Vial or cartridge?

[Melissa and Celle]

I've been following the post started by Beth and Bud Bud on the new vial which has me thinking a new vial is worth trying for Celle. Our refrigerator gave out around July 11 or 12, so by the time I caught it the insulin had spent some time at around 60-65 degrees, which is what the fridge was by the time I stopped thinking it was just having a hard time dealing with the heat and was actually broken. I put the insulin on ice for a day and then had a new fridge. The numbers were stable right around then, so I thought things were OK, but I guess at this point I'm ready to try anything.

My question is... What's a cartridge? I see a lot of posts mentioning them and implying that they are better than vials. But I don't even know what one is. Why are they better? Is this something most pharmacies carry?

 

[Marcy & Klinger (GA)]

Hi Melissa,

We use a vial, so I won't be able to answer some of your questions...but here is the sticky that talks about the three - vial, pen, cartridge and if you scroll down in the thread there is a picture. It doesn't look like there is much difference between a pen and a cartridge...that I could see anyway.
http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=151

The pen and cartridges last longer than vials. A 3ml pen lasts some members over a year where a 10ml vial will lose it's potency (after a few months - we made it 7 months on our last vial) and still have a good amount left over. So a vial isn't as cost effective.

We went with the vial only because Walmart didn't carry the pen and I didn't want to wait to start Klinger on Lev.
I'm sure others will chime in...

 

[Pam & Alley]

Hi, Mellisa, I too use a vial, my last one went over 7 months before I replaced it. I got the vial for the same reason Marcy did, our Wal-Mart does not carry the pens. I asked the pharmacist about ordering the pens and he said they are 1 1/2 times the amount of insulin than the vial holds and if I am micro-dosing, he thought I would be wasting insulin with the pens as my old vial was still half full when I changed it. And the pens were $218.00. I cannot tell if the new vial is really working at this time because we are dealing with antibiotics for a bad tooth that should be extracted this week, along with a slight ear infection that has him on steriods. So we are getting really bad numbers lately.
I know that a lot of the Lev users use the pens and they work very well for them, I just don't want to throw out that much insulin a year from now!

 

[Vicky & Gandalf (GA) & Murrlin]

Is there any chance the insulin could have frozen? When you say "put it on ice" exactly how did you do that? Insulin should never be allowed to freeze. Even if part of it developed ice crystals, it's probably toast. So if it has gone "bad" that would be why, not necessarily that it was exposed to 65 degrees.

You are going to have wonky numbers with the infection she has. It used to common knowledge on the board that diabetics should take antibiotics for longer than less immune compromised (ie. healthy) cats would. That can mean 21 days. Glad your vet wants to continue the Baytril. Not sure why this isn't mentioned on the board much anymore.

 

[Melissa and Celle]

Is there any chance the insulin could have frozen? When you say "put it on ice" exactly how did you do that? Insulin should never be allowed to freeze. Even if part of it developed ice crystals, it's probably toast. So if it has gone "bad" that would be why, not necessarily that it was exposed to 65 degrees.

No, I don't think it could have frozen. I was worried about that, so I put it in an empty bowl and put that in a bigger bowl of ice. The ice melted pretty quickly and was never in contact with the vial. I also remember now dropping the vial once, so maybe it was shaken too much.

But alas... the new vial appears to work exactly as did the old. No easy fix.

You are going to have wonky numbers with the infection she has.

Until it is entirely cleared? I'm just confused why she doesn't seem to improve at all as the infection is improving.

 

[Vicky & Gandalf (GA) & Murrlin]

They found she still had bacteria, so the infection may not be resolving quickly enough to allow better numbers.

Infection of any kind is a stress on the system as a whole. Any type of stressor can cause "wonky numbers," that's a technical term, ya know. :lol:

So, yes, until she is given a clean bill of health, there could be infection affecting the effectiveness of the insulin.

That's the best I can explain it.