Diabetes in dogs and cats
Diabetes is common in middle-aged dogs and cats and is managed with twice-daily insulin, diet and home monitoring. Cats can go into remission with early treatment; dogs usually need insulin for life. Which insulin, and whether it is a veterinary or a human product, decides most of what an owner pays.
What it is
Diabetic pets drink and urinate far more than normal, eat well yet lose weight, and in dogs develop cataracts quickly. Blood and urine glucose confirm it. Dogs have a form like human type 1, with no insulin production, and need insulin from diagnosis. Cats usually have a form like type 2, driven by obesity and sometimes steroids, and a low-carbohydrate diet with insulin started early can put a proportion into remission.
Untreated or poorly controlled diabetes leads to ketoacidosis, an emergency, so treatment is not optional. Owners learn to inject, to feed on a fixed schedule, to recognise low blood sugar and increasingly to measure glucose at home with a meter or a continuous monitor, which has made dose adjustment faster and safer.
How it is treated
Dogs are usually started on a veterinary lente insulin (Vetsulin) or human NPH, twice a day with meals, and the dose adjusted against glucose curves. Cats are usually started on a long-acting insulin: the veterinary protamine zinc insulin (ProZinc) or human insulin glargine, which many vets prefer for the chance of remission, with a low-carbohydrate wet diet. Oral drugs for diabetic cats, SGLT2 inhibitors developed for cats, have recently been approved as an alternative to insulin for some newly diagnosed cats without ketones.
Treating concurrent problems matters: dental disease, urinary infections, Cushing’s disease in dogs and pancreatitis all make control harder. Spaying an intact diabetic female dog is usually recommended because hormones interfere with insulin.
What an owner pays cash for
Insulin is the recurring cost, and the choice of product sets it: veterinary insulins come from the vet or veterinary pharmacies, while human NPH and glargine are in the same market as for people, where a brand, the same maker’s unbranded version and biosimilars are the same insulin at very different prices and a prescription written generically lets the pharmacy dispense the cheapest. Syringes, test strips or a continuous monitor, prescription diet and periodic blood work are the rest. Pet doses are small, so a vial may be more economical than pens that expire before they are finished.
The medicines, one guide each
- Insulin for diabetic petsPharmacy can fill
Diabetic dogs and cats are treated with insulin injections twice a day. Two veterinary insulins are approved, and several human insulins are used routinely under a vet’s direction; which one, and from where, makes a large difference to what an owner pays.
- Famotidine and omeprazolePharmacy can fill
Famotidine and omeprazole reduce stomach acid in dogs and cats with vomiting, reflux, ulcers or kidney disease, and omeprazole treats gastric ulcers in horses. Both are human generics also sold over the counter, so for most pets they are among the cheapest prescriptions there are.
- Prednisone and prednisolonePharmacy can fill
Prednisone and prednisolone are the corticosteroids vets use for allergies, itching, inflammatory bowel disease, immune-mediated diseases, some cancers and Addison’s disease. Both are cheap human generics any pharmacy can fill. Cats should get prednisolone, not prednisone, because they convert prednisone poorly.
Questions for your vet
- Which insulin, and are there equivalent versions a pharmacy could dispense?
- Which syringes match it exactly?
- How will we monitor glucose at home, and how is the dose adjusted?
- For my cat, is remission realistic and what diet supports it?
- How do I recognise and treat low blood sugar?
How Script Unlock gets you a cash price for your pet’s prescription
Prices on this site come from pharmacies responding to a real prescription. We do not publish estimated, average or "typical" prices, because none of those would be your price.
- 1You upload your prescription
A photo of your your pet’s prescription prescription is enough. Nothing is sold on the site; you are asking pharmacies to quote.
- 2Licensed pharmacies respond
Pharmacies that Script Unlock has verified see the request and each can reply with its own cash price for your exact drug, strength and quantity.
- 3You choose and pay the pharmacy
You compare the responses, pick a pharmacy, and pay that pharmacy directly when you collect. Script Unlock never takes a patient payment and never sets the price.
Sources
- Merck Veterinary Manual
- FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine
- FDA Approved Animal Drug Products (Green Book)
Written by the Script Unlock editorial team from the sources above. Not yet reviewed by a veterinarian. Last checked 2026-10-03. Your vet\u2019s diagnosis and plan come first; nothing here replaces them.
Script Unlock is a marketplace that lets licensed pharmacies quote a cash price on your prescription. It does not prescribe, dispense or sell medication, does not process patient payments, and does not give medical advice. Always follow the instructions of your prescriber and pharmacist and read the medication guide supplied with your medicine.