Feline Diabetes- Budget Buster

[superminnie]

My cat was just diagnosed with Feline Diabetes and is going to have to have two insulin shots per day for the rest of his life. I was talking over prices for supplies with the vet tech and boy are they expensive. $120 per month for insulin and $100 per 100 ct box of needles when I purchase from the vet. Does anyone here have a cat that is being treated for this and can you offer any suggestions on where I can get the supplies I need at a lower cost? Thanks

 

[fkj2]

Did you price out the insulin and supplies at Sam's? I get meds there for my dog and they were about 1/2 the price of the vet. You'll just need to get a prescription.

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

I would go through the information on www.catinfo.org before I would commit to insulin. A lot of times it is the food that makes all the difference. My parents cat was on insulin for a while and then I came upon Dr. Pierson and her website and tried her tips. Within a month, their cat didn't need insulin anymore. I follow all her tips with my own cats and have yet to have a problem. I hope you are able to avoid insulin too!

 

[Luvchefmic]

Sorry about your cat but agree with pp about getting the insulin and supplies somewhere else. A dear cat that we had for over 20 yrs for the last few years of her life was on a heart med. We had the Vet write a prescription and filled it. Yes it was for Fluffy (cat) our last name I worked for 3 vets in my life its always been cheaper not to get meds through them in my experience. In fact I would even contact one of those medical supply places that will send you by the month. (You've seen the commercials they usually talk about older people/medicare but I would certainly inquire)

 

[doggydoc]

Cats can be regulated on insulin available at your local pharmacy, it is not often easy however. Insulins are very different due to being derived from different sources. The most common insulins for humans (Novulin, Humulin, etc.) are derived from human cell cultures. Cats don't respond ideally to human insulin and are most easily requlated with PZI (Protamine Zinc Insulin), Lente (pork derived) or Glargine (a bio-engineered product). Regular insulin can be used but often the savings is lost due to increased need for glucose curves(serial glucose tests over a 12 hour period to determine insulin effectiveness) or fructosamine(a type of blood sugar that doesn't fluctuate as much as glucose) testing in order to maintain regulation. Another consideration is that human insulins come in 100 units per milliliter and cats often only require a few units per dose. This makes dosing VERY difficult. To illustrate, one of those tiny insulin syringes you typically see are 1/2 ml capable of holding 50 units of 100 u/ml insulin. Your average cat would require less than 1/5 of that. Veterinary insulins are 40 units per milliliter making doses larger and easier to administer properly(of course that means they also require special 40 unit/ml calibrated syringes which tend to cost more).

The PP was correct that diabetic cats will often respond to diet changes and/or anti-glycemics. Unfortunately the most effective prescription diets aren't cheap either, thay are, however, less expensive than Veterianary specific insulins.

 

[LMC]

I think Walgreens has a chronic medication prescription program for pets. You pay an annual fee and get the meds with a copay (I think)

 

[allyphoe]

We paid ~$15 for 3 months of insulin, and maybe that much again for 100 syringes, which was 2.5 months worth. Our cat did fine on both U (ultralente?) and N (heck if I know) human insulin - we started with the U, and had to switch when they discontinued it - for 5.5 years before he died (at the age of 14, from something not related to the diabetes). Never had an issue with the syringe markings, but he was on 12 units twice a day, so a *lot* of insulin. (He was a giant cat.) We did have to put him on prescription food, which was way, way more expensive than the insulin.

I know some vets recommend a lot of bloodwork and monitoring - we live out in the country, and our country vet had us adjust his insulin dosing by water intake. He offered to do bloodwork, but said that the stress of going to the vet would be enough to throw off the results, and we were OK with that. I know some people use a meter at home to fine-tune, because that's what they're OK with.

 

[Muushka]

Are you sure about that $100 for 100 needles? That sounds way out of whack.

My vet prescribed Vetsulin and it goes for about $43 for a 10 ML vial. That will last my cat for 40 days. The syringes (which technically are not made to go with the Vetsulin (different unit, had to do a 2.5 multi factor)) I buy at Sams for about $12.50 for 100.

If your cat had a sky high sugar (like my sweetie, 585 mg/dl), no amount of diet modification would help that. But my vet said that cats sometimes snap out of the diabetes (suddenly just not diabetic any more).

Also, my vet (who is very easy to get along with, willing to let me not use his needles, that sort of thing) absolutely refuses to allow his animals to be on any sort of insulin that humans take. Believe me, I tried to talk him into it! When they were going to pull Vetsulin off the shelves, he did allow me to keep my cat on it while it is in litigation or whatever it is going through (expiration problems). I wanted the cheaper human type but he wasn't going for it.

Good luck. It is not that bad of a disease and cats do get used to the needles.

 

[zumbergc]

if you check out felinediabetes.com its a whole site set up with people with cats who have diabetes.

I'm not sure what type of dose sizes, but our old cat had diabetes,
we had to get the 1/3 cc with half unit measurement. He olny got a .5 or .25 of a unit in the 1/3 cc syringe.

the site has a general help section, which you can get immediate help. also depending on which insulin your cat takes, they have individualized sections for each.

They also have lots of info on cat nutrition, lower carb food choices, they are pro your cat getting off hard food and eating a moist low carb food.
They are very pro on you testing your cats blood sugar before shooting the insulin, to prevent a low blood sugar incedence. They have recommendations for a low blood sugar incedence in your cat, etc.

I bought my needles at hocks.com I could get the short needle, with the half unit measurements. Get the thinest guage needle you can get, it will make it less painful for the cat, than i could get at the grocery store. The ones at the grocery store that had the half unit it measure, were thicker (think more painful).

 

[Muushka]

Again, be careful with the needles. More than likely your insulin for your cat is U-40 unit. If you get the 1/2 ml/cc, 31G (tiny needle) 5/16" (short) more than likely it will be for U-100. If your new needle is U-100, you will have to calculate a new dose. It will be 2.5 times the amount the vet prescribed. For example, my cat was on 4 units twice a day. With the newer, much less expensive syringes, her new dose was 10 units twice a day. Even the pharmacy didn't talk with me about this when I bought them (but my sister, a pharm, warned me).

 

[zumbergc]

about insulin. If you cat happens to get lantus. The expense part for the insulin and the cat. Is that they have such a small dose. You are suppose to only use one bottle of insulin for 1 month. So, the bottles have way more than your cat would ever use, so its a lot of waste. Lantus has 3ml catridges you can get. I think they come in a pack of like 5 pens. Its more money up front, but one regular large vial cost like $100. However 5 pens were like $150 , but since its 5 different cartidges, thats 5 months. note this price was a couple years ago, and its what i recall, so i could be off. However in the long run its cheaper than buying the cartridge pens.


If this is the type of insulin your pet is on, have the vet write the script for the pen catridges, there are a couple brand names. Not all vets are familiar with buying the catridges. We were the first. Plus, the pharmacy was trying to tell us we couldn't do it either. Because you don't use the solstar pen dispensor, you just stick the syringe into the end of the pen.
call around to several pharmacies, and see who has the best prices, and have your vet call the script into that pharmacy.

here is a link to the site, and with the talk about the insulin pens.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=151

link for setting up your hypo kit
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1122

If you do test. The main cost is in the strips, so keep that in mind, you go thru lots when your first learning.

 

[LuLuO]

I think Walgreens has a chronic medication prescription program for pets. You pay an annual fee and get the meds with a copay (I think)

Normally I hate Walgreens but I just signed our dog up for this as she will need to be on Lysodren for the rest of her life. It is $6 per pill. Luckily after loading her she will only need 1/2 a pill a week, but may need to go up to 1/2 a pill 2x a week if this doesn't hold. It was $20 to sign up and even after that I still saved $9 and some change on a 15 pill script.

I'm sorry your kitty has diabetes.

 

[Muushka]

You are suppose to only use one bottle of insulin for 1 month.

Hmmm. I have never discarded my insulin after a month, the vet never mentioned it and I just checked the blurb and it did not mention anything about discarding after 1 month. Where did you hear that?

 

[doggydoc]

Hmmm. I have never discarded my insulin after a month, the vet never mentioned it and I just checked the blurb and it did not mention anything about discarding after 1 month. Where did you hear that?

Very few people do this but it is true that the insulin loses potency very quickly. Humans take smuch higher doses than cats and therefore go through a bottle easily in a month. The insulin molecule is rather fragile and breaks down over time especially with handling. That is why the bottles are rolled gently for mixing and not shaken.

 

[doggydoc]

Again, be careful with the needles. More than likely your insulin for your cat is U-40 unit. If you get the 1/2 ml/cc, 31G (tiny needle) 5/16" (short) more than likely it will be for U-100. If your new needle is U-100, you will have to calculate a new dose. It will be 2.5 times the amount the vet prescribed. For example, my cat was on 4 units twice a day. With the newer, much less expensive syringes, her new dose was 10 units twice a day. Even the pharmacy didn't talk with me about this when I bought them (but my sister, a pharm, warned me).

You are correct on this, I would just encourage people to always be VERY careful with their calculations and decimal places. If you aren't completely comfortable with it I would recommend just paying the extra for u40 syringes. There are beginning to be some alternative sources for u40 syringes. Originally they were only available from the manufacturer of Vetsulin and were ridiculously priced. Ask your Vet to check with Butler supply, I believe they have lower cost u40 syringes now. Also remember that many states require a prescription for syringes.

 

[doggydoc]

Normally I hate Walgreens but I just signed our dog up for this as she will need to be on Lysodren for the rest of her life. It is $6 per pill. Luckily after loading her she will only need 1/2 a pill a week, but may need to go up to 1/2 a pill 2x a week if this doesn't hold. It was $20 to sign up and even after that I still saved $9 and some change on a 15 pill script.

I'm sorry your kitty has diabetes.

Not that it would BY ANY MEANS save you any money but there is now an approved drug for Cushing's disease that is MUCH safer and has FAR fewer side effects than Lysodren. The drug is Trilostane (sold under the name Vetoryl) if you are able to afford it I would recommend looking into it.

 

[Tina]

I had a diabetic cat about 5 years ago. I remember getting his insulin prescription at the local pharmacy and buying the needles at the Target pharmacy. I think I paid around $35 for a box of 100 syringes. Don't forget to invest in a good test kit. I used a human kit for about 6 months until a new one came out specifically for pets. I bought this from my vet for about $80.

 

[Muushka]

Very few people do this but it is true that the insulin loses potency very quickly. Humans take smuch higher doses than cats and therefore go through a bottle easily in a month. The insulin molecule is rather fragile and breaks down over time especially with handling. That is why the bottles are rolled gently for mixing and not shaken.

That makes sense, but if it was the case, wouldn't the drug mfgr's be required to post this info on their blurbs?

In my case, because my cat goes through a vial in 40 days, I am not going to worry about it. But for cats on smaller doses, it might be something to take into consideration. Thanks!

Speaking of insulin going bad quickly, doggydoc, do you know what the status is on Vetsulin? Have they officially pulled this yet or is it still on double-secret probation?

 

[doggydoc]

That makes sense, but if it was the case, wouldn't the drug mfgr's be required to post this info on their blurbs?:confused

Storage
Open (In-Use) Vial:

Vials must be discarded 28 days after being opened. If refrigeration is not possible, the open vial can be kept unrefrigerated for up to 28 days away from direct heat and light, as long as the temperature is not greater than 86°F (30°C).

Sometimes you have to dig for these things even though they should be in bold print on the package front.

Speaking of insulin going bad quickly, doggydoc, do you know what the status is on Vetsulin? Have they officially pulled this yet or is it still on double-secret probation?

They are apparently still having problems. Last time I checked it was on back order and before that there was a strict limit of 5 bottles per clinic. I have moved to glargine insulin because it is more readily available and seems to work as well. Only problem is it is u100 making dosing difficult sometimes.

 

[Alexander]

Did the diabetic cat thing for 3 or 4 years. My vet always provided the needles at no cost to me. He also told me that it was perfectly okay to reuse the needles as long as we cleaned them with alcohol in between uses.

I bought Novulin at Walmart. I believe each bottle was about $36. I probably bought one bottle a month--not really sure, it was a while ago.