My heart or my purse

[Wilbur]

My dog Willie was diagnosed 3 weeks ago and we are still working at regulating his insulin levels which means every 2 wks at the vet to check blood levels at $54 dollars each time. We have only had Willie for a couple of months at the time he was not diabetic but was on Prednisone from his previous owner for allergies. We took him off the steroid but the vet seems to think that was the catalyst for the diabetes. Anyway, we now have this responsibility. I am totally in love with this dog but my husband while he likes Willie seems to think we are going to be indebted for thousands of dollars trying to regulate this. He doesn't feel this is worth it and wants us to put Willie down. I WILL NOT do this. What I am asking is for people on this forum to give me a run down on how much this cost in the long run for you to regulate and maintain your pet. I would love any advice anyone can give me.
Broken heart
Dawn

[CraigM]

Re: My heart or my purse

Welcome to the forum.
Can't really tell you how much diabetes will cost, every dog and situation will be different. The good thing is that you are here asking questions early.

Tell us about Willy. What breed, weight, current insulin, insulin dosage, other medical conditions / medications?

Are you thinking about home testing his blood glucose? Most of us would be lost without home testing, plus it would be too expensive to rely 100% on testing at the vet clinic for many of us.

Craig & Annie

[Wilbur]

Re: My heart or my purse

Hi and thank you for responding. Willie is a 6 yr old Cockapoo, 33 lbs, 7U twice a day. His last reading at the vet at 2pm was 540. We check him again at the vet next Friday. I did order a in home meter based on the recommedations here on the site and will begin charting his levels to bring to the vet. I also saw the chart of insulin and their effectiveness and think he may need to go on Novolin N NPH or Novolin Premixed as I can just tell when he peaks. He is on Humilin N right now. Even having him for a short time I know I will do anything to get this right for him. I currently have him on Beneful Salmon, Rice & veggies for his diet and he eats twice a day almost 12 hrs apart. We both work so that varies between 1 to 2 hrs. He was on a very strict diet of Lamb & Rice due to said allergies but I wanted to incorporate more fiber with the veggies in his diet and he seems to be doing well on the food however, I notice that when we feed him at 4pm he begins to drink alot of water at around 11pm and then again at 2am and needs to go to the bathroom. Right now with being at work he snarfs his water bowl and really needs to pee resulting in accidents in the house during the day.

[CraigM]

Re: My heart or my purse

Great, he sounds like a great pup! 7 units is a normal starting dosage for a 33 pound, and the vet will likely increase the dosage at the next visit. It's very important to go slow, sometimes it will seem too slow, but you need to let each dose change settle in for typically 5 days when starting.

The next hint would be as consistent as possible. Exactly the same food, exactly the same amount, 12 hours apart. Yes, there are several here that don't have this schedule, but they have months,or years, of experience. To be exact in my Annie's meals I use a kitchen food scale to weigh out her foods. In Annie, just 0.1 ounce change in her meals would likely mess with her blood glucose (BG).

About the insulin, you might want to switch to Novolin-N before you go to far. The best (cheapest) place for most diabetes supplies is Walmart. Walmart sells Novolin-N for $25, lots better than the $75-85 you are probably paying for the Humulin-N. Syringes are also low cost there: about $13 for 100.

Time for me to test Annie's blood. I'll check back later this evening.

[SandyL]

Re: My heart or my purse

Welcome to you and Wilbur!!!

Like Craig said, every dog is different so some will spend so much more than others. Really can't tell until you start the journey

One very important way to save some big$$$$$$$ is to home test. That way you won't have to have the BG checked at the vet AND you can do your own curves at home and just email the results to the vet for a consult if they're agreeable to it. The initial cost would be a meter and of course the test strips. I personally use a One Touch Ultra, $20 on amazon. I get my test strips on eBay for $45-50 for 100 strips. You can get less expensive meters and strips and more expensive as well. Craig is our resident authority on meters around here..... He loves to experiment and test

My own personal experience with this journey..... I have spent less tha 500 on vet bills with my Tiggy for her diabetes. I'm a control freak and did a ton of research, found this forum and after that have managed this on my own without the help of the vet..... Basically because I didn't agree with their outlook OR the way they wanted to handle it AND we have been VERY lucky with no other major complications There are others on here that have spent thousands for one reason or another to maintain the health of their babies

Sandy

[Wilbur]

Re: My heart or my purse

Thanks again. Yes I am going to put a call into my vet to perhaps change him to Novolin N. I use a measuring cup to measure his food and he also gets a teaspoon of canned food for flavor that he seems to enjoy. I know I must be patient. He is so worth it to me but my husband is reluctant to continue this even in the early stages. But I love him so and want him to be healthy.

[momofdecker]

Re: My heart or my purse

It's a tough situation when budget dictates what you can provide for an animal you love. Experiencing that situation myself with my boy. His spirit is strong but a neck lesion is slowly robbing him of his mobility.

Every dog and experience is different so it's impossible to say how much it may cost you.

Here are a few examples of some ways we've saved on costs... home testing. We do the curves at home and email them to the vet for a consult. At the beginning we were given a meter and enough test strips to get us through eight months. Since then I bought a one touch ultra. I work with a great group of people. The husband of one of my secretaries as well as my director are diabetic. They happen to both use the One Touch meter and have been very kind in sharing any extra test strips they have. It really has saved us a lot of money. They've also passed along extra lancets and batteries for the meter. We've also purchased a Bayer Contour meter. Find it to read a bit low but still reliable in terms of consistancy. My father in law uses that meter and has shared lots of test strips with us as well. If you are comfortable with it - it may be worth asking around to see if anyone is willing to help out in donating test strips. Folks on here have used ebay to purchase test strips - paying close attention to factory sealed boxes and expiration dates.

I agree with Craig in terms of considering the switch to Novolin N. Since you are still new to the process it may be worth the discussion with your vet.

We use coupons a lot too. Decker was on the Beneful Healthy Weight when he was diagnosed. Would often find coupons for Beneful in the Sunday paper. Again, folks at work were great and brought in any extra inserts they had for me. Also signed up for rewards at Petco & PetSmart. Try to stock up on food when I have coupons to use.

Since my budget is tight I try to set aside at least $5.00 a week to put into a 'just in case' fund. Doesn't always cover the full cost of an unexpected vet visit but often helps out. Diabetic dogs do have compromised immune systems and can be more prone to infections. Again, every dog is different though.

Wishing you the best in this new journey! Holli

[Judi]

Re: My heart or my purse

Wilbur is a cutie. Ditto to what everyone else has said. Diabetes is one of the less expensive diseases for testing once you get the hang of doing it at home. hang in there! Judi

[thirdseasons]

Re: My heart or my purse

Hello Dawn and Wilbur! My Diesel girl ( Min Pin ) Was just diagnosed 2 weeks ago. TRuST me I know how you feel and it can get discouraging. BUT I have not found this to be throwing dollars down the drain. I have spent $25 on insulin and I think $40 for a at home BG test meter ( thats including buying strips ). I was at a loss and actually in tears. My husband and I even didn't talk to each other for a few days b/c of it. In his words " Thats crap that she has diabetes" I've had to been the strong one, even NOW when my girl fights getting a shot i have to be calm for the 3 of us.

Chad ( husband ) has no patience. He gets angry with her when she doesn't want to cooperate, and I have to tell him to calm down. I can honestly say its not easy, but have learned that your doing this for a family member and you don't have to change the way you treat them they are still your fur baby. You just have to work on the diet and regulation.

This coming from a person w/no experience but everyone on this page is so encouraging and so helpful. I've learned more on here in just a week and have felt more comfortable about the disease than talking with my vet.

This forum has truly lifted my spirits and i don't have that " i can't do this" feeling anymore. I hope your able to find comfort here as i did and hopefully your husband will be understanding. ( Mine is just impatient and gets angry if our Diesel is hurting, gets hurt etc; )

[Cebe]

Re: My heart or my purse

Dawn, I completely sympathize. I was laid off, had just started my own business, and had (have) student loans and other bills to pay when Zoe was diagnosed. I was firm with my vet that I don't have the money to do a lot of testing but in the beginning, I did some testing with the vet. Then I found this forum and learned about Walmart insulin, and home testing. I found a used alphatrack meter on Craig's list, found test strips on eBay and used credit card points on amazon for some more test strips.

It took a couple of months of learning but I hit a groove and Zoe seems ok. This disease costs me $25/mo. for insulin, $20 every quarter for syringes, a yearly vet consult with the vet, and because I don't test that often, about $100/year in test strips. My dog is fairly easy. She had a hypo incident and it was after that that I decided to home test. And she's been in pretty good shape ever since. Hopefully that will be your path.

I do spend a lot on my dog's food but its because of her allergies and I was doing that before her diabetes.

You can manage the costs. I promise.

[k9diabetes]

Re: My heart or my purse

Since diabetes is a completely manageable condition, I don't think any dog should be put down because of it. At worst, rehomed to someone willing to take care of a diabetic dog.

If you switch to Walmart's Relion N insulin at $25 per bottle, that's the very best insulin price out there. Each bottle contains 1,000 units of insulin.

Just to use round numbers, if Wilbur needed 10 units per injection, that would be 20 units per day. So each $25 bottle contains 50 days worth of insulin - just 50 cents per day.

Walmart's syringes are also a good deal and syringes are not very expensive in general - I believe a box of 100 is about $12. One box will last about a month and a half.

So one month's cost for insulin and syringes is about $24 - $9 worth of syringes and $15 worth of insulin.

If you test blood sugar at home, test strips are at most $1 each. Which means you can do a full curve for less than $10. The meter is an upfront investment, but buy a good one (OneTouch Ultra would be my recommendation) and it should last all of Wilbur's life. I still have and use one from 2005. And you can often get a coupon or rebate on the meter. But even if it costs you $80, over it's lifetime it's not much per year.

Natalie

[CraigM]

Re: My heart or my purse

Just to lighten the mood a bit, there is a potential good thing. After you get a meter, you will likely test yourself and other human family members!

[Rubytuesday]

Re: My heart or my purse

Love you Craig, you always bring a new perspective to the mix!

I can really understand where you and even your husband is coming from. I used to work at a vet's office and used to say I could never afford to care for a diabetic aminal. I would see people coming in the hospital with their animals so frequently for day long blood tests. So when I had concerns about Ruby, I am ashamed to say I buried my head in the sand rationalizing for a bit.

We had also just adopted Ruby. She came with a disclosed condition, EPI. Then she started regurging about 4 times a day, which the foster folks said hadn't happened there....., but that is another story. Went to many vets and no one could help us, all the while she is losing more and more weight. After talking to the EPI forum about it someone suggested megaesophagus. So I joined a forum for that, instituted the prescribed approach and no more regurgitation. Still she continued to decline. She had tested negative for diabetes, but I always suspected she had it. So I decided to let her go if there was no improvement after the weekend, but before I did I went down to get some UA sticks just to confirm for my own peace of mind that she wasn't diabetic. Surprise, surprise, she was.

Now at this point I have her, she is part of our family so I will give it my best shot. I started home testing right away. Come to find out my meter was very unreliable. We struggled along with the vets for awhile, but were not having good results. I had so much success with forums for her other conditions I figured I would find one for the diabetes.

With the help of this group we have come so much further. Ruby will never be an easy diabetic as all of her conditions seem to make the others more problematic. The biggest cost for us is probably the testing strips, so I have tried to pair the costs down and use the walmart Prime meter. The meter has it's quirks and the technique of the tester can help, but I am familiar with Ruby's trends and have gotten much better at getting a nice fat dollop of blood which that meter does best with.

I also have other meters that I have purchased for when my human diabetic friends have extra strips to share. Once Ruby was diagnosed diabetic people came out of the woodwork.

On the couples end of it we also had our problems. Jim really didn't want a second dog much less one with EPI.....or two other significant diseases. The first time she regurgitated - it was in bed on his head. S Now he says she can still sleep on the bed only she has to be in the corner by my head. Sometimes he gets irritated, but I still think he is a saint because I know a lot of folks would not put up with all that is Ruby.

What helps is the costs for Ruby's upkeep comes in dribs and drabs, but so far no big outlay. It is easier that way, doesn't feel as though I am spending as much and it can just be rolled into the household account. For as many problems as she has we rarely go to the vet and not any more then i might with an otherwise healthy dog who gets ears infections or hot spots, for instance.

I wish you good luck.

Tara

[amholmesy]

Re: My heart or my purse

Hi Dawn and Wilbur. Welcome ! My CJ was dx in may and I did not find this forum until July and it has been a lifesaver for me and for cj ! The people are so kind and know so much about diabetes and other complications with the disease and are so generous with their knowledge and support. I only startedctestingbin July as the vets I was with when cj was diag. Told me not to home test. I was bringing him in a lot as he was hypo ing a lot due to too much insulin. It was costing a fortune . Once I changed vets and took all the advice from the forum members I home tested and have never looked back. It's so much cheaper and most importantly you can see exactly what is going on . Even last night at fastings ( before food and insulin). Cj was only 3.8 very low so I gave him honey food and reduced the amount of insulin and went straight on to forum to ask advice . Straight away members came on to help me.

There will always be times when our babies need to go to the vet with perhaps an infection or skin problem but the diabetes itself as all the others have pointed out is not that expensive provided you home test.

Wilbur looks adorable - hang in there you will get him sorted out and am sure hubby will come around once he sees how little it costs in the long run to manage Wilburs diabetes. Recently a friend ( ex friend) was telling me hw his little girl had been sick a lot. He then asked how cj was so I explained how I was now how cooking for him to help his pancreas and diabetes. He said I should just put him down. I said well why don't you just put your daughter down she's been sick a lot. He looked at me and said don't be silly shes human and cj is just a dog. I said cj is part of my family and he's human to me he is my baby just like your daughter is your baby and I will do everything I can to give him the best quality of life he can have. I then left.

Good luck and keep up the great care you are giving your Wilbur you are doing great!
Xx

[k9diabetes]

Re: My heart or my purse

Just to lighten the mood a bit, there is a potential good thing. After you get a meter, you will likely test yourself and other human family members!

So true... I think just about all of us have wound up testing ourselves and a few found out their blood sugar was a little high!

Natalie