4/29 Champ AMPS 303, +5.5 354, PMPS 298, +2 299, +5 261

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Patty & Champ

Patty & Champ

Member Since 2011
Yesterday

It's been six cycles so I increased Champ's dose to 2.5u. Let's pray this shows us some good numbers :-D

I woke up to the alarm clock this morning, not a kitty alarm. I couldn't believe Champ wasn't trying to get me up to feed him! I started walking around the house, calling him, and getting worried because I couldn't find him. He's ALWAYS up in the morning anxiously waiting for food. He finally comes walking out from under my desk in my office. Geez!! He was so hungry all of yesterday that, yes, I did tend to feed him a little extra throughout the day. It must have filled up his food reservoir so he wasn't starving this morning like usual. Well, I have to be stronger this morning and not give him any exra food. He needs to get a couple pounds off!!! ;-)

I called my vet's office yesterday, asking why I still hadn't gotten a call back since I was supposed to have gotten a call on Monday (no call), and then promised on Tuesday (no call), and she assured me I would get a call yesterday (no call). I also asked for a new prescription for the Solostar pens. Wonder if I'll even get that. But my vet doesn't work friday-sunday which means I won't get a call for the rest of this week either. Wow. She really cares about Champ and how's he's been since she blindly put him on 3u b.i.d. with no BG testing. All I can say is THANK GOD I found this board. Perfect strangers have proven they care more than my vet who I've been taking Champ to for 7 years. I asked for copies of all Champ's blood work from his last visit and anything from prior to that. I'm pretty upset. His BG was elevated back in November of 2009 and she never even told me. It was 428 when he was diagnosed this past March, and not even close to that in 2009, but it was listed as "high" on the blood work at 180. If she had told me then, I could have changed his diet then, had him lose a few pounds, and he might not be where he is now.

And now for the start of my weekend. I plan on doing nothing. That way, if I get anything done at all, I'll feel really accomplished :lol: :lol: :lol: So here's hoping for a blue day :-D
 
Re: 4/29 Champ AMPS 303

ooohhhh, i love your plan for today! :lol: :lol: that's so funny. i think i'll adopt your plan too. gotta run to the vet's this morning and beyond that, we'll see what the day brings.

patty, in all of this, has your vet suggested champ get his teeth cleaned?
 
Re: 4/29 Champ AMPS 303

Hi guys .. I hope the extra juice brings out those lower numbers we are hoping for! I'm sorry to hear you are having so many problems with your vet .. And you are right, thank goodness we have all found this site .. who knows where we would be without it ... hope you guys have a great weekend!
 
Re: 4/29 Champ AMPS 303

Good luck with the dosecrease. I hope you will soon find a dose that brings him down into some better numbers, Patty. I know it is worrisome.

I cannot believe your vet. She didn't tell you last year that his number was high? Some vets think 180 is ok at the vet...white coat syndrome...but if it was a lot higher than he was previously there, she should have told you. I sure hope you can get the script for the pens. Unbelievable.

Hope it all works out and you have a great day. And Champ...no more scaring Mom with your unknown whereabouts!!
 
Re: 4/29 Champ AMPS 303, +5.5 354 - NEWS ABOUT VET

I called the vet office to ask why I hadn't gotten a call all week like I was promised. As I already knew, Champ's vet isn't working today. The head vet came on the line to talk to me and said he would have a talk with her about not calling me. I wish I had seen him sooner. He is so knowledgeable about FD!!! He has no problem with me following the protocol, but wants to read it and give me his thoughts, which I think is wise anyway. He LOVES the way I'm feeding Champ, but wants him to lose some weight. He thinks all cats should be on a wet-only diet and high protein, low carbs for diabetic cats. He gave me a lot of information about Champ's blood work that had been done on his last visit and on his previous visits. LOVES that I'm willing to check Champ's BGs throughout the day, but says that 99.999% of people won't do it, even if they knew how easy it was (he's probably right). I asked when I should bring Champ in for a visit with him and he said he'd like to see him just to get a current weight on him and introduce himself to Champ and to me, etc. I had asked Champ's last vet about cleaning his teeth and she said he was fine for now, it wasn't "too bad." I'm going to ask this new vet about it. If he says it should be done, I going to see if they'll let me make payments because when I asked before they said it cost $280...which I don't have since I just spent $100 on test strips on ebay and I'm about to get the insulin pens soon. But I have high hopes for this vet....fingers crossed! :-D
 
Re: 4/29 Champ AMPS 303, +5.5 354 - NEWS ABOUT VET

great news! wow - wouldn't that be fabulous to have a vet that you respect and wants to work with you?!

i'm not sure he's right on the 99% - i wonder if people had the picture accurately presented if they wouldn't be willing to give it a try. yes, the testing & shooting are hard at first - no quarrel there. but part of my motivation was that diabetes is a treatable condition - it affects everything but it is not a death sentence. of course some people wouldn't have the time or be able to afford it, but i think there are more that would if they had a teacher to help them through it.

have a wonderful afternoon! i'm seriously wanting to go make cookies, and i also know there's a haagen das bar lurking in the freezer - the last one in the box i bought. i might have that instead - might be better than the dozen cookies that i'd have if i made any!
 
Re: 4/29 Champ AMPS 303, +5.5 354 - NEWS ABOUT VET

Julie - okay, now I think I have to go make cookies!!! When I do my weigh in tomorrow at Weight Watcher's, I think I'm going to have increased because I had such a relaxing week that I actually ate, but not always what I should have eaten! :lol:

I think what this new vet was saying was that not many people would follow the protocol because it requires a lot of diligence and time. My own sister flat out said that, as much as she loves her pets, she would put them down because she doesn't have the time to do what I'm doing. I think she'd change her tune if she was going through it, though, cuz I've seen her with her animals and she loves them. I have an appointment with him next Friday afternoon. I seriously can't wait to meet him and see how he is with Champ.
 
Re: 4/29 Champ AMPS 303, +5.5 354 - NEWS ABOUT VET

I'm so glad you called today and got that other vet. Good vets are extremely hard to find.

Be careful about weight loss. Do you have a baby scale at home by chance? You want weight loss to be slow and monitored and give periods of maintenance ever few weeks so the liver can clear out. A cat's biology is very inefficient at processing body fat when it loses weight. Their livers can clog (feline hepatic lipidosis/fatty liver). I didn't know about this common disease of cats until my cat almost died from it.

Good luck with the new vet. He sounds like a keeper!!!
 
Re: 4/29 Champ AMPS 303, +5.5 354 - NEWS ABOUT VET

What great news about the head vet being on board with everything you are doing for champ! When you said $280.00 for the dental, I was in awe .. we paid over $1200.00 on mocha .. but she did need 8 extractions .. :sad:
 
Re: 4/29 Champ AMPS 303, +5.5 354 - NEWS ABOUT VET

Way to go Patty, I'm so glad you called again today to try and find some answers. I'm thinking it was good thing the other vet wasn't there. Maybe you have found one that will really care about Champ and actually listen to you. Sounds like he's on board with pretty much everything you're already doing.. Doesn't that feel good!
I hope the visit next week goes really well.
Have a great weekend and have some cookies for me if you're going to eat them anyway..
Good luck at your weigh in tomorrow :-D
 
Re: 4/29 Champ AMPS 303, +5.5 354 - NEWS ABOUT VET

oh now that's scary you guys, posting at the same time and using the same wording ...(on board).. creeping me out a little.
Do i spend too much time with you people? :lol:
Wouldn't know what to do if you weren't here.
But now, I must go work out.. TTFN
Squirrel & Tommy
 
Re: 4/29 Champ AMPS 303, +5.5 354 - NEWS ABOUT VET

I love 'kitty butt wiggle'. Hey, good news about the vet. It's infuriating to trust someone with the care of your furry friend and fine that they've dropped the ball, for whatever reason. I finally had enough and switched not too long ago. Between you, me and the lamp post, there aren't many vets out there who are as familiar with Lantus/FD as the dosing experts here. Most of us, even newbies (like you & me), are more knowledgeable about dosing. It's really necessary to have a vet for overall care. But as far as Gus' treatment of FD, I'll take care of that, along with lots of help and support from this board. Really, Thank God I found this place. I've said before, I would have had to put Gus down if it hadn't been for FDMB.
 
Re: 4/29 Champ AMPS 303, +5.5 354 - NEWS ABOUT VET

Bev, I can totally echo you on the last part of your post. When I was at my lowest, I was even wishing that he had had cancer so I could just put him down and it would be over, I could just get on to missing him. If it hadn't been for this board, things would have been so different, and I'm sooo thankful. :-D

And Champ can do the kitty butt wiggle like nobody's business. dancing_cat
 
Re: 4/29 Champ AMPS 303, +5.5 354 - NEWS ABOUT VET

Patty,

You must be breathing a sigh of relief now that you've talked to what sounds like a vet willing to listen and care. What a good cat mama for taking the bull-by-the-horns and calling again and complaining. Hopefully, you can start a new, mutually supportive relationship with the head vet.

When I told my first vet about FDMB, she said, "who are you going to trust, me or a bunch of strangers on the Internet?" Considering the fact that she was trying to get me to buy an expensive meter, not returning calls, starting him on too high of dose, I decided: strangers on the Internet! Best thing I ever did. Seriously, I understand the years of schooling, all the money that went into getting your training, etc., but they are just humans, with flaws like the rest of us, and sometimes their egos overpower their compassion. After I, (with the help of said "strangers on the Internet) was able to get Guinness OTJ I gave that vet a big packet of his spreadsheet, Tilly's protocol, examples of other kitties who were going OTJ, food lists, etc. She never said "boo" about it and I haven't been to her since. The last conversation I had was with her tech who told me they just went to a presentation on Diabetes and felt I should get Guinness on the prescription food. When I asked who sponsored the presentation, he himed and hawed and finally admitted it was a prescription food manufacturer. I was done.

Lastly, and I will stop rambling, I had a friend who had what I figured was also a diabetic cat going thru this at the same time as Guinness and I the first time around. She couldn't take knowing or finding out how to fix him and just let him waste away. It was very sad for me to watch and I wanted to offer to take him, but couldn't at the time (I was still in the learning stages with Guinness and could barely handle that).

So, in conclusion...Yeah for you! Yeah for all of us. I believe there is some sort of cosmic karma out there somewhere that recognizes that we are treating another creature with love and devotion. We are forgoing vacations, lattes, new clothes, etc. because we love our little furry friends. They are like our children and once we commit to taking them under our care, we stick. Good for your for fighting for Champ and realizing that him and you deserve better treatment from your so-called animal care provider!

Friday's I just let loose with the jibjab don't I? Have a great weekend!
 
Re: 4/29 Champ AMPS 303, +5.5 354 - NEWS ABOUT VET

Linda, I LOVE your jibjab, Fridays or any day of the week!! :lol: I'm a jibjabber from way back...got my degree in jibjabbing and graduated at the top of my class. :lol: :lol:

I know, since you have a six-year-old daughter, that I'm way older than you, but just from reading your posts, and knowing myself, I really feel like we're kindred spirits. Ah, hahahaha, that sounded so much like new age phooey. :lol: :lol: :lol: But you know what I mean. And if you ever need advice on how to deal with a prepubescent or hormonal girl child, I'm an expert. My daughter is 19 and I haven't killed her yet. I'm quite proud of that. :-D
 
Re: 4/29 Champ AMPS 303, +5.5 354 - NEWS ABOUT VET

Don't be so sure that I'm young, I had my daughter at 39!...turning 45 next month! Arghhhhh! Even with a nineteen year old daughter, you could still be younger than me! :-D

I will definitely take you up on that child rearing advice. Right now she's in that "I love you so much, mom" stage...only a few short years from the door slamming, "I hate you phase." I can't wait!
 
Re: 4/29 Champ AMPS 303, +5.5 354 - NEWS ABOUT VET

Patty:

I'm attaching the article from the Journal of Feline Medicine & Surgery that includes the dosing protocol we use. If you give your new vet the link to FDMB and/or print out the info from the Tight Regulation sticky, especially the links to the dosing protocols,, that may also be helpful.
 

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Re: 4/29 Champ AMPS 303, +5.5 354 - NEWS ABOUT VET

I had my daughter when I was 30 so you definitely have me beat in the "waiting until the time is right" department! :lol: I'll be 50 in August, though I admit I feel way younger on the inside. I embarrass my daughter with my choice of music (I admit to loving hip hop), but her friends love me!! :lol: :lol: Which is a bonus cuz I know everything about everyone!
 
Re: 4/29 Champ AMPS 303, +5.5 354, +10 284, PMPS 298

Thanks Sienne! I sent him the link to Champ's spreadsheet and also to the sticky on the Lantus page about "Newcomers, please read". I'm also planning on taking in a printed copy. I'll send him this link also.
 
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