Recently Diagnosed w/ Diabetes

Hello,
I have a 15 year old male cat that was diagnosed two weeks ago with diabetes and infection. 2 units of vetinsulin twice a day the first week and changed to 3 units twice a day the second week. Vet appt is Wed for another blood and glucose test. The infection was treated with clavamax.
The vetinsulin is $50.00 and $40.00 for u40 syringes (100) every six weeks. Can I find these cheaper?
The vet is also trying to sell me really expensive food. What do you guys feed diabetic cats? After finding the catinfo.org site I purchased the meter and supplies recommended for home testing & also canned wet food.
I am confused by all of the information that I am finding online. My vet doesn't recommend home monitoring just wants me to come in for testing and then once regulated come back twice a year to check levels. I already spent $400.00 just to find out he is diabetic with an infection and now I am starting to think is my vet really skilled enough in diabetic cats? I am on a very tight budget. Any help and information to buy supplies, food cheaper would be much appreciated. Do any of you use worksheets to monitor your cat?

 

We just lost a kitty that whose mama had been 'blown off' by her vet too about home testing. They gave 1 shot and the next day their dear sweet kitty was gone.

A human doctor would never tell you to give insulin to a child without knowing their Blood Glucose first and it's the same for our cats.

Don't waste the money on the expensive food. Plain Friskies pates, 9 lives pates and Fancy Feast Classics are favorites around here.

As for the Vetsulin, it's really not a great insulin for cats. It's made for dogs and cats have higher metabolisms. It hits "hard and fast" and then it's gone, so it forces their numbers down fast and then wears off.

Lantus, levemir and ProZinc are much better for cats. Lantus and Levemir can be bought from Canada (with a script) for about $175 and 5 lantus solostar pens will last most cats up to 2 years, so it works out quite cheap. This post has all the information about where we're buying Lantus and Levemir from

Lantus and Levemir are also U100 insulins and you can buy insulin syringes for them at most local pharmacies (WalMart for $12.58 per 100)

We have a spreadsheet we use here to keep track of our kitties numbers and it's a very valuable tool. Here are Instructions on getting the FDMB spreadsheet

 

Totally agree with everything Chris wrote. If you are an online shopper, you can buy the syringes also at American Diabetes Wholesale...there is a link on this site that if you shop through it, FDMB gets a donation. Also, promo code "CSS550" may work for $5 off $50 purchase. Their half unit U100 syringes are $12.59 http://www.adwdiabetes.com//product...-needle-31g-310-cc-516-in-box-of-100_1316.htm and you can get a hometesting kit, which includes a glucometer, 200 test strips and lancets for only $44.42 http://www.adwdiabetes.com/product/arkray-glucocard-vital-monitoring-kit-black_4034.htm They also sell lancets (you use a fresh one everytime you take a blood test), starting at $1.19 per 100 30g http://www.adwdiabetes.com/product/trueplus-sterile-lancets-30g-universal-twist-top-100ct_8017.htm

 

It use the same lancet multiple times, I change it weekly, but I don't test more than twice daily unless there's a problem. I keep alcohol in a small spray bottle and spray it after each use.

 

Can you tell us which food you are giving your kitty at the moment? It's really important to know the carbohydrate content in case it's higher than some of the foods we recommend here.

[Emphasis mine]

/ facepalm

Regardless of whether or not your vet is good on other issues after reading the above I would strongly recommend that you find a different vet who knows a lot about feline diabetes. Cats' insulin requirements can fluctuate from day to day. To ensure the safety and optimum health of a cat on insulin it is crucial to home test BG before every dose and also mid-cycle to ensure that the dose is not taking the cat too low. Also, diabetics are more vulnerable to infection and infections or other systemic illnesses can push BG levels up in which case a dose increase may be warranted. One needs to monitor BG to ensure that the cat is getting enough insulin for daily metabolic needs. As Chris says above, when it comes to human medicine no healthcare professional worth their salt would counsel a human parent to only check the blood glucose levels of their diabetic child once every 6 months.

In addition to monitoring blood glucose levels it is vital to regularly check your cat's urine for ketones (using Keto-diastix or similar - available at pharmacies) and doubly so especially at times when the cat is off its food or when it has an infection. Trace ketones are an alert to contact your vet straight away to agree how to proceed; anything more than trace and the cat will need immediate emergency veterinary treatment in order to prevent the cat going into diabetic ketoacidosis (a potentially life-threatening complication of diabetes). Regular urine checks are another quick and simple way to help keep your kitty safe and well.


Mogs
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Thank you for all of the replies. I am going to ask the vet about all of this tomorrow. I continued feeding him the grain free purina beyond food he likes and just added canned food. I told the vet I wasn't buying there expensive food right away. That's why I am asking what types of dry food you guys feed. The vet didn't have a clue on any over the counter brands to suggest. Does anyone use sheba perfect portions or are they bad?

 

Here's a shortcut food list for you to have a look at:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/shortcut-shopping-list-all-8-or-less-updated.117688/

All the foods on the list are 8% or less.


Mogs
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What if my vet won't give me a prescription to order the insulin? What do I do then?

 

If that is the case I would seriously consider a vet who knows more about FD-
It has been my experience that the vets who deal with this disease most often use lantus .. (we consulted with 4 when Dre was dx)
My regular vet who is not a specialist in FD gave me vetsulin at dx- that didn't last long when I did more research.
Good luck!!
Don't let them bully you

 

About half the states require the vet to write a prescription if requested by the client
https://www.avma.org/Advocacy/StateAndLocal/Pages/veterinary-prescription-orders.aspx

 

The Sheba pates are all good to feed (whether you buy the 3 oz cans or the perfect portions--the cans are cheaper). Just make sure that you're getting the pates and not the "cuts". The cans look identical so you have to read them closely and make sure they say pate. The pates are all low carb and grain fee, but the cuts are high in carbs.

 

Also, here's a link to the AAHA guidelines for you to print and bring to your vet--it clearly states that the recommended insulins are glargine (Lantus) and Prozinc, and that lente (Vetsulin) insulin is NOT recommended for cats. It also clearly states that home monitoring is preferred over office testing. If your vet reads that and still refuses to give you the script for Lantus, I would find another vet. The article attached below is another I would print and bring to your vet--it goes into more detail regarding treatment guidelines and dosing. When the treatment guidelines in the "Management of Diabetic Cats" article are followed, 80+% of newly diagnosed cats go into remission on Lantus or Levemir. Bandit has been diabetic for over 7 years now, and he's needed insulin for less than 2 years total the entire time, and he's lived a completely normal and healthy life.

 

Following on from Julia's post, if your vet is dismissive of the Tight Regulation study, it might be worth asking your vet to check out the academic credentials of Dr Rand. She is an authority on feline diabetes.


Mogs
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I am back from the vet. I told the vet about this forum and asked if it would be possible to get either the lantus or lantus solostar pens from the place mentioned in Canada and he said possibly. I got his email and am sending him everything to try and get that going. Also told me one of the other vets there might still have a couple of the lantus pens i could try but won;t find out until tomorrow. I took all the meter supplies and showed him and they showed me how to use it. He said the meter reading was close enough to his test results and it would work for home testing. He wants me to do another test before they close today and call him with the result. I also picked up the sheba pates they were on sale and had a coupon. Most of these vets around where I am are all older and I think they just might not be as up to date as they should be? He seems willing to work with me on all this so far.

so what exactly should i send the vet about ordering this lantus stuff?

 

That's very much the impression I got from your post. I'm very pleased to hear that your vet seems to be taking a partnership approach. Very encouraging news!

I'm in the UK so can't advise on what to do about the Lantus Rx info. Sorry.


Mogs
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It's great that your vet is working with you! Most vets are good vets, and they just don't have current information about feline diabetes treatment, or they think the owners won't want to put in the effort involved for the recommended treatment.

What information did your vet say he wanted? All he needs to do is write you a script for "Lantus Solostar Pens" like he would for any pharmacy. Then you place the order yourself through Mark's Marine Pharmacy and scan or fax them the script.

 

The only thing he needs is the phone number...It's an 800 number.....the people at Marks will probably ask him to fax them a written script and you'll need to contact them to arrange for payment.

Marks has worked with a LOT of us....they're very good and will be happy to answer any questions you have (and they're happy to talk to you too!!)

You can also just get a written script and email/fax it to Marks. Even if your vet writes the script for the vial, if you want the pens, just let Marks know. They can do that up there since insulin is over the counter. The pens are definitely the better buy

By the way...you do NOT need the special needles that they say you should use with the pens, so don't worry about buying them. We use regular insulin syringes and pull the insulin out of the pen

 

FYI @scoobydoox, for Lantus you'll need 0.3ml U100 insulin syringes with half-unit markings.


Mogs
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I sent him the website to look at and he is going to check around. There is another vet there he told me to talk to tomorrow that has a client that had some of those pens and might sell them to me.

 

He wants me to do the home testing for the next 6 days and send him the results and see what his levels are at. He told me I seem to have everything under control so I guess that means I am doing a good job.

 

What do the pens use for syringes? how much and where do i buy those?

 

In your earlier post, I got the impression you are feeding dry food. Is that correct? Dry food is high in carbs and have an impact on blood sugar. Once you are home testing regularly, you might want to start weaning him off it. But only when your testing, because it could drop him to fast and low.

 

All these have half unit markings and are the correct syringes for the U100 insulin you use and are available from ADW online:
UtiCare
Monoject
Carepoint
Sure Comfort

They're also available at WalMart if you have one near you..Their Relion Brand 3/10ml, 3o or 31 gauge, 8mm insulin syringes all come with half unit markings

Here's how to use them...you just pull the cap off and there's a rubber stopper...just like a vial

 

Thank you that helps a lot.