Buddy

Hello Everyone, My name is Carole and I live in Gilberstville, Pa. My cat Buddy, male, 11 years old was just diagnosed with diabetes. He also has round worms which I'm treating him for. His sugar level was 599. I have 2 other younger cats that are not diabetic. The vet said she'd write me a prescription for insulin and I could shop for prices. I saw a tech at their office who told me PZI was $250 per bottle 10 ml. I think that's high. They also have me buying Hill's PD for 17.99 4lb a bag. The vet seems nice, but the products they want me on seem too highly priced.

So, what foods are better? What insulin is best? Cheapest? Haven't started Bud on anything yet, just the food. How do I feed all 3 cats? Bud(male) and Baby(male) usually eat together and LuLu (female) eats in a different room. Currently have dry food out at all time.

Help !

 

Welcome to FDMB, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.
- Home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!).
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as many Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet. Food changes should be gradual to avoid GI upsets - 20-25% different food each day until switched. There are 2 low carb, dry, over the counter foods in the US - Evo Cat and Kitten dry found at pet specialty stores and Young Again 0 Carb found online.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir.

 

Thanks I'm goin to Walmart tomorow !!

 

ProZinc should run about $100 - you can find it online for that price but you do have to pay shipping. So I would say your vet's $250 is pretty outrageous. Lantus and Levemir run a little bit more but still not in the $250 range. You could ask the vet to write a prescription and then get Lantus or Levemir from the pharmacy or ProZinc online. The best least expensive insulin is BCP PZI, which is very much like ProZinc. It is usually in the $50 range plus shipping. But you still need the vet prescription. Other less expensive insulins are more harsh, not as long lasting and harder to regulate with. We don't recommend Vetsulin, Novolin or Humulin.

So you may need to confront the vet and ask for a prescription or find a reasonable vet. On way you can save is to not buy prescription food. There is nothing "prescription" about feline diabetes food; it has the same or worse ingredients than pet store food. It is much more expensive. A vet explains about feeding diabetic cats here : www.catinfo.org. We have had great success with wet, low carb food and highly recommend feeding it to all your cats. It is a change you can make while you figure out the insulin. And Hills should refund your money; just tell the vet they won't eat it.

Hometesting is also very important. We have lots of videos and information on it and would be glad to help you learn how.