insulin for dog with diabetes

[buzz2400]

My uncle who is on a very limited budget has a dog that was recently diagnosed with diabetes and needs insulin shots daily. I am looking for the cheapest place he can buy insulin and needles. Any ideas?

 

[SandyinMonterey]

My sister's dog was diabetic and she got supplies at Walgreens which I believe is one of the most expensive places for prescriptions. I would check out Costco and Walmart. So far, I've found Costco to be the cheapest. There's a new App out there for just prescriptions, saw it on TV. I wish I wrote it down. I think it was called LowestMed.

 

[Ephany]

Walmart has their own brand of insulin I believe, which may be cheaper. Costco is a good option too, I don't think you have to be a member to use the pharmacy.

 

[maxiesmom]

Walmart was the cheapest in my area. $24.88 for a vial. The needles I found were cheaper at Walgreens.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

My cat had diabetes and I used to get syringes at Walgreens - I think it was about $16 for 100 but this was 8 years ago. You don't have to have a prescription to get them, so call around to different pharmacies and see who is cheapest.

Regular insulin (Humalog) was not too expensive, but unfortunately it didn't work for my cat. The vet had to order special veterinary insulin - the vial was $66 and lasted about 2 months, as I recall.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

My dog had diabetes and Walmart was the cheapest I found. It was Humulin brand. It was $25/vial. I had a small dog and only went through about 1/2 a vial a month. However, the pharmacy warned me that after a month (of being open) the insulin lost it's effectiveness and was to be discarded. To me it wasn't worth the risk to try using a month later. Your uncle may want to check with some experts to see if that is true or not. Because depending on how much insulin his dog needs if safe a vial could last 2-3 months. I just bought the syringes at Walmart out of convenience.

Good luck to your uncle! I was devastated what I found out my pup had diabetes.

 

[MissVeronica]

We bought ours for $25 at Walmart. I believe it was Novolin N. Strangest thing, you don't need a prescription. I just walked up to the counter and asked for it.

I bought the syringes in bulk at Amazon.

 

[buzz2400]

thanks for the replies. I am going to check all walmart and walgreens. He is spending almost $150 a month for insulin and needles.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Target sells petmeds.

 

[maxiesmom]

thanks for the replies. I am going to check all walmart and walgreens. He is spending almost $150 a month for insulin and needles.

That is a lot! I had a large dog that needed 2 shots a day, and I only paid $50 a month for insulin through Walmart. And less than $25 a month for needles. Please have him check around, though he may want to talk to his vet if involves changing the type of insulin. If his dog is well regulated on one brand they may not want him to change.

 

[magsmum]

Our last dog had diabetes and if I recall correctly (it was about 8 years ago) we were able to get the insulin at CVS at a discount- I believe it was a discount connected to our AAA card. I think we just showed the card once and then the discount was set in the systen. You may want to call and see if that is an option and if it is cheaper or comparable to some of the other options.

 

[danygirl]

Costco has the cheapest pharmacy and you do not have to be a member. Google online for prescription discount card and bring it in- costco accepts those. If you are a member there may be additional discounts. Talk to the pharmacist. I found out that buying four months of one med for my dig was the same as only a few dollars more than buying two

 

[buzz2400]

I will also check out target, costco and AAA card with cvs. I plan on hitting them all on this weekend and getting prices. thanks for all the replies.

 

[puffkin]

Also check with the vet. My vet had a "chronic illness" program and medications were significantly cheaper if you qualified. My dog needed thyroid medicine and it was much cheaper than getting at a "people" pharmacy. Unfortunately his seizure medication was not included.

 

[si-am]

My cat has diabetes. We have to buy our insulin from the vet, which is expensive, but it's not human insulin. Syringes are really cheap at WalMart, though. It's the only thing we ever go to WalMart for, actually. A box is $12 there compared to almost $30 at Target!

Walgreens here will not sell syringes without a prescription (which I guess we could ask our vet for, but why bother when we can just drop in WalMart on the weekend. Plus I think our vet would rather us buy expensive syringes from her!)

 

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

Our Jack Russell gets shots 2x a day & we've found in our area that Walmart is the cheapest for the insulin & needles. But they sometimes run out of the needles so don't cut it too close.

 

[maciec]

another vote for Walmart $24.88 here also. No script needed just walk up and ask for it. Sams is the same. Everywhere else was more expensive

 

[zoo2tycoon]

My kitty had diabetes. His was pet insulin and we had to get at vet.
Thankfully I was able to get him off insulin by changing his diet to low carb wet food. There is a wonderful site feline diabetes message boards that I found a few years back. My kitty has been diet controlled without insulin for 5 years. I check his glucose once a month and no issues. Dry food is one of the worse things for a diabetic cat (even those specially made for diabetic cats). My baby eats low carb fancy feast wet food. His high was over 500....today his glucose remains about 60-80. My vet was skeptical but supportive when I started this and his is impressed with the results. It took patience and work but in the end I honestly believed I saved my kitty. Know this OP was about a dog but saw things about the people saying they had kitties with diabetes.

Hope your Uncle can find the meds he needs at the price he needs. I know the vets try to push the pet diabetes monitors which are really expensive. I use a human one...but initially purchased the pet one. The human one is very close to the pet one. I buy test strips off ebay.