Kallie OTJ for over a month, but need input

[Joyce and Kallie]

First, I have to thank the people who helped me that resulted in Kallie’s successful OTJ, as well as the existence of this highly informative site.

I sent my vet a detailed email, which included documentation of her two week OTJ trial. After following up 2.5 weeks later, the vet finally responded, rather unsatisfactorily. Could I get some input on her concerns?

1. The vet recommends a BGC once she’s been off insulin for one week (extremely late, now, as it’s been over a month).

2. The vet recommends “diabetic patients checked at least twice a year in a hospital setting to make sure no abnormalities are found on a physical exam. There is so much that can influence a diabetic patient, and cats in particular can wax and wane in terms of their requirements for insulin.”

This vet completely ignored facts in my email to her which detailed the change in food and her drastic weight loss (almost a 1/3 of her body weight).

Any comments would be highly appreciated. I have started getting her used to brushing her teeth, as I know dental disease can cause a return of diabetes. I realize her remission is actually food controlled, so there will be no change in her diet. No more dry food or other high carbs.

Honestly, I am so upset with this vet. It’s like, do you even read? If you read my email, you’d know she’s been off of insulin for well over a week- in fact over a month!!!

 

[Bobbie And Bubba]

Hi Joyce and congrats on OTJ!

It looks like your last BG test was the 27 of Dec. it’s a good idea to get a periodic test to like you are doing forever! As you mentioned , remission is fragile and a bad tooth or an illness or infection can knock her right out of remission. As long as you continue to get spot checks I don’t think it’s necessary for your vet to do them. Your meter is giving you the i formation you need abd why spend that $$ ??

Kudos to you for brushing her teeth! It’s not an easy task on our kitties!

As far as the vet is concerned , I don’t think hospitalization is necessary for 2 check ups a year. We do promote check ups and BW twice a year on our sugar babies , but it can certainly be done at the vet office. And I would save my $$ for those visits. ( I’m reminding myself that Bubba is due for a check up and bloodwork )

If it were me, I’d be looking for a different vet that I feel like is listening to me and working with me.

Keep up the good work and a continued life at The Falls!

 

[Joyce and Kallie]

Thanks. I totally agree!

 

[Joyce and Kallie]

Oh, I didn’t put it on the SS, but I have been testing once a week and she is still in remission. I marked it on my calendar. Should I do a BGC?

 

[Bobbie And Bubba]

Oh, I didn’t put it on the SS, but I have been testing once a week and she is still in remission. I marked it on my calendar. Should I do a BGC?

I don’t think doing a curve is necessary on a cat in remission. Especially if you get some periodic test 3-4 hours after she has eaten to see that she is still in a normal number.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

If you are curious, you could do a curve at home. But honestly, what would you or the vet do differently with the data?

Many of our diabetic kitties are older cats, getting a twice yearly bloodwork and physical exam is not a bad thing. I did that with Neko, mostly for piece of mind. And it's one of those visits that showed her kidney issues starting to show up. Which meant I started diet changes earlier.

 

[Joyce and Kallie]

Thanks. I agree it’s not a bad thing for physicals and blood work, but I do not see that it has to be done in a hospital setting. I had to call around trying to find a vet that would allow me to do blood testing. I ended up at a hospital type veterinarian place. I’ll be taking her to a less expensive clinic, now that I don’t need to find a vet to allow me to practice common sense.