When are you ready to help the FDMB?

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Phoebes (GA)

Phoebes (GA)

Member Since 2017
I want to give back so badly, but am scared to try and advise others. I have been a member since Jan, but still feel inadequate to advise others. It says I am a well known member but that doesn't mean I know what I'm doing with other people's kitties. I would feel absolutely horrible if something I said was wrong. I read tons of threads, but hold back from advising.
I don't want to be "that person" that always gets advise but seldom offers any.
 
Phoebes said:
I want to give back so badly, but am scared to try and advise others. I have been a member since Jan, but still feel inadequate to advise others. It says I am a well known member but that doesn't mean I know what I'm doing with other people's kitties. I would feel absolutely horrible if something I said was wrong. I read tons of threads, but hold back from advising.
I don't want to be "that person" that always gets advise but seldom offers any.
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Hi Angela,
You don't have to give dosing advice - many people aren't comfortable doing that. There's also an important role to be played as a greeter, commiserator, sharer of experiences, etc. Please don't feel bad. :bighug:
 
Kris is right! I don’t feel comfortable giving dosing advice, but I try to greet and answer what questions I can and tag others if it’s something I think they can better help with. I don’t know about you, but when I came here I was terrified and confused. The people that greeted me instantly made me feel better and all by just saying hello and you’re not alone, we can help. Thats all it takes, just caring enough to answer, you got that down!:bighug:
 
I moved a decimal point over one day, typing too fast and not re-reading. I could have killed someone's cat that day if another member had not spotted it.
You can contribute by NEVER being too timid to correct someone if you suspect a mistake. If they get their nose out of joint that's their problem.
Advice is easier when you see a dose that's obscenely high, usually the product of a nit-wit vet.
 
Phoebes said:
Lol some days still feel like that. But I know what your saying. I didn't know if it is exspected after certain time, to put on that hat, so to speak. :)
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No one would expect you to do anything you’re uncomfortable doing, but I think you’ll be surprised at just how much you know when you start answering questions. Many need info on food, how to test, giving injections and other things you have lots of experience with. After awhile you’ll get more comfortable and be one of the pros!
 
Angela, don't sell yourself short! You have learned SO much since you have been here, you probably know a whole lot more than you even realize! If you're not sure of something, you can always tag another member you think might have that info. We all strive to help to the best of our various abilities, and you can be a huge help by advising on areas you feel you have a solid working knowledge of. :bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
I think Phoebe's mom is wondering about being qualified. I often wonder myself about who is answering questions. Who responds to the 911 posts? I've certainly been helped by people here, even caught a problem that neither I nor my vet had caught. It was about food, not insulin dosing, but it was essential.
 
I think the biggest actions we can do is offer encouragement. There is so much to learn, and then you have to do injections and blood testing. Most people are afraid of needles.

I'm always disappointed and sad when we lose a kitteh from a relatively new member. Too bad this forum isn't somehow advertised at vet clinic. We could provide so much help.
 
sofapup said:
Who responds to the 911 posts?
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The same people that respond to the others....everyone here is just another member with varying degrees of experience and comfort level with giving dosing advice.

There are no official "dosing advisors".....just others with passion to help pass on what they've learned.

One way to gauge how experienced someone is is to look at their spreadsheets and how long they've been here. It's not perfect, but pretty much anyone who doesn't feel comfortable giving dose advice is going to say so.,

Nobody wants to be responsible for harming another kitty!!
 
Angela, you are the official giver of hope and love here! And it's not just fluff either. The first time I peeked at your profile and saw you had a Nova max plus ketone meter I knew you meant business. We cannot just wish things away, we need each other for what we might think are the most inconsequential things. Every little scrap of knowledge and experience helps all of us.
 
sofapup said:
Who responds to the 911 posts?
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About a month after I joined I started to feel more like a cheerleader than someone that could help. Three times I have simply opened a new window in Google and sent someone in a complete meltdown a list of nearby emergency clinics, the link and the phone numbers. That's usually stuff you have on the side of your fridge but you never know if someone in a panic can't remember. What's worse for me is trying to be diplomatic when I see someone thinking Holistic voodoo can replace insulin. I'm all in when it comes to alternates but sometimes......:banghead:
 
What a lovely question! It's nice to see people wanting to get more involved in this wonderful community.
As others have said, you don't have to give any advice that you're not comfortable with giving. Stick to general points to start with, or just offer encouragement to newbies, and as you gain confidence you'll find yourself adding to what you say to them.

Some of us find we have specific "roles" that we tend to broadly stick to - so you could just respond to people on the Welcome forum, for example, which is a good place to start. I'm in the UK and there aren't a lot of us here, so I tend to post mostly in response to UKers because I feel I have more to offer in terms of suggesting foods, for example, and newbies can be confused by the more common use of American bg numbers as opposed to the rest of the world. A few years ago I posted mainly on the Grief forum because I was having a hard time myself and it helped me as well as others to feel that I could speak from the heart.

So I would say - just post wherever you feel you have something to say. It could be as simple as agreeing with others who have posted in a thread, consolidating a point they have made, or maybe adding a short comment to bump the thread up if it's getting lost down the list.

You'll be fine!
 
The locum vet who got us onto Lantus also pointed me here. But that didn't stop me from being in a total panic when I first started. All those new people need help, both in terms of getting into the routine, plus getting supplies, as well as emotional support. In addition to knowing all that Angela, you have (unfortunately) knowledge and experience with inappetance in cats. And at some point in time, you might get comfortable helping someone who is seeing lower numbers. All of these are valuable contributions.
 
Diana&Tom said:
What a lovely question! It's nice to see people wanting to get more involved in this wonderful community. You'll be fine!
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I wish I had said that, perfectly put.
Another way to help is rooting through New Posts where you might find something not so obvious that you can help with. I think the tag system is great, I had never seen it before.
 
I wanted to slip one more thing in before dinner. We have next to zero members under the age of 30. Is being nice to someone such a foreign concept on the internet? I don't think there's anything we can do about it and pretending to be more groovy (?) than you are won't fool anyone. :(
 
It is very nice of you!!

I think every little counts don't underestimate the power of just one comment or saying hello or just sending hugs when someone is in distress or nervous and we've all been like that at one point or another, and just reading that someone else is around and you are not alone helps a lot, even if is not actual dosing advice,

And sometimes you can help with other issues not necessarily DB related but also important for our kitties, they are so complicated that you never know when something that happened to you or that you had to to will help someone else just being here at the forum and interested like you on others helps I think, so thank you very much
 
re What I said about looking through New Posts. I should have given an example. Some members go into Lantus or another specific forum and almost never pop into General Health. Lantus is bizzaro' land to me, like a mathematicians conference. I use transdermal BUPE on Noah because he hated the oral so much I thought he would have a stroke. Someone else with the same problem may never pop up in General Health because they've got support already. Sometimes you have to dig through things when you want to help. I certainly don't have all the answers, that's just what works for me.
 
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