Where can I buy Lantus at a lower price?

My name is Fan Tsang and I have a cat called Jessica and was recently diagnosed with diabetes. I was very upset and try to help my cat.
I was told Lantus can last up to six month but some said it only can last for about a month. I was so confuse. At first, my cat's diabetes seems under control after 1 unit insulin injection twice a day. But recently, She drinks a lot and urines a lot and extremely hungry. Is there any chance the insulin lost it strength after six weeks or seven weeks of use? I still have a lot insulin left in the vial. Can anyone tell me where I can buy Lantus at much lower price? I bought my first vial (10ml) at about $160, which is very expensive if it can only last for about a month. I noticed that Lantus offers a discount card for diabetes user. Can I get one for my cat since it only means for human and not for pets. Thanks

 

Lantus will last up to six months if you keep it in the fridge. Is it cloudy or flaky looking? If not its probably ok. Most people here get at least four months out of it.

Are you home testing? Without home testing you don't know for sure what's going on.. She could be dropping low and bouncing high.

What are you feeding?

Wendy

 

My vial of Insulin look very clear still. I haven't had a home test yet, since I find it difficult to have my cat home test. She's not that coorperative. But judging from the way she drunk and urination and extremely hungry, thats way I think the insulin may has lost its effectiveness. Anyway I will try to have her home test tomorrow.

Thanks for your prompt reply.

 

Here are some home testing tips..https://docs.google.com/document/d/13c_CPZVKz27fD_6aVbsguadJKvjSrSAkD7flgPPhEag/pub

 

While you work on learning to home test, my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools, provides options for testing urine ketones.

Ketones are a by-product of fat breakdown. Too many may indicate diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a potentially fatal, expensive to treat complication of diabetes.

 

Lantus and 100 syringes are roughli $150 at Sams club. You don't have to be a member to use their pharmacy. The Lantus alone is $140 there

 

Thank you akashasmom, bjm & Wendy for all the useful infomation.
What I really concern about is the Ketone issue, since she lost quite a bit of weight. (From original 11 lbs (Jan2012) to 8.6 lbs(Now))
I bought from Walmart glucometer (ReliOn-Confirm) & Ketone test strips (ReliOn). Don't know whether they are effective. I saw from internet we need to add
Hydrogen Peroxide to the urine in order to exam ketone by product. Is that true? or I need to buy Keto-Diastix or Keto-stix) from Bayer.
She still very hungry after i feed her PURINA VETERINARY DIET-DM Savory selects. What should I do? Continue to feed her or stop.
I think I should bring her to the Vet now?

 

I see you are in New York.

Friskies pates are low carb and inexpensive. They'll work just fine.

The ketone test strips come with directions for use. Follow those.

If you find urine ketones or if her breath smells fruity or like nail polish remover, go to a vet immediately.

If she doesn't eat for as little as 2 days, go to the vet. Not eating for as few as 2 days can trigger hepatic lipidosis, a liver problem which completely messes up the body chemistry and can be fatal.

If her breath smells like urine, go to the vet. That could be renal disease.

 

Thanks, BJM.
I brought my cat "Jessica" to the Vet Sunday. She was tested with Urinalysis and Fecal Analysis. She was Ketone negative but she got diarrhea and was prescribed with Flagly Suspension and Drontal P Feline (dewormer). The Vet took blood for Fructosamine to determine whether it is necessary to increase the dosage for Jessica. You memtioned Friskies pates. Is it canned food?

 

Welcome to FDMB!

yes, Friskies pate is a canned/wet food.
A lot of us feed it to our cats - its low carb, inexpensive and they seem to like it

It does need to be the pates and try to give fish only once or twice a week if you can as there are some issues with it.
see catinfo.org.

If you start home testing, you won't need to take her to the vet for any diabeties testing as you will have all the info. first hand.

I only ever bought 1 vial of insulin for my cat - I used it until she went into remission (4 months).
If you need to buy one in the future, costo or walmart are usually the cheapest and I believe you can use the lantus discount card. I did fill one out and took it to walmart and they said they would accept it (didn't say it was for a cat) but then we didn't need to buy anymore

 

HI Denise, thanks. I will try to have home testing for my cat. I notice that the Lantus discount card is for human. Can I still apply one? I don't know.

 

Yes you can get the lantus savings card for a human. The pharmacy you buy the insulin from is not going to check if this if for a human or a cat.

 

I just used that savings card yesterday at the Walmart in town. They took it with no problem, even though the tech at the window had marked it as feline on the prescription info. (It says my name, then my cat's name, then feline on the printouts.) It cost me $165 for the pack of Lantus pens.

 

The Lantus Savings Card from the manufacturer is for a prescrition not covered by any insurance or program, not a patient, so it doesn't matter if it's a feline or a human. ;-)

 

Thanks, I will apply one.
I would like to ask a question. Could some tell me what to do?
My cat Jessica has been diagnosis with diabetes in Mid February 2013 and was administrated 1 unit of Lantus once a day. On March 10, the Vet increased the dosage to 1 unit, twice a day. Everything was fine during the first few weeks until April 8,2013. She drunk a lot and urine a lot and extremely hungry. I was thinking the insulin might had lost its potency because someone told me Lantus insulin can only last for 28 days after used. So, I bought a new Lantus Solastar on Friday April 12 and gave her the same dosage. However, the situation didn’t change much. She was still very thirty, pissed a lot and extremely hungry too. I brought her to the Vet on Sunday April 14. The Vet took some blood and tested for Fructosamine. I got the test result on Tuesday April 16. It was almost 600, much higher than 503 (normal range is 145-450 µmol/L) that was tested on March 23. I called the Vet and she told me to increase the dosage to 1.5 units, twice a day and will have the blood test 2 week later. Finally, I decided to test her blood glucose level last night, 3 hours after the insulin injection. It was 296. Can someone help me what to do? I don’t want to harm her kidney because of my negligence & ignorance.
I’m deeply regretted that I didn’t take BC home test myself and closely monitoring her BC level. I thought her BC level was under control. Besides, I am a full time worker and was unable to take frequent blood test during the day.
I still have questions: 1) Is it possible that the Lantus that I am using now has no impact on her anymore, that means, I have to change another type of insulin? (2) How do I know that the new Lantus Solastar that I bought on last Friday has the potency that it supposed to have? May be the one that I bought has lost its effectiveness due to improper storage (too cold or too warm) since Lantus has to be stored under 36 to 46 F.
In the past, I was very nervous and stressful when taking the BC level test on my cat because I scared I could hurt her. Finally, I realized from last night experience that it was not that difficult so long as you warm her ears a little bit, not too hot, otherwise, you may scare her. I used the lancet device adjusted to middle depth. I got barely litter blood. I re-adjusted to middle high depth and took another shot. It was a success. I prefer using lancing device. It’s much easy for me than to prick her ear by hand.
I do encourage all of you do the BC home test yourself if you are still hesitate to do so. I can do it then everyone can do it either. Just try by error and have the help from your spouse. Vets usually don’t encourage you to do your BC home test, because most of the Vets are business oriented. That is very unlucky for someone like me.

 

To effectively monitor her glucose, plus be able to adjust the Lantus dose correctly, you must get some mid-cycle tests, ie tests somewhere between =5 to =7 hours after the shot. If you cannot do that during the week, can you do that on a weekend? If you cannot do that during the day, can you sometimes set the alarm to wake up at night and test?

Two basic ground rules for giving insulin:
- Until you have collected data to show it is safe, do not shoot under 200
- if the cat goes lower than 50, a dose reduction has been earned

 

If you refrigerate and don't roll your vial of Lantus, it can be good for as long as 4 to 6 months (sometimes even longer). The expiration date is for humans who usually don't refrigerate and have much higher doses (think like 20 to 40 units a day or more).

Lantus is a depot insulin, meaning you need to hold the dose for a few days before you see a difference. Lantus also works in a "curve" format, which I've pasted a typical example below for you:

As you can see, the lowest numbers usually occur around 5 to 7 hours after a shot. What you want to see are some lower numbers during this range (~60 to 150 on a human meter). If you're not seeing lower numbers during this time frame, then that's usually a sign that the dose needs to be increased.

It is recommended to frequently test their urine for ketones to catch any complications that may arise from long-term high blood sugar (specifically ketoacidosis). The faster you catch this happening, the faster you can treat it and the less likely more severe side-effects will occur. You can find ketosticks at most pharmacies for fairly cheap (IIRC, I think it only cost me ~$5).

Many of us are. The most important tests each day are the pre-shot tests (AMPS and PMPS) and a before bed test. Throughout the week, I'll also sometimes use my lunch to grab a mid-day test to see how low he might be going on the current dose. On the days/nights you're able, you want to try getting some mid-cycle tests (between +4 to +8) and any other tests you might be able to grab to fill in missing data (i.e. a +2 to see how long it might take for food-influenced BGs to clear Jessica's system). We use this spreadsheet to help us track our cats' BG numbers. Let us know if you need help setting it up or have any questions on how to use it.

Most likely not. It sounds like Jessica just may need a higher dose than 1.5u. That's one of the reasons it's so important to test them: so you can spot needed dose increases/decreases as they happen instead of having to wait two weeks before you go back to the vet. 1.5u is not a lot depending on a few factors: is she eating any dry food? how much does she weigh? is she on any medications or have any other medical issues?

See below for information regarding dose increases (and decrease):

It doesn't have to be stored at that temp, but it's guaranteed to last longer if it is. Lantus is not as delicate as it is made out to seem. I have dropped my vial a billion times, I rolled it mistakenly for the first 2 months I had it, I stored it in the door of my fridge instead of a drawer, pushed air bubbles back into it, sucked air out of it, I've forgotten and left it out for hours at a time, etc.... I have not been gentle with my Lantus and I've still managed to get 4 months out of it (so far). Easiest way to tell if it's gone bad is that you will see cloudiness or particles in the vial.

Speaking from experience, as her ears learn to bleed better, you'll want to lower the depth setting on the lancet pen. When I first started testing on Mikey, I had it on the highest setting. After a couple of days, I was able to lower it to the middle setting and get blood. By the end of the second week, it was on the lowest setting and has remained there since. (And this is with multiple lancet pens that I tried out: they all ended up on the lowest setting once Mikey's ears started bleeding better.)

^This should be framed somewhere.

 

Why not buy a pen rather than a vial? A pen will keep long enough in the fridge for a cat to use it up (about 4 months for Ragnar), but I don't think it would keep well enough to use up a vial.

Some pharmacists will sell a single pen, and some won't, so you could call around to find one - a single pen, not vial. We have two in Valley City that will sell them singly. I pay about $75 - $80 for a pen, but learned after I bought the last one that the vet now carries them for $72.

It really does keep well refrigerated. Ragnar had had his current pen since, I think, December; it's getting low, but I used the last one almost to the last drop, and the new one was no stronger! And Ragnar has gone 48 hours between shots twice in a row now :thumbup , so I know his Lantus is really working!!

Blessings,

Shirley and The Lovely One cat_pet_icon

 

Thank you all for the information provided especially KPassa. It is very useful and I learn a lot and really appriciate for all the support. We are very lucky to have such a good wedsite and good people to help other even though we don't know each other. Really appriciate it. Thanks again.
By the way, my cat was weighed 11 lbs when you was healthy but she loss weight after she was diagnosed with diabetes. Now, she only has 8 lbs 14ozs.
I took the BC test right before the shot. ( A little struggling with her). The reading was 378.
She still drink a lot of water, may be because of the warm weather now in New York. She still very hungry too after I gave a CAN of PURINA DM-Veterinary Diets (Savory Select). If she asks for more, should I give her a little bit more or still the prescribed portion?
Thanks

 

Cats with diabetes are very hungry because they can't use all the calories the food provides. There isn't enough insulin to get the glucose into the cells.

Tactics to deal with the hunger:

You may add up to 50% more food than she would normally require, especially if she is underweight.

Add 1-2 tablespoons of water to a 5-6 oz can and mix well. This increases volume.

Feed in several small meals so she never gets too hungry. An automatic feeder such as the PetSafe 5 (see Amazon link above and search there)

Freezing some and putting out both fresh and frozen. As the frozen thaws, she can nibble on it.

 

You're very welcome. Just paying forward all the help I've received.

Since your original post was to find a lower price for Lantus, I thought I might share with you a way to find a less-expensive low carb, wet food than the Purina DM (which is actually a pretty good food for diabetics, but waaaay overpriced compared to what you can find in the store). Look for anything on the list less than 10% carbs (the lower the better; I feed Mikey ~5% carbs). You can find this by checking the third column labeled "C." I also created my own version of the list, sorted by carbs from low to high.

Another link I wanted to share with you re-iterates what BJM said about diabetic cats being overly hungry is a discussion about how often to feed a diabetic kitty and it's worth a read-through.

 

KPassa, thanks for the Wet food chart. It is very helpful. Now I realize that the PURINA DM-Savory Select prescribed by the Vet has 10% Carb which is much higher PURINA DM-Dietetic Management (5% Carb) previouly prescribed. That explains why my cat suddenly became very thirty and pissing a lot. The Vet seems not realize the difference between the two. It's really sad to know that.
I will start feeding my cat with Fancy Feast Classic, which has no only 5% Carb. Should I reduce the dose to 1 unit from 1.5 unit since I change the food?

 

I took two BG tests on my cat this morning. The reading were 267 (3hrs after injection) and 218 (6.5hrs after injection). Could someone tell me how is Jessisca condition so far?
Thanks

 

There is more to feline diabetes than the numbers! Let's review the 5 Ps:
Peeing - oceans, lakes, ponds, cups, less?
Pooping - normal, neither constipation nor diarrhea
Preening/grooming - fur looks good, not oily, not matted, nor pulled out, no major dandruff
Playing/pre-diabetes behavior?
Purring/contentment?

Feedback on just a few numbers won't be very helpful, since they weren't at the probable nadir and did not include the pre-shot test which we always do for safety.

Tracking the glucose tests on our color-coded spreadsheet in Google Docs and sharing it will let you and others see a visual display of any patterns.

These links explain how:
http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?p=179835#p179835
http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=50130

AMPS = morning pre-insulin shot test
PMPS = evening pre-insulin shot test
+ 1 = 1 hour after the shot
+ 2 = 2 hours after the shot
Etc.
The column immediately to the right of the pre-shot is to record how much insulin was given.
Anything less than 1 unit, I'll put in 0.# so the decimal point stands out. Fewer errors that way.

 

BJM, Thanks

 

Re: setting up a spreadsheet

When you have a new question or topic, please start a new post - that way, more folks will take notice and respond.