Emaciated cat with type 1 diabetes

2 months ago I found an emaciated long hair calico that only has 5 pounds to her. Nothing but bones. Her name is Bones now. Anyway, my local vet never tested her urine, however another vet did and she was diagnosied with type 1 diabetes. No wonder why she's not gaining weight; she's peeing out all of the nurishments. Lantus is outragously expensive but I was given one bottle and been giving her injections twice a day. Any advice on how to care for her while she is on insulin, where to get cheaper insulin, and what the heck to do? I'm a single mom and a student and although I love her dearly and want to do everything for her, I cannot afford to. No one will take her in (I'm hesitate to let anyone anyway) becuz of her condition. Please, any advice would be appreciated.

I've read where a lot of cats with diabetes will thrive and reverse the disease with a raw diet. Check out feline-nutrition.org. Also, a lot of people on here are feeding a raw diet. Hopefully this is something you are capable of and can help.

You'll find answers to all of your questions as well as tips and advice on how to manage your diabetic cat without going broke on the FelineDiabetes.com message board The main web site is a great resource, too.

Lantus is one of the best insulins you can sue for a diabetic cat. It is pricey but there are ways to keep the cost down. Instead of buying the 10 ml bottle which can last as little as a month before it starts to lose effectiveess (since cats use tiny doses you're bascially throwing away a barely used bottle ) buy the Lantus SoloStar pens instead. Then pens are used the exact same way as any insulin bottle. You do not need the pen needles or use the pen the way a Human diabetic would. The pens are 3 ml each and come in a box of 5. That's about a 5 month supply of insulin you will have on hand. There's less insulin being thrown out when it starts to lose effectiveness . Some pharmacies may sell a single SoloStar pen instead of a whole box.

Levemir is another good insulin choice. It costs about the same as Lantus. Use the FlexPens instead of the bottle. The FlexPen is good to the last drop of insulin so there's no waste.

There are specific dosing protocols to use with both Lantus and Levemir to get the best chance of remission. The FDMB board can point you to those protocols.

Using a free prescription drug card may help save some money. Here's one such card: http://www.petdrugcard.com/index.html If you have AAA membership for your car, there is a prescription discoutn plan for members. You can look up the info on the AAA web site for more details.

GoodRx.com can show you which local pharmacy has insulin at the lowest price.

There are also animal specific insulins you can use. ProZinc and BCP PZI are two. I'm not familiar with either of these. The FDMB board can give you more info. I do know that neither can be bought at a Human pharmacy. You have to either buy from the vet or from a vet pharmacy (there are online ones).