Ottawa vet bills

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Esines said:
other test geriatric test same as what we wud have done at home?
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No, the geriatric blood test is one that's done on older cats to look at how the cat's body as a whole is doing. This is not a test you can do at home. Vets often do this to get a baseline idea of your older cat's health so they know whether it's diabetes alone that is the problem or whether there are other health issues as well. Other health issues can affect the treatment of the diabetes.
 
Esines said:
I hear what you are saying. I am just wondering if I am in a money trap. I am already worried about my fury one and to top it off after paying hundreds of dollars I am not sure if I am getting the correct treatement for him...
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The correct treatment for diabetes is the correct food, insulin and most important home testing.

I understand your skepticism about doctors versus people who are not vets and you never met giving advice.

I was the same way. I read through this site and a lot of the different posts for days before I joined. After all the vet went to school. People here could be crazy cat people (no offense, but you all know the internet is full of craziness).

The night I joined Smokey was hypo and I didn't know it and was about to go to bed. I was just logging off and remembered someone said it was good to get a before bed check. Smokey didn't respond to popping of the food can lid, actually he hadn't moved in awhile. So I tested and wham symptomatic hypo. The people here (sorry I wish I could remember who you all were that night, but the posts don't go back the far) helped us get through the night AND without a hypo kit or car to get to ER (and I didn't even know where it was). It was late night no one open. And as we were only (I think) into hour 4 since injection, we had hours to get through. If not for these wonderful people knowing FD backwards, Smokey probably would not had survived.

Sometimes you have to smile at the vet and agree, but realize some things they tell you just don't make sense. You do need the doctors for other illness that will come along and they will.

Read through different posts, get a feel for what really goes on. You will be quite surprised.
 
Your meter will work, just needs a real good size blood drop. Sometimes its troubling to get a good small drop even if ears are cold. Ask your pharmacist about meters that only require 0.3 of a drop and the prices of the strips for a box of 100. Usually you can get its meter for free if you buy 100 strips. My meter is a Freestyle Lite, I like it but several members here quit using it because it reports the high numbers to low. Ask what else they have that takes the 0.3 drop and what the strip prices are?

Reading all those stickies in the lantus forums will be helpful, even if you decide on another insulin. Personally I think lantus has been good.
 
Kris & Teasel said:
All I can say is that I totally disagree with your vet about blood glucose testing and feeding dry food to a diabetic kitty. That is NOT what my vet said. She promotes low carb wet food only and owner doing blood glucose testing at home.
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Agree here. My vet said to stop dry. I did cold turkey. Wasn't told to monitor. BIG MISTAKE.
 
Esines said:
Oh they told me there are two types of glucose level they check. Apparently they could figure out how he was last two weeks...
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The second test they're talking about is called a Fructosamine test.....and yes, it will give an average blood glucose over the past 2-3 weeks BUT an average is fairly useless because it can't tell you if your cat is going from 400 to 40 and back to 400 again in the same cycle

Again, you don't need your vets permission to do this!! After we got our script for insulin (which you don't need since you live in Canada) my own cat has never been back to the vet for her diabetes! I do what the people here told me to do until I learned enough to feel confident in my own decisions

And we've been at this dance for almost 4 years.....the only time China's gone to the vet was for dental work and when she was sick with an upper respiratory infection. ....Yes, the vet she saw knew she was diabetic, but I didn't ask for her opinion and when she gave it anyway, I nodded my head, took my cat and went home...and continued to do what the people here taught me to do
 
Esines said:
So at this point I have to go back at least another time. My hubby will learn how to do the shots. And that is 75 bucks more right there.
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I just don't get it. When I took Smokey from my parents and went to Smokey's vet to get supplies because was coming with me out of state, his doctor didn't even make sure I knew how to give insulin. Luckily I did, but he didn't know that. Considering we were in emergency mode because Smokey hadn't received his insulin for months AND he knew we were leaving in a hour, they were make appointment for next week and we will go over everything. I'm not driving 8 hrs for that.

Called my vet from the car. He waited 5 hrs for us. Did complete blood panel. Shaved him down because of the entire matted body. Got vaccinations updated. Dewormed and flea treatment (slightly anemic from fleas), made sure I knew how to give insulin and read syringe. Everything in one 2 hr visit running past normal closing time. He never charged us for any of it. So I don't get why anyone has to go back in a few days to a week to learn. Is it because they are to booked to show you then??????
 
My diagnosis appointment lasted about three or four hours vet came back said its was likely diabetes but had to check with other vet there that was more experienced with diabetes. When she came back she had a paper with some instructions to help, including several cat message boards and that i would need to home test and give injections. she had a paper describing the insulin, syringes,to get at pharmacist. then brought in two vet techs that showed me how to give the shots. She said start with one unit, it should be quite safe for Boo as he is large and they start even their average cats on one unit. they had me give shots for a couple of days and then come back and a vet tech checked BG then a vet told me to go buy a meter at pharmacist and strips and come back next day and a vet tech would show me how to test.
That happened and they said do a curve in two weeks and call in results. By then I had learned quite a bit from this forum including to test a lot more frequently which would keep Boo safer and gather more information to help get a better dose using either the SLGS or TR methods advocated and documented here someplace.

That was the last I had to contact the vet for anything and Boo is doing very well. Not regulated or in remission but he was a big overweight (30 lb) cat that dropped to 13 lbs quickly because of diabetes. He's quickly bounced back to a healthy looking big cat at 20 lbs within 2 months.
 
@babyBoo @Woodsywife
See these kinda things make me think my vet is just after money.
I was in the vet for nearly half an hour. They took the blood for 20 min and I asked questions for 10 min. The technician and the vet together did not answer any of my questions! They kept telling me we do not know for sure that the kitty is diabetic and what they tested in the hospital could have been just stress... Technician kept telling me "you ask good questions but we do not have answers yet". I have been told to feed him as usual including dry food and then that the test results will be in on Tuesday.
We came home; and a few hours later vet called. Told me the cat is confirmed diabetic and has uti. Told me that I need to feed him 2 cans of wetfood and 1/2 cup dry food. It was 5:30 then. He said I should hurry up and get antibiotics and dry food before they closed down at 6. So my husband rushed there and I had no time to discuss anything.
Now all that discussion will happen on Tuesday. I also assume I will get my injections and they will teach how to give it to cat. So your 3-4 hrs is divided for us and of course they charge 72 dollar vet visit fee each time!
Not to mention I now have dry food to feed cat and no injections. And logic says I am just increasing his blood sugar levels and not decreasing it. And it feels crazy. You guys experiencing this before think its crazy. Yet I am so scared to do anything else because this could be life and death for my little one!
By the way my kitty dropped from 24 lb to 15 lb in 3 weeks.
 
Thanks. Canada operates with world numbers. Most of the numbers you see when you read other threads will be in US numbers. To find out how your cat compares, multiply by 18.

For example, 24 x 18 = 432

Once you get to the spreadsheet part, the numbers should convert automatically. Setting up a 2017 spreadsheet is something you can do beforehand. If you have difficulty, just yell. There are a couple of spreadsheet gurus.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

A notebook to keep track of everything right now would not go amiss either.
 
Yes it is scary. A UTI can cause elevated glucose and stress from being at vets can elevate it also. Since you haven't started insulin yet, you could try changing the food (no dry) first and low carb wet, from now until your visit. It can start to help kitty now.
 
Esines said:
But the vet says with this detailed blood test they can differentiate between the stress levels and pure glucose levels.
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As a retired R.N., this is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Your vet is either totally out to lunch or he is picking your pocket BIG TIME! There is absolutely no way to determine how much glucose in the bloodstream is "normal" and how much is from stress. A lot of what he is suggesting in the way of bloodwork points to someone who is padding his/her pockets at your and your cat's expense.

Vets get precious little training on nutrition and most of it is provided by the food manufacturers so it's totally a marketing ploy. Then the vets sell the food in their offices marketed as Prescription food to make more money from markup when the ingredients are no better and often far inferior to many better retail brands. A glance at the label on that so called diabetic food stood my hair on end. Your cat is a carnivore. They do not need or thrive on Corn gluten, barley, wheat gluten, or soy protein. And the only reason they can label those foods as Prescription is because they do a bit more testing to produce paperwork for the priviledge of marketing it to vets but in reality, there are far better and more economical food choices available at your local pet stores.

In fairness to your vet, he/she may have wanted you to try the diet change to see if that brought the BG numbers down before starting insulin. This makes sense but then telling you to feed dry food seems to negate the point of doing so.
 
Just before my cat was diagnosed I took him to the vet for an an appointment where blood work had to be done because my cat wasn't feeling well and they had to find out what was going on. When those results showed he was diabetic, I had a separate one hour appointment a few days later where the need for a wet low carb food was discussed, I was shown how to inject, test blood glucose, and was given instructions on doing a blood glucose curve at home. They wanted this done 7 to 10 days later and I was to email the results to my vet. I left that appointment with pages of reference material and links to websites with good information.
 
Esines said:
I actually have a glucose meter and strips. But my vet just told me not to do it myself. She said you are going to hurt the cats ear and then we will have to treat that and it will cost too.
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Horse feathers!

The only time my Saoirse ever had tatty ears from getting her BG tested was when staff at the practice where she was first diagnosed ran curves for her at their offices - and that's because they were trying to draw samples from the wrong part of the ear! :rolleyes:

I actually saw them performing one test: two of them were trying to hold her! Granted, Saoirse was a little more anxious than in a home setting but please? They they made a complete hames of trying to get a blood droplet and my poor girl was completely traumatised by the whole affair. (((Saoirse)))

If the testing is done in a similarly cackhanded way by the staff at your vet's practice I can understand her reservations about testing at home, but after acquiring a few simple skills a home caregiver would probably buy and sell them when it comes to testing technique. :)


Mogs
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Critter Mom said:
Horse feathers!

The only time my Saoirse ever had tatty ears from getting her BG tested was when staff at the practice where she was first diagnosed
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DITTO! My Menace came home from ER with a huge scab on her ear. Looked like they had used a harpoon on her ear despite stating , "she bleeds well" on the written report. She has scar tissue at that spot.:mad: The rest of her ears are as pristine as they were before her diagnosis because I use proper technique and don't try to rush the process. :)
 
Louie is currently under the care of the Feline Diabetes Remission Clinic at the Royal Veterinary College in London, they are recognised as one of the leading expert centres in feline diabetes in the world. Here's what they did when I took Louie to see them 1 week after diagnosis Dec 7th.

1) took him off dry food and put him on Purina DM wet food. Dry food is banned.
2) changed his insulin type
3) did every blood test he needs
4) showed me how to use a glucometer and test him
5) advised me to start filling in the spreadsheet on this message board
6) told me it was imperative for me to test at home
7) showed me how to plot his curve using their free cellphone app

since then he has been diagnosed with acromegaly but that was something they picked up straight away and tested for because of their suspicions (further proof they absolutely know what they are doing). He is going for a CT scan on 5th January to look at his tumour with a view to having it removed. They have said they DO NOT need to do bloods again because the bloods they have are perfectly adequate. I have shared my spreadsheet with the vet who is looking after him at the RVC and also his curves. She emails me with advice regarding numbers, curves and any changes in insulin. She is requesting I do my own testing as and when I feel necessary but to plot a curve at least once a week. She does not need to see me, in fact she's gone to Slovakia for Christmas and New Year so is advising me from their. If it wasn't for the acromegaly I would not necessarily need to see her at all.

What I'm trying to say is that is how one of the worlds leading experts on feline diabetes sees how the standard treatment and testing should be. I would seriously think about changing you vets, either they are not confident enough in their abilities to treat Skinny or they are after your money.
 
Rebecca Thomas said:
Louie is currently under the care of the Feline Diabetes Remission Clinic at the Royal Veterinary College in London, they are recognised as one of the leading expert centres in feline diabetes in the world. Here's what they did when I took Louie to see them 1 week after diagnosis Dec 7th.

1) took him off dry food and put him on Purina DM wet food. Dry food is banned.
2) changed his insulin type
3) did every blood test he needs
4) showed me how to use a glucometer and test him
5) advised me to start filling in the spreadsheet on this message board
6) told me it was imperative for me to test at home
7) showed me how to plot his curve using their free cellphone app

since then he has been diagnosed with acromegaly but that was something they picked up straight away and tested for because of their suspicions (further proof they absolutely know what they are doing). He is going for a CT scan on 5th January to look at his tumour with a view to having it removed. They have said they DO NOT need to do bloods again because the bloods they have are perfectly adequate. I have shared my spreadsheet with the vet who is looking after him at the RVC and also his curves. She emails me with advice regarding numbers, curves and any changes in insulin. She is requesting I do my own testing as and when I feel necessary but to plot a curve at least once a week. She does not need to see me, in fact she's gone to Slovakia for Christmas and New Year so is advising me from their. If it wasn't for the acromegaly I would not necessarily need to see her at all.

What I'm trying to say is that is how one of the worlds leading experts on feline diabetes sees how the standard treatment and testing should be. I would seriously think about changing you vets, either they are not confident enough in their abilities to treat Skinny or they are after your money.
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Seems like I am the only one who is going through re tests a few times!
I have another appointment with them on Tuesday. I will go through these with them and try to come up with a reasonable treatement for skinny. If it doesn't work out I will definitely need to changr my vet. This is becoming too much!
 
Esines said:
They draw blood in from his neck and his paw. And they literally tortuted My little one.
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I'll never get this although I have to admit, my girl is pretty laid back in the big scheme of things when at the vet's. They take blood from her leg and no shaving is required. She protests being held in an undignified position but certainly doesn't sound like she is being tortured. My old guy on the other hand is a red flag cat. He climbs the walls and they usually take him to the back to get blood and I have heard him yowl too if he has not been sedated but again he has NEVER been shaved and he is a long haired cat! I'd be looking for another vet ASAP if I were you. It sounds to me like the folks you are seeing are money hungry, rushing patients through and padding the bills to boot IMHO.
 
I'm sorry, but I didn't read this whole thread. However, I too was always afraid of needles and injections. The first week that I had to give insulin injections to Leo - that was very challenging. But over time, I overcame the phobia, and now it is just part of our daily procedure. I hope you can become used to it too.
 
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