Hi,
My aunt has an 11 yr old male dog. He has been drinking an awful lot etc but otherwise seems to be ok. She took him to the vet who has done tests etc and they have come back positive for diabetes. The treatment is 2 insulin injections a day at a cost of £85 a month!!. My aunt has just been made redundant and she is naturally worried about the cost of the treatment but doesnt want "nepes" to suffer. Is there anything else she can do. She doesnt have pet insurance either!

If she is going to be in receipt of benefits she could try the PDSA.  I don't know if buying insulin from another source ie one of the internet pharmacies would make it cheaper but she does need to ensure she buys from a reputable source as drugs are routinely counterfeited.
A very difficult position to be in :-(.  She clearly should not place herself in dire financial straits leading perhaps to the lose of her home for instance as that would benefit neither of them so perhaps the difficult decision must be taken and all you can do is support her in that.

Morning Isabel,
She isnt going to get any benefits as her hubby works, but they still cant really afford the vets bills every month. She kept saying " i must get the dog insured just in case"!!!! I really think the awful decision is going to have to be made.

This seems an awful high price.Do you know the weight of your aunt's dog? Syringes and Insulin can be bought on line for a bit less.

I have a dog who,when diagnosed weighed 30kg and was on a very high dose for a few weeks until she was stabilised and came down to a low dose. When she was receiving 51 units a day it was only costing me £20 a week for her insulin and £8.00 a fortnight for her syringes. The syringes can be used more than once, not a practice that I believe in, so cut backs can be made there.

> it was only costing me £20 a week for her insulin and £8.00 a fortnight for her syringes.

That's about the same isn't it.

Hi, the price for insulin and syringes etc is £80 pm. She said she was going to get in touch with the PDSA on monday and see what she can do from there. She is on job seekers allowance.

Yes it is but I wouldn't think that the Westie would weigh 30kg. The dose is determined by weight.

> The dose is determined by weight.

Not just by weight.  If it is anything like people it will vary from patient to patient and will also depend on their fasting glucose levels.

I don't know about humans. I just know that the initial dose that my dog was put on was determined by weight.

I hope that your aunt can get treatment at the PDSA for her dog. Good luck

Many Thanks for all your help and replies.
Will let you know as soon as she tells me.