New Kerry needs PZI and fd info

This is a message she pm me. You can pm her. Not sure she knows how to get to this post. She is only listed as Kerry so should be easy to find to pm.

My 14-year old cat was diagnosed with diabetes 3 weeks ago. I am trying to do what is right for her, but unfortunately, I am unemployed. My vet told me the insulin would cost me about $300-$400 per year, but then she charged me $80 for the first vial of insulin - which is about $960 a year. My sister thought that perhaps I could obtain the insulin at Wal-Mart or a local pharmacy, but I discovered that there is a difference between human insulin and pet insulin. I went back to your web page and found the listing of insulin sources. The Medicine Man Pharmacy is located in Idaho, and I am about 10 miles away in Spokane Valley, WA, so I thought I might get lucky. Unfortunately, when I called their number, I was told they no longer carry pet insulin. I never thought I would reach a point in my life where I couldn't afford to have pets, but I can't afford to pay almost $1000 a year for insulin. Can anyone recommend any sources in the Spokane, WA area where I could obtain the insulin for less than $80? Thanks so much for your help! I have lots of other questions, but I'll start with this one first. Regards, Kerry PS - I'm giving her Protamine Zinc Insulin 100u/ml made by Wedgewood Pharmacy.

 

I sent Kerry a PM.

I hope that gets her here.

I am shortly going to update the sticky to note potentially how to get the BCP. Just waiting to hear back from presouzkitty who posted some info about it in Health.

Also if Kerry shows up then what kind of dose is her Kitty getting at $960/year? Bottles of ProZinc last 2 years from the date of manufacture.

Also hopefully she can get off the U-100 insulin and onto the U-40 insulin. Care will have to be made to make sure the needles/dosing does not get confused.

 

If I recall correctly, Wedgewood makes their own compounded insulin and it's something else actually, not even PZI as we define it here (like I'm thinking they have a faster-acting insulin mixed in?).

Anyhow, Vetsulin has to be replaced every month or two, but ProZinc does not, and I assume BCP does not, though I don't know for sure. Maybe Wedgewood's does? I'm not sure how much help we can give her on using it either, since it's different than PZI as I understand it (this came up a while back with someone else I think).

If it does need to be replaced often at that cost, I would think ProZinc might be a better choice, but I don't know much about the Wedgewood product to really say.

 

Just got a PM from her. Evidently she does not have a meter yet. I encouraged her to post into this topic. She said she was in PZI and reading.

 

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to put here, but I need help obtaining insulin for my newly-diagnosed diabetic cat Squeaky. I think I probably need to find a new vet too! I'm unemployed, and I can't afford $80/month for the PZI medication. Is that about an average price for insulin or does it appear that the vet has upped the price? Does the vial only last around a month? I've got some other problems with Squeaky. She is my "freaky" cat of the three. She had her first shot on the 11th, and this morning is the first morning she didn't go into hiding under the bed. I don't want to stress her more than necessary, so I haven't dragged her out from under the bed, which means that there are times she doesn't get her shot when she should. Sometimes it's more than 2 hours late. And when I finally do get a job, I'm going to need to get up in the morning, give her a shot, and head for work, not wait for her to come out from under the bed. The vet already increased her dosage about 4 days ago, and I haven't notice a change. She seems to be drinking as much water as she did initially, which means she's using the litter box constantly. Plus she has developed an incredible appetite. I have a multi-cat household, so I've always left Science Diet biscuits out, plus I've usually divided a small can of Friskies between the three at breakfast and dinner. Just reading some of the on-line conversations seems like I'm suddenly reading Japanese. I just don't understand the dosages or the bg levels. I also don't have a glucose meter and don't know that I can afford one. Any help would be appreciated. Regards,
Kerry and Squeaky
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2010 1:25 pm
Private message

 

Hi Kerry - if you go to the Health board there is a sticky about newbie kits. Read there on getting help with getting a meter. They should be able to either send you one at no cost, or point you to where to get one at a very low cost.

For the insulin, I'm not clear about the Wedgewood PZI. The kind I use does not have to be replaced, so one vial lasts for months. You might want to call the pharmacy you got it from and ask, as different insulins have different requirements. If it is that expensive, by all means switch insulins!!!! ProZinc, which is the new PZI (but I don't think it's the one you have even though the names seem similar), runs I think $90 (?) a vial, which lasts as long as there is insulin in it, so several months (depending on the dose your cat is on).

Everything is confusing at first, but it will get easier, just hang in there and take it step by step.

 

Found the old thread, it looks like FurballLover is using Wedgewood's PZI (it appears to be a real PZI, just compounded there). Here is what she wrote earlier:

So that is only $30....? I'd consider switching anyhow to ProZinc. I have heard the compounded ones can have more variation. I'm wondering if your vet went with Wedgewood once Idexx went off the market. (These are all different versions of PZI insulin - ProZinc is the one many people are now starting to use.)

 

Hey there Kerry, good you found us. Welcome!

I'm confused why you need a new bottle of insulin every month? The last bottle of PZI Vet I had lasted me a good 9 months or more. ProZinc is much like PZI Vet and is a max of $95 shipped to your door overnight. I've compiled instruction on how to source ProZinc in the "sticky" at the top of this PZI forum here:
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=1979

Here is the link to the Main Health Forum:
viewforum.php?f=3
You can post in there if you wish by starting a new topic. Just click on the "new topic" button. And you can also start new topics here in PZI the same way.

Also, in the top of that Health forum are a number of "stickys" these are topics that always remain at the top of the form and are considered "important"

There is one in there called the "FAQ" that is good reading for newbies. Here is the direct link to that:
http://binkyspage.tripod.com/faq.html

Also the direct link to the Starter Kit topic in Health is here:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6

The first step is to get you guys testing. Then you will want to change the diet to low carb wet food only. Low Carb = less than 9% carbs as %kcal on Janet & Binky's list located here:
http://binkyspage.tripod.com/CanFoodNew.html

But since you guys are already giving insulin you will need to be home testing before you change the diet. When you do change the diet then you will probably want to reduce the amount of insulin while the effects of the diet change take effect. And during this time you should be testing at least before every shot.

Keep us posted and ask as many questions as you can muster.

 

In my experience the compounded ones can come in 5ml bottles. Whereas ProZinc is in a 10ml bottle.

 

Just be careful when comparing insulins. A 5 ml vial of a U100 insulin contains more units (500) than a 10 ml vial of a U40 insulin (400 units).

 

Hello there--

Sorry I am just now posting a reply- I've been in bed for the last 3 days with a high fever and a terrible flu I'm having a hard time reading everything posted on the tread, cause I cant quite see straight (I have every possible flu symptom) but I will try to reply about the pzi from wedgewood.

C is not currently getting any insulin for almost a month now because he's currently in remission. We were not doing hometesting while he was on it so I can't say how effective it actually was. I can tell you that I called the pharmacy and found out that the wedgewood pzi is compounded with humulin n. It has an expiration of 1 month after opening--so its not any cheaper than prozinc. The wedgewood pzi is only 5ml, so its also half the amount. If/when C goes back on insulin, I will definitely go with prozinc instead.

hope this helps!

Jen

 

Jen , thanks for clearing that up! I had this vague feeling that there was another insulin in Wedgewood, but couldn't find it in earlier posts so figured I was dreaming. Hope you are feeling better soon! That flu is the worst, hope it scoots away quickly!!!

Kerry, if you are reading, that means that the insulin you are using works a little differently than the ones most of us are used to in the PZI forum. I'm sure there are people around though who would still be able to advise you on how to use it best. It looks like that one runs $30 and has to be replaced every month, vs. ProZinc which is more like $90 but lasts until it is gone. I'm not sure why you are ending up paying $80 and they told you to replace it every month, sounds like some kind of mix-up or something? You might call Wedgewood and try to get more info, sounds to me like someone owes you a $50 refund!!!! That price is just too far out of line IMO.

 

Joanna, what are the different characteristics of Humulin N + PZI base? H used Humulin N + PZI for about our first week but we switched and I never became familiar with it. I've always wondered? Obviously the current U-100 strength of Kerry's insulin is a big deal.

 

no clue, sorry....