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Vetsulin / Caninsulin is a mixture of 30% semilente crystals and 70% ultralente crystals. And the people on various lists and forums who have tended to brand 70/30 as bad also despised Vetsulin/Caninsulin.
When Chris was first diagnosed, one of the two most popular insulins in the U.S. was Humulin L, which was discontinued around 2005. It was, like Vetsulin / Caninsulin, a "lente" insulin but made with Novolin or Humalin human insulins instead of the porcine insulin in Vetsulin.
Like all insulins, Humulin L worked great for some dogs, and when it was discontinued, those dogs' caretakers filled refrigerators with every vial they could get their hands on to keep their dogs healthy.
For others, it didn't work well. Chris was one.
Similarly people have sometimes trashed Regular insulin as too unpredictable. Well, that would be a surprise to me and Chris! It was the only insulin he used the last three years or so and it was his saving grace after Humulin L didn't work well and he was allergic to NPH.
It's one thing to say "Insulin X didn't work for my dog." That happens every day. It's entirely another to propose, believably, that any type of insulin either "works for all dogs" or "is terrible for all dogs."
I tend to think that the molecular match of the insulin in Vetsulin / Caninsulin can make it work faster for some dogs. And I suspect that some of the original problems with Vetsulin in the U.S. were related entirely to scary dosing guidelines designed for once-daily injections. A lot of dogs were being overdosed on the guidelines as they were originally set up. And there was never any reason to think Vetsulin would work as a once a day insulin. Humulin L was almost the same product and it was always used twice a day.
If Chris taught me anything, it's that the rules don't mean a whole lot to an individual dog.
Natalie
When Chris was first diagnosed, one of the two most popular insulins in the U.S. was Humulin L, which was discontinued around 2005. It was, like Vetsulin / Caninsulin, a "lente" insulin but made with Novolin or Humalin human insulins instead of the porcine insulin in Vetsulin.
Like all insulins, Humulin L worked great for some dogs, and when it was discontinued, those dogs' caretakers filled refrigerators with every vial they could get their hands on to keep their dogs healthy.
For others, it didn't work well. Chris was one.
Similarly people have sometimes trashed Regular insulin as too unpredictable. Well, that would be a surprise to me and Chris! It was the only insulin he used the last three years or so and it was his saving grace after Humulin L didn't work well and he was allergic to NPH.
It's one thing to say "Insulin X didn't work for my dog." That happens every day. It's entirely another to propose, believably, that any type of insulin either "works for all dogs" or "is terrible for all dogs."
I tend to think that the molecular match of the insulin in Vetsulin / Caninsulin can make it work faster for some dogs. And I suspect that some of the original problems with Vetsulin in the U.S. were related entirely to scary dosing guidelines designed for once-daily injections. A lot of dogs were being overdosed on the guidelines as they were originally set up. And there was never any reason to think Vetsulin would work as a once a day insulin. Humulin L was almost the same product and it was always used twice a day.
If Chris taught me anything, it's that the rules don't mean a whole lot to an individual dog.
Natalie