Humulin N no longer working! Local vets dont have a solution

My 16 yr old was diagnosed with diabetes in January 2011. At first the Humulin worked very well, she was gaining weight and the water consumption/urination went back to normal. It actually worked a little too well and her BG dropped too low and after going into insulin shock my vet reduced her dosage. Things went well until this May she went into remission for about 2-3 weeks but when she came out Humulin stopped working as well. Her #'s were good (not as good as prior to May)but symptoms were bad. Today i am running another curve and the numbers do not even seem to be affected by the insulin. i have been in touch with her vet to see if they could put me on a waiting list or locate another type of insulin, just to call back a month later to find out they have not taken any steps to try a different insulin. I dont want to lose her but dont want her to suffer either. Is there any way to get a better insulin? I know they stopped manufacturing pzi and vetsulin but does anyone know how to get a hold of a bottle?? A feline diabetes specialist?? I live in the Tidewater area of VA. If anyone can point me in the right direction, i would appreciate it

 

Re: Humulin N no longer working! Local vets dont have a solu

it's easy to get another type of insulin. favorites tend to be lantus or levemir, which are both human insulins like the humulin, thus, your vet can just call a prescription into any local pharmacy. people get it at places like cvs, costco, walmart, etc..... there's also prozinc which your vet should be able to get or you can also get them to call a script into some online pharmacy places and have it shipped to you

do you hometest at all? if not, i would also suggest doing that as it will give you so much more info about what is going on and allows you to not be too dependent on the vet for that matter.

 

Re: Humulin N no longer working! Local vets dont have a solu

by the way, how close are you to Virginia Beach? There's a long time member in that area and maybe she can recommend a vet or give you some input on the insulin, etc.....

 

Re: Humulin N no longer working! Local vets dont have a solu

I live in Portsmouth, so yes I am willing to travel to VA Beach.

I do my own gluco curves to keep costs down and have a better picture to what is going on (Currently use a human machine, which i am told reads lower but gives good basis to what is going on). Between December to February I spent well over $1,000 before deciding to take matters more into my own hands. Now the vet is not being very helpful. I called in June to say I didnt think Humulin N was doing as well as it did in the beginning, was told she was looking into alternative insulins. Labeija (my diva kitty) is not gaining any of her weight back (was an 11lb cat now barely over 6lbs), heavy urination that is very clear followed by the heavy water consumption. I called 3 weeks ago to ask my Vet to research Pro Zinc to see if that would be a better alternative and still have not heard back.

I would like to know if anyone has had any success in switching from one human insulin to another? If she has developed a resistance to Humulin N, will it be the same with another type?

Some curves indicate very little change in her BG and some have a nice curve until the big drop. Some are decent.

Do you know if the Vet in Virginia Beach is willing to work with someone who does their own curves at home? I know it is a business and they do not work for free but I have 3 geriactric animals, love them all very much but have blown my budget and I dont want her to suffer.

Any Help would be greatly appreciated. My phone says someone gave me their gmail account, I will check my email when i get home.

Thank you,,
Christy

 

Re: Humulin N no longer working! Local vets dont have a solu

that message is from the gal I mentioned I believe. turns out you are pretty close to her so she told me to tell you she sent you a message. you might have a PM here too. PM's are private messages, the board's version of email basically. if she sent you one of those, look to the upper left of this screen and it should say something like "1 new message". if so, just click on those words and it will take you to your inbox here.

she is very very knowledgable about feline diabetes and many other kitty conditions as she's had and adopted some special kitties. i want to say also based on posts here over the years that her vet is awesome too. so definitely hook up with her and see what she can help you with.

as far as going from one human insulin to another one, many have done so with no problems. if you post on the main part of the board, Health, asking for examples, i'm sure you'll get many. we used humulin but only for about a month, then we went to a cat specific insulin for several years , and when it was discontinued we went to another human insulin, Lantus, about a year and a half ago and it has worked great for my Mousie

welcome aboard and keep asking questions