Diabetes Treatment

Greetings, my name is Steve and I own a shelter animal, Clyde the Cat, that has diabetes. It was suggested by my vet that I give him insulin shots. Any suggestions on this would be appreciated. Also any recommendations on where to purchase insulin and syringes would be appreciated, my vet told me I can buy this at a much lower price versus going thru his practice. any suggestions again would be appreciated. Thanks again!

 

Welcome
Assuming yo are located in the USA, many get insulin syringes here:
https://www.adwdiabetes.com/category/insulin-syringes
If your state requires a prescription for syringes you will need a prescription.
Many get Lantus and Levemir (human insulins) from this place in Canada
https://rxcanada4less.com/
A prescription is required

Good insulins are the human Lantus and Levemir and the pet insulins ProZinc and BCP PZI. For those two human insulin it is best to get the 5 pack of 3 ml disposable pens via a 10 ml vial. Although per ml the vial is less expensive most cats will not use up a 10 ml vial before the insulin goes bad/becomes ineffective. The human insulin N/NPH is sometimes prescribed but only lasts 8-10 hours. Same for the pet insulin Vetsulin/Caninisulin.
Most of us here test our cat's blood glucose at home using a human meter. We test before each shot and periodically between shots. We record our reading and other info in a spreadsheet. See:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
What are you feeding? A low-carb canned is best. No reason for a prescription food. Here is a list of commercial low-carb canned

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-pierson-new-food-chart.174147/

 

Welcome Steve and Clyde!
If diet change was not enough to get control over Clyde's diabetes and he needs insulin this is the best place (in my opinion) to be . First thing is we strongly recommend home testing his BG so you know he is safe to receive insulin. Our thoughts behind this: We wouldn't give insulin to a young human child or baby without testing BG levels first. Did you Vet suggest any specific insulin? The preferred ones are Lantus, Levemir, or Prozinc. If money is an issue, then there are less expensive insulins like Vetsulin, Caninsulin and we still have experienced members for those. Most of us use human glucometers to monitor our cats BG levels, feed Friskies pate (non-indoor formula) and Fancy Feast classics over prescription diets, and syringes / lancets are better priced on adwdiabetes.com.

We use spreadsheets to track our BG numbers and if you need help setting it up, we have people:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

I will still give you 2 more links so when you are ready you can find them here:
Setting up your signature: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/
Print this out: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/

 

Oops, Larry and I cross posted

 

How is everything going? Did you stay the insulin yet?