Diabetic Doggy..

Mayflower10cat

It is possible to use a U40 insulin in a U100 syringe if you do the conversion. I've no idea if the U40 syringes are more expensive, but I suspect U100's are easier to obtain.
http://http://felinediabetes.com/insulin-conversions.htm

janeys

Hi buddywitch, we measure his urine ourselves with keto-diastix quite cheap from online pharmacy. but when we took a sample to the vet we would use an unused disposable polystyrene cupwith a lid (sold this time of year for bbq's) similar to what you get coffee in but smaller. I dont believe the container has to be sterile just clean.

buddywitch

janeys wrote: »

Hi my dog is diabetic diagnosed about 2 years ago. We feed him dry chappie moistened with water as recomended by the vet. We buy our insulin from vet-medic, it is cheaper the more you buy. he is on caninsulin, we use his syringes twice, i.e 1 syringe a day. No one has told us how often to use them but they can get blunt and we felt that this was acceptable, We also get our supplies from hyperdrug and medicanimal. we feed our dog raw carrotts, which he loves as there is little sugars in these. we also use the dried chappie nuggets as bribes/titbits for him when he is on his walks.

I just had to buy some more insulin today and my vet charges me £16.03 per vial. How much does your work out when taken into account, perscription, delivery and vial?

janeys

Hi buddywitch,
from vet-medic it gets cheaper the more you buy. We buy 5 at a time as this is the maximum the prescription our vet gives us. The prescription costs us £10 but this price can vary from vet to vet.

if you buy 1 = £15.13
3+= £14.12
4+= £13.12
7+= £12.11
13+= £11.10
Postage is free. But we pay for it to be delivered by special delivery about £7
Our vet charges us £18.72 per vial of insulin so it still works out a lot cheaper for us to buy online

buddywitch

Mayflower10cat wrote: »

Buddywitch - I used to type this phrase often; 'the best veterinary diet in the world isn't going to work if your pet won't eat it!' It's so much simpler to find a food that they eat reliably and consistently and work the insulin dose around it. And to be honest he's your dog, you're his advocate and the vet is giving you an opinion, not a command! I have the greatest respect for vets, all ours have been fantastic. But they will all freely admit they are like GP's, knowing something about everything without being a specialist in any one condition. In time, if you keep reading and learning and researching diabetes in dogs, you'll have a far more indepth, hands-on knowledge than most vets do. petdiabetes dot com is a fantastic resource of information.
We used to test our diabetic cat's blood at home, with a glucometer from the chemist, saving us a fortune in vet bills. We'd test him before each insulin shot, just like a human diabetic would. We did all our own glucose curves, graphed them and printed off a copy for the vets file. Even now, I'd still far rather give an injection to a cat than try and pill one!!!

What glucose meter do you use?

Where did you get it and how much?

Many thanks

wannabepennypincher

I have a diabetic kitty as well, we have a freestyle lite that we got from asda chemist for £4, it came with 20 free testing strips. We find because we were taking him to the vets for his testing it wasn't as accurate because he gets stressed going so it messes with the readings. The cost of syrines etc isn't too much of a worry as it all goes on the insurance which has been a godsend, esp as we can't re-use his needles as he still hates his daily injections and often the needle gets bent with all the squirming (he waits til I push the plunger to squirm as its the sensation of the liquid going in he hates no matter how warm I get it).

It would be good to know where to find cheaper testing strips as these seem to be our main expense. The insurance won't cover the testing at home costs as its not part of his treatment.

paddypaws101

Testing strips are much cheaper on Ebay

tankgirl1

paddypaws101 wrote: »

Testing strips are much cheaper on Ebay

But for something that important can you be sure they are legit, have been stored properly, are in date etc?
I would go with the chemist, or at least a 'pharmacy' website

OP - I really would try your pooch on chappie! Its fab stuff - I have worked in many many vets over the years, and they have all been chappie fans! I would say your vet is in the minority in that respect!

buddywitch

Buddy is still on his royal cannin with fresh cooked chicken, carrots and runner beans, He loves it.When we get to the end of this bag, i will see about changing him. I think the issue with our vet , is that after 7months Buddy is only just stablizing and he doesnt want to 'rock the boat' and i have to agree with him. Seen vet today and he said we can now go for a whole month without seeing him, the longest we have been without seeing a vet in the last 8 months has been 10 days!

paddypaws101

tankgirl1 wrote: »

But for something that important can you be sure they are legit, have been stored properly, are in date etc?
I would go with the chemist, or at least a 'pharmacy' website

I have never had a problem, the strips come in a sealed tub inside a box and most advertisers will list the use by date. TBH, most sellers are diabetics themselves who sell off the excess of strips they get from NHS.
Once you get in to the rhythm of testing you would very quickly spot a rogue result if one were to occur...and could check against another batch of strips if needed.
The price difference is pretty significant....£25 for a box of Freestyle from my chemist, £10- £12 inc postage on Ebay