Can't afford diabetes/disease treatment

My 14 year old cat was just diagnosed with diabetes. That in itself isn't too bad. But he also has pancreas issue, liver disease, and possible cancer. I'm gonna be paying $1600 just for him staying on IV and testing at the vet, they can't even diagnose the cancer unless I go to a specialist for who-knows-how-much. The vet quoted me that it is about $400 minimum for beginning supplies for the diabetes, and then it'd be $250 minimum every 6 months for insulin. And we don't even know if that will fix his other issues (it COULD be the diabetes caused the other issues, but it COULD be the POSSIBLE cancer will kill him this year or the liver or the pancreas will do it.) I really don't have the money for more testing... and even if I did that would mean I couldn't afford the treatments after. My vet has not talked about euthanasia, but this is not the first time my cat had liver issues, I'm afraid of shelling out all my money to have it come back again (the first time it was 4k for JUST the liver issue, I don't have that much money to be spending right now.) Plus he is a senior cat too, it's not like he will live another 10 years. They said he will live to be 18 tops with his history, IF he never has another issue... I'd hate to have to put him down, but I really cannot afford the treatments for everything, but I don't think they'll let me put him down because they keep talking about a chance of him being okay after starting diabetes treatment... while also throwing in there's no guarantee of anything...

Any advice on what to do? I've never had to think of putting down a pet, I feel horrible for having to consider it, but what else can I do when I can't make my husband and I lose our apartment and get in debt over pet bills?

 

I forgot to add he is mega anemic and they don't know why so his body isn't even getting enough oxygen as it is not making new red blood cells...

 

Sorry to hear about all your kitty issues, is hard to give an opinion about his condition without really knowing more about his medical issues, but two things I can tell you 14 years old is not too old, and diabetes is totally treatable and cats can live an almost normal long life with it, we can help you with that and to save as much money as possible with his treatment.

For diabetes you can buy normal food (it doesn't have to be prescription ) as long as is wet low carb is ok ( we can help you with suggestions) so no extra money on food, and you can buy a human glucose meter which is cheaper than pet meters ( and do all the testing at home saving you the money on vet visits ) and I think some people here get their insulin cheaper ( I'll leave the suggestions on where and how to buy all this to other people since I'm not in the US)

 

Depending on the type of insulin they prescribe, you can get it a lot cheaper. Most of us that are using Lantus (one of the best insulin's for cats) are buying it from Canada. For $190 (including shipping) you can get 1500 units which is enough to last most cats at least 1 year

If you're in the US, you can get a Relion Confirm blood glucose meter from WalMart for about $15

100 strips are $35.88

Lancets can be bought for about $2 for a box of 100

You can buy plain cotton balls for a couple bucks or what a lot of us use are the cotton cosmetic pads (also about $2)

Those are the basics you need.....nowhere near $400 just to get started

 

Yes, I agree with this.

If you are using the Lantus pens, some pharmacies will sell you a single pen - one at a time rather than a pack of 5 - and it is about $85. You can feed Fancy Feast classic pates and they are 50-60 cents each.

This is a link I found on a pet hospital site. I don't know much at all about it but it may be worth checking into. It's the non-profit "Diabetic Cats in Need". They are well rated by GuideStar, the organization that rates non-profits. This group offers assistance to low income people or one-time assistance after a diagnosis.

See this page and I hope it will help you - http://www.dcin.dreamhosters.com/assistance-programs/

Stay connected with everyone here and we will do all we can to help you help your kitty.

 

At my WalMart, the Relion Prime meter is $9. Strips are 100 for about $17 or $18. This is enough for a month with a few mess-ups. A box of 100 Relion lancets for $1.48. Again, enough for a month with a few mess-ups. A big bag of regular cotton balls was $0.89 (enough for a couple of months; you don't need the large/jumbo/giant ones). I don't use a lancing device with the lancets and it works just fine.

Total cost for testing for a month, assuming 3 tests per day: $29.37

If you use insulin, the cheapest syringes are the BD boxes at Walmart. In some places, you have to have a prescription for these. Try to get only one vial of insulin at a time (freshness and expiration). I don't know how much insulin and syringes are now since it's been almost 2 years since we have needed any, but IIRC, it was about $50 total for both (we used Novolin N from WalMart). I don't know anything about the pens.

In some places you can avoid the sales tax on each item you have a prescription for.


I get 9 Lives chicken pate, turkey/giblets pate, and liver/bacon pate from Chewy... just under $15 per case of 24; free shipping over $49, so I order 2 cases of each at a time. Assuming one of each flavor per day (3 cans), approximately $1.87/day, $56.21 per month

I also feed zero-carb freeze-dried meat dog treats before each meal (right after testing) (reward, the cat eats more canned food, maintains his weight, and doesn't cry from hunger). Approximately 2 packages x $15.00 for a month: $30.00


Total cost of testing supplies and food for a month: 29.37 + 56.21 = $85.58 Add treats (30.00) for a month = $115.58

 

I'm so sorry to hear about your sick kitty!!

As the others have said - diabetes is very treatable and there are ways to save some money on long term testing and treatment.

Did they tell you what type of cancer? How advanced/aggressive/treatable it is? Or an estimate of further testing to find out for sure?

 

Blackie was diagnosed in April. His insulin is $90. The vet said the bottle would last about 2 months.
His tester was $25 and his test strips were around $20. (Walmart)
His 10 pack of needles cost $2.95 so I bought 5 to begin with.

 

First, HUGS - sucks when our babies aren't well. The first thing that has to happen is those 2 things above be treated. Those aren't usually things associated with diabetes unless he's also in Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA), which isn't mentioned above. I'll not repeat insulin stuff already posted above.

Another hug - hoping he'll improve quickly.

 

So we've been on this journey since early 2012--thanks to this board, really, for sharing some incredibly invaluable information. My essentials for keeping costs low (this is how *we* do it, as a disclaimer):

* Relion human glucometer--whichever version has the cheap test strips (Confirm or Prime? I can't remember right now). I test every few days or when she's acting "crazed"--but I'm going off six years now

* Fancy Feast as part of her diet--it's cheap (but we have to mix it with some Science Diet for kidney issues

* Lantus pen--Lily only gets 1.5 u twice a day, so a vial would totally go to waste. We buy an individual pen from Sam's Club for about $80/$90 and use that like a vial (we buy Relion syringes for about $12 for a month's supply). Also, I'm looking into possibly buying the pen for much less via a GoodRx.com coupon--not sure if that will work.

I can only share our experience--but Lily went into diabetic ketoacidosis and kidney failure in late 2014 and almost died. She came back, though, and has had her ups and downs since them--but I type all this to tell you that it's possible to pinch pennies while treating feline diabetes.