently trying to figure out which insulin would be best to transition him to. It seems our choices are PZI, Lantus, and Levemir.
I keep hearing great things about Lantus, which is what I am leaning toward. However, our new vet (a cat clinic in town) uses PZI. I thought I read somewhere online that this was being discontinued. Is this true? I’m a little confused since people are still using it. There seems to be conflicting information on it.
I did some price checking, too. PZI will cost $120 for a 10ml vial at our vet. At Costco, we can get a 10ml vial of Lantus for $95. Many on here recommended the 5 pack of 3ml cartridges, which costs $186. That seems like a lot of money to spend at once. Just to double-check, the 5 pack of 3ml cartridges will last much longer than the vial (for about 6 months), correct? If that is the case, I will definitely be considering that.
What is the shelf life on the PZI and Lantus 10ml vials, just for reference?
Also, has anyone had to transition their cat from Vetsulin to another insulin? Anyone have any suggestions about how to go about the process and make it as painless as possible for Buddy?
Thank you for your help.
We printed out the FDA warning and other notices from Vetsulin's website that people on here linked us to and showed it to them yesterday. The staff told us they'd give the notices to the vet and that she'd call us back. They acted like it was no big deal that they were still selling it.
Today, we received a call back from one of the staff telling us that Vetsulin is perfectly safe and that ALL insulin is unstable. She said the vet told her that none of her other patients have had any problems and that the whole Vetsulin warning/recall is being blown way out of proportion. They are still continuing to sell it and won't give us a refund, even a partial one. I don't understand this because the company that makes it sent out notices to vets telling them to not use it anymore and to transition pets to other insulin as soon as possible. I thought they were trying to get it out of circulation, but our old vet is still somehow selling it.
I don't know what to do at this point. I almost feel like suing them or reporting them somehow (but to who?). Our cat has been steadily getting worse since late November and his BG level is all over the place. We would really like to get our money back, but our old vet is determined not to let that happen. Needless to say, we will NEVER give that vet our business again. We even called around to other vets in town and none of them are carrying Vetsulin anymore.
We are currently trying to figure out which insulin would be best to transition him to. It seems our choices are PZI, Lantus, and Levemir.
I keep hearing great things about Lantus, which is what I am leaning toward. However, our new vet (a cat clinic in town) uses PZI. I thought I read somewhere online that this was being discontinued. Is this true? I’m a little confused since people are still using it. There seems to be conflicting information on it.
I did some price checking, too. PZI will cost $120 for a 10ml vial at our vet. At Costco, we can get a 10ml vial of Lantus for $95. Many on here recommended the 5 pack of 3ml cartridges, which costs $186. That seems like a lot of money to spend at once. Just to double-check, the 5 pack of 3ml cartridges will last much longer than the vial (for about 6 months), correct? If that is the case, I will definitely be considering that.
What is the shelf life on the PZI and Lantus 10ml vials, just for reference?
Also, has anyone had to transition their cat from Vetsulin to another insulin? Anyone have any suggestions about how to go about the process and make it as painless as possible for Buddy?
Thank you for your help.
