new and need Lantus advice!

Abby (16y/o) was was diagnosed July 13, i think the vet said her bg was 500. Started Lantus 3u BID. Vet put her on Hill's g/d (she also has CRF.). She has responded well to the insulin, water intake has drastically decreased and she seems much like her old self. Vet wanted her back in a week to do a BC ( I haven't done any bg testing yet). Took her in to vet Thursday and the vet wants me to increase her insulin to 4U BID. WHen i took her in a 7am they said her first bg was 448, but by the end of the day was down to 190. I think the spike was due to her nervousness at the vet and the vet even admitted that could be true but still wants me to increase the insulin amount. I am changing her diet to Wysong liver gourmet which has similar levels of phosphorus to the hill's g/d- a bit higher in protein, but the ingredients are so much better than the garbage in the g/d. Hoping the higher level of protein from a good source will help bring down her levels. My problem is twofold- i don't think she needs the additional insulin and i really cant afford it. i am having financial difficulties as it is with the diabetes diagnosis. $350 first vet visit, $175 BG curve and the 100 unit bottle of insulin will only last me 16 days at the 6u per day dose- at the 8u per day more like 12 days. Food is about $50 per month. I dont have an extra $250 - $300 per month and really dont know what to do. I cant be the only one out there with a limited budget... and i know i have to start testing at home and that is another additional cost....

 

Re: new and need advice!

You can do home testing and save yourself a ton of money.
Testing at the vet is expensive and does not tell you how your cat is doing at home.
One of my cats goes dangerously low bg at the vet and the other goes high; total waste of your money.
Just go to the pharmacy and pick up a meter used by humans, some test strips and lancets. Just a quick poke on the tip of the cat's ear, then sip up the drop of blood on a strip in the meter ... presto, you have a number!
Any help you need with picking a meter or how to go about testing, just ask as most people on the board are testing.
Testing on cat’s ear

That amount of insulin is likely too much. Without testing before each shot, you could cause harm to your cat. Know the signs of hypo and what you need to do.
List of Hypo symptoms
How to treat HYPOS – They can kill! Print this out!

As you are giving LANTUS you can post over on that group and get plenty of help and guidance on use and how to take good care of your cat on this insulin
New to the Group

some links on this insulin:
Tight Regulation Protocol
LANTUS & LEVEMIR – INSULIN DEPOT –AKA- STORAGE SHED
Lantus&Levemir – Data Ready to Shoot Low Numbers

 

Re: new and need advice!

If you start home testing, you can save the cost of the BG curves at the vet. It is MUCH cheaper (not to mention more accurate) to home test than to have the vet do it.

If there is a Walmart near you, they carry ReliOn meters that are inexpensive to use and reliable. You will need a meter ($9-14 depending on the one you choose, the more expensive one has a lancet pen also), test strips (about $20/50 strips) and lancets ($4/box of 100). The test strips are the most expensive part of ongoing testing costs, so make sure you choose a meter that has inexpensive test strips if you choose a different meter. There are other choices, I happen to use a ReliOn, as do many other people here, because it is among the least expensive.

For about $40, you can start hometesting...it beats $175 for a curve at the vet's office!

A note about the insulin....do you mean you have a 10ml vial? I believe lantus only comes in 10ml vials, or 3ml pens or cartridges. If you mean the 10ml vial, the insulin has 100 units per ml, meaning there are 1000 units in the vial...way more than you will use in a month!

I don't know anything about the Wysong food, I'm sure others will chime in and help you though. One thing I would caution about is that you not change the diet until you start hometesting. If you switch to a low carb food, the need for insulin will decrease, and you could be dealing with a hypoglycemia situation if you are not testing.

 

Re: new and need advice!

Do us all a favor and edit your original subject line to include "Lantus." Maybe "New and need Lantus advice!" That should get attention of people who are familiar with how your insulin works.

I *DO NOT* claim to be any sort of expert on anything but testing, but from what I've read, you're right to be concerned about the dose. 3U is extremely high to start, and jumping the dose by 1U is not the usual protocol. In view of the much lower BG later in the day at the vet's, my immediate reaction is that no increase is called for at the moment. But, if Lantus-experienced folks say differently, please follow their advice.

Hometesting isn't an additional cost but a way to help bring costs under control, not to mention simply giving you a much better handle on how your kitty is doing. For one thing, if you are hometesting, you do not need curves done at the vet.

I'm not familiar with the food you are using. Higher protein and good ingredients are both a step in the right direction. Do you know the carb content of that food? (It won't be on the label - it might be on Janet & Binky's list - linked from one of the stickies at the top of the list of messages.)

 

Hello and welcome to FDMB. I'm sorry your baby was diagnosed, but you've found a terrific site full of resources and understanding people.

My advice

1) Learn how to hometest. You can request a newbie kit, which will have a testing meter and some test strips to get you started. HOWEVER, you may need to do some research on the strip costs (which is the expensive part of hometesting). I believe that many members who are on a tight budget really prefer Walmart's Relion meter and strips.

2) Think and read about your cat's nutritional needs. See Dr Lisa's website. My Cosmo had diabetes and CRF (and other health issues), and I fed Wellness canned food, chicken and turkey flavors. It has lowish phosphorus, high quality protein, and low carb, which meets the requirements for the diabetes and CRF.

3) Go to the Lantus Land forumhere. Read all the stickies about how Lantus works, how to store it, how to handle it, and how to know whether you need to change the dose.

4) Read the stickies again. and again. and again. Then ask questions!

5) Set up a profile and spreadsheet, so others can help you help your baby. The SS helps organize the information and track your cat's reaction to the insulin.

Above all else, don't hesitate to ask for help!

 

Check again--that should be a 10 ml bottle of U100 insulin, which means there are 100 units of insulin per ml. That gives you a grand total of 1000 units per bottle, not 100.

 

3u is very high for a starting dose.
hoping you'll post on the lantus forum (check out the stickies at the top of the forum, too) and let us know her blood glucose levels so we can maybe look at lowering the dose. hate to see a 1u increase this soon on top of the high starting dose.
your cat didn't have ketones at diagnosis, did she? don't want to mess too much with a vet's starting dose in that case but it sounds like a typical story around here (vet not super aware of how lantus works with kitties and not dosing appropriately because of it).

i use the contour meter and get test strips for around $30 for 100 on eBay. i only buy from sellers with 98% or better feedback, with a lot of auctions under his/her belt. i also only pay via credit card funding on paypal, NOT checking account funding. if the seller cheats you, eBay/Paypal are notoriously awful at protecting buyers but your credit card company will act like a tiger on your behalf. it's well worth the extra protection.

you'll save a lot of money home testing blood glucose and it will let you know quickly how your cat is doing on the insulin dose.

welcome aboard. i know that it's not fun that you have to be here, but you will get excellent help/support to get your cat better.