Photorecon
Member Since 2016
Hello,
First, make yourself ready, this is no fun story but need help in make it better.
A couple of months ago my cat ''P'tit chat Minou'' (Small Kitty) started to stop eating.
Thinking it was a question of flavor I tried different kind of food without any results.
I was sure it was food related because it's brother ''Gros Chat Minou'' (Big Kitty) had reduced the amount of food he was eating. Difference is P'tit chat minou was starting to look like a skeleton. Getting nowhere I went to see a Vet to get advice on what to do.
At first he told to me he had to be hospitalized and plugged for a few days at several hundreds dollars a day. After some urinary and blood tests, he came back to me with the diagnostic, the cat was attain with diabetes and unitary infection. Being a rational men, I asked what it would cost to continue with this venture. The tests and diagnostic done during the hour was 600$ already, to continue with supplies, further tests and consultation was to cost another 400$. The other option was euthanasia at 250$. Logic was to continue, who would throw 600$ to garbage and loose his companion so I say let's go.
I did my home works, started reading none stop to get a clear picture and what to do to get successful results. The original issue, cat not eating, was my first point to attack so I went on to learn what kind of food to choose. The vet recommended me Hills MD or something like that but the cats would not touch it. Also, at 2.50$ a can it was not a reasonable option but I needed something diabetic specific at first. I went on with Purina MD bought at another vet clinic, worked pretty well but was still expensive 4$ a day for both cat (haft a can each at the morning and same thing at 6, 1h. before injection). This was not so bad, was working but needed something more affordable. After a week of reading about carb, protein, water, fat...
I found that :
http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf
Down here in Québec (Canada) many cat food were not available or did not meet criterias. What I found to be the best option was the Walmart Cat Food ''Special Kitty'' wich hat a low carb level : 2.7; was 70% meat and 30% fat. I got this information from the nutritionist of the company making this food (I called them).
But still, I was not fully comfortable giving ''cheap'' food to my cats so I mixed this food with Purina MD (50/50) for a total of haft a can of each per day (1 can a day for both cats). They were asking for more so I started taking ''P'tit chat minou'' on my knees and let him eat. Everything seemed ok, it seemed to get better except the GL was still almost 3 times higher than it should be (18-20 mmo/l) / (360 average). The test were done using the Vet meter (Alphatrak). This lasted for a month with the treatment with antibiotic for urinary infection done 2 weeks after my visit.
I was so desperate that BG was not going down that I started looking for an alternative in regards of food.
Dr. Lisa A. Person was very convincing on the benefit of raw food that I started studying this solution. For what I learned, raw meat only is no good, lots of nutriment and vitamins that a required for health are not present. So again, I was back to the drawing board looking for what was required with information from different sources.
Dr. A Person seemed to have a recipe that was containing what was needed (vitamin B50, E, Torrine, salmon oil, Meal Bone, Meat with fat and so on...) I bought a meat grinder / mixer and bought some turkey wich, P'tit Chat Minou loved raw (without vitamins). I didn't give him that much.
When my order for all the vitamins and other products arrived, I put everything with scramble eggs, slightly cooked meat (to kill bacteria), water... in the mixer and let it run. I was sure I had found the right cost/quantity solution. I was very apprehensive at first but got a conclusion pretty quickly, they would not touch the food. Even with a spoon under their nose my cats would turn their head and go away. All this time, energy and hope food and ingredients just been wasted. I was back to square one.
In the main while, I had completely lost confidence in my Vet. He tried to sell me a human glucose meter (Accucheck Aviva) for 250$ + 50 strips for 125$) and no, it was not the Alphatrack II for pet, it was the one you get for free when purchasing 100 strips for 70$.
Also, during this entire month I was not able to have any advice, all I was getting is conversation with a veterinary technician telling me everything was normal. This was not part of our deal, when I left the office, I asked the Vet if we had a partnership in this file, working together. His answer was that yes, we would work as a team. After my account was lighten of 1200$ the story was different. There was always an operation, and office urgency EVERY DAY. The only way to get any advice was to spend another 60$ to get an appointment.
Cat was not getting better, I was not getting any help, had been stolen by a malicious vet, this was it for this clinic. So I switched to a new vet with good comments from an employee at my pet store. Went there last week (to the new vet clinic), my impression was good and it seemed they were available and proposing solution on a per required basis. I had taken with me blood test results I had paid 200$ for, my meter, syringe, picture of my insulin capsule and glucose chart (I had done). The first thing the new Vet noticed, is that the urinary infection was still on, second the cat was very dehydrated, third there was infection due to scale accumulation in the back of his mouth. He fixed this up for free but said there would be more ''heavy'' need in this regards requiring anesthesia. I went back home with antibiotic to give twice a day, a 1 Oz syringe, instructions to give him 5 doses of water with it every day and see how it goes.
I had great hope this was to be a new start but it was not to be. The cat just stopped eating again this
week.
The same food he was furiously eating last week (Purina MD) is just perishing aside now. I put haft a can at the morning to arrive home and realize that it's still there. I start to think I should go with a final injection.
Instead of reading about photography, experimenting with my different lenses I'm all immerse in what seems to be a down spin spiral. I have the spirit of a soldier, ready to meet any challenge but this one is just bad on my moral, finance and social life. I've always been someone who had to work very hard to get what he wants, but eventually I reach my goals. This one, save my little cat, seems to be something I've no control over and is becoming sad. ''Having a diabetic cat is something fun'', the vet told me the first day, in early March. If this is what having fun is I can't imagine what sadness is.
Sorry for dumping all this on your blog, just need some help and advice I guess. I can help others also, I have a master degree in glucose meter
, I've tried 3 to find the most accurate and affordable solution, one I had to develop because nothing worked with information hard to find on the Intetnet.
Sébastien
*thanks for your comprehension on possible mistake in my English, French is my native but I'm sure it can be understood.
First, make yourself ready, this is no fun story but need help in make it better.
A couple of months ago my cat ''P'tit chat Minou'' (Small Kitty) started to stop eating.
Thinking it was a question of flavor I tried different kind of food without any results.
I was sure it was food related because it's brother ''Gros Chat Minou'' (Big Kitty) had reduced the amount of food he was eating. Difference is P'tit chat minou was starting to look like a skeleton. Getting nowhere I went to see a Vet to get advice on what to do.
At first he told to me he had to be hospitalized and plugged for a few days at several hundreds dollars a day. After some urinary and blood tests, he came back to me with the diagnostic, the cat was attain with diabetes and unitary infection. Being a rational men, I asked what it would cost to continue with this venture. The tests and diagnostic done during the hour was 600$ already, to continue with supplies, further tests and consultation was to cost another 400$. The other option was euthanasia at 250$. Logic was to continue, who would throw 600$ to garbage and loose his companion so I say let's go.
I did my home works, started reading none stop to get a clear picture and what to do to get successful results. The original issue, cat not eating, was my first point to attack so I went on to learn what kind of food to choose. The vet recommended me Hills MD or something like that but the cats would not touch it. Also, at 2.50$ a can it was not a reasonable option but I needed something diabetic specific at first. I went on with Purina MD bought at another vet clinic, worked pretty well but was still expensive 4$ a day for both cat (haft a can each at the morning and same thing at 6, 1h. before injection). This was not so bad, was working but needed something more affordable. After a week of reading about carb, protein, water, fat...
I found that :
http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf
Down here in Québec (Canada) many cat food were not available or did not meet criterias. What I found to be the best option was the Walmart Cat Food ''Special Kitty'' wich hat a low carb level : 2.7; was 70% meat and 30% fat. I got this information from the nutritionist of the company making this food (I called them).
But still, I was not fully comfortable giving ''cheap'' food to my cats so I mixed this food with Purina MD (50/50) for a total of haft a can of each per day (1 can a day for both cats). They were asking for more so I started taking ''P'tit chat minou'' on my knees and let him eat. Everything seemed ok, it seemed to get better except the GL was still almost 3 times higher than it should be (18-20 mmo/l) / (360 average). The test were done using the Vet meter (Alphatrak). This lasted for a month with the treatment with antibiotic for urinary infection done 2 weeks after my visit.
I was so desperate that BG was not going down that I started looking for an alternative in regards of food.
Dr. Lisa A. Person was very convincing on the benefit of raw food that I started studying this solution. For what I learned, raw meat only is no good, lots of nutriment and vitamins that a required for health are not present. So again, I was back to the drawing board looking for what was required with information from different sources.
Dr. A Person seemed to have a recipe that was containing what was needed (vitamin B50, E, Torrine, salmon oil, Meal Bone, Meat with fat and so on...) I bought a meat grinder / mixer and bought some turkey wich, P'tit Chat Minou loved raw (without vitamins). I didn't give him that much.
When my order for all the vitamins and other products arrived, I put everything with scramble eggs, slightly cooked meat (to kill bacteria), water... in the mixer and let it run. I was sure I had found the right cost/quantity solution. I was very apprehensive at first but got a conclusion pretty quickly, they would not touch the food. Even with a spoon under their nose my cats would turn their head and go away. All this time, energy and hope food and ingredients just been wasted. I was back to square one.
In the main while, I had completely lost confidence in my Vet. He tried to sell me a human glucose meter (Accucheck Aviva) for 250$ + 50 strips for 125$) and no, it was not the Alphatrack II for pet, it was the one you get for free when purchasing 100 strips for 70$.
Also, during this entire month I was not able to have any advice, all I was getting is conversation with a veterinary technician telling me everything was normal. This was not part of our deal, when I left the office, I asked the Vet if we had a partnership in this file, working together. His answer was that yes, we would work as a team. After my account was lighten of 1200$ the story was different. There was always an operation, and office urgency EVERY DAY. The only way to get any advice was to spend another 60$ to get an appointment.
Cat was not getting better, I was not getting any help, had been stolen by a malicious vet, this was it for this clinic. So I switched to a new vet with good comments from an employee at my pet store. Went there last week (to the new vet clinic), my impression was good and it seemed they were available and proposing solution on a per required basis. I had taken with me blood test results I had paid 200$ for, my meter, syringe, picture of my insulin capsule and glucose chart (I had done). The first thing the new Vet noticed, is that the urinary infection was still on, second the cat was very dehydrated, third there was infection due to scale accumulation in the back of his mouth. He fixed this up for free but said there would be more ''heavy'' need in this regards requiring anesthesia. I went back home with antibiotic to give twice a day, a 1 Oz syringe, instructions to give him 5 doses of water with it every day and see how it goes.
I had great hope this was to be a new start but it was not to be. The cat just stopped eating again this
week.
The same food he was furiously eating last week (Purina MD) is just perishing aside now. I put haft a can at the morning to arrive home and realize that it's still there. I start to think I should go with a final injection.
Instead of reading about photography, experimenting with my different lenses I'm all immerse in what seems to be a down spin spiral. I have the spirit of a soldier, ready to meet any challenge but this one is just bad on my moral, finance and social life. I've always been someone who had to work very hard to get what he wants, but eventually I reach my goals. This one, save my little cat, seems to be something I've no control over and is becoming sad. ''Having a diabetic cat is something fun'', the vet told me the first day, in early March. If this is what having fun is I can't imagine what sadness is.
Sorry for dumping all this on your blog, just need some help and advice I guess. I can help others also, I have a master degree in glucose meter
, I've tried 3 to find the most accurate and affordable solution, one I had to develop because nothing worked with information hard to find on the Intetnet.Sébastien
*thanks for your comprehension on possible mistake in my English, French is my native but I'm sure it can be understood.
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