Frustrated with Vet and Techs

R

Robbimo

Member Since 2026
My 11yr old Winston was diagnosed diabetic 8/25 and started Prozinc, 2 units, twice a day on 8/28. The vet sent us home and told me to go to a couple websites and learn about it. I have the injections down. He does seem to be feeling better and we are ready to do a glucose curve. I called to set that appt and because of my work schedule dictating my injection times they can not do it. They recommended I get the freestyle Libre. I took Winston back to the vet this morning along with the device to be installed, they shaved him prepared the device and it did not install properly. I brought him home with the shaved patch and no way to monitor. The whole experience with the vet feels like they don’t really know or care what they are doing. I think I will get a glucometer and figure it out myself. There is SO much great material in this forum and I am grateful. — But I am so mad and sad my vet office that I have been going to for 30 years can’t seem to support us as we go through this. I’m just blowing off steam.😤
 
You and many members are upset about their vets, did the vet placed the sensor with glue? if so, that is the reason you are not getting a reading, you can place the sensor yourself, the instructions are as easy as taking a wrapper off a lollipop, and it is good for you to get a human monitor anyways, because the sensor tends to read low numbers lower than reality, in that case you need to test manually and take the human monitor number as value, you can get the ReliOn human monitor and strips at Walmart, the monitor is $9.00 and the strips are $9.00 for 50 and $17.88 for 100, is good to have many strips handy, especially at the beginning that you start learning how to test. Also 2 units is a high dose, we recommend to start slow with 1.00 unit, it takes about 2 cycles (2days) to begin to see results in Winston's levels, so keeping the same dose is important
It is not necessary for the vet to the curve, you can do this at home, a curve is testing every 2 hours for 1 cycle (12 hours)
a curve at the vets' office is expensive and the levels will not be accurate, cats are very sensitive to stress, causing to raise Winston's levels and a possibly an unnecessary increase of dose. We still need you to create your signature and spreadsheet, we are very numbers oriented, this way we can all be on the same page, and by seeing how the insulin reacts in Winston's system we can give you dosing advice, if you have trouble creating the spreadsheet we can create it for you

Sticky - New? How You Can Help Us Help You!
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/spreadsheets-tech-support-testing-area.6/
 
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Thank you for responding , the sensor did not get attached so I am probably going to test manually myself. The vet and techs seem incompetent.
 
You can do This, I'm sure Ivy will give you good advice, although manually testing is not hard, we have many tips, to make it easy, the sensors for the CGM only last 14 days and they are expensive they do have flaws, they can fall off or the cat can remove it, most of all the members use manual testing with a human meter, you do not need a Pet meter, the strips are very expensive $1.00 each, below is a link on home testing
Hometesting Links and Tips
 
Hello and welcome!
Below is a link we have prepared with lots of great information about using a Libre sensor, if you choose to go that route.
If Winston allows you to do manual blood pokes, that's even better (my cat doesn't tolerate that, thus I use a Libre).
Vet techs aren't very savvy in applying a Libre too often from what we read. Glue is a HUGE no no, it destroys the delivate filament and our cats' skin too.
It's not hard to apply the Libre, just takes a little practice. They don't tend to just "fall off" as mentioned above.
A cat may try to pull it off, as it's a foreign object on their body.
I keep the Libre covered with a tube top (most cats use a tee shirt or a type of wrap over the sensor to protect it) for best results. Some cats don't mind it and leave it alone.

Please read the below information and ask questions if you have them, I also highly suggest the Facebook group Freestyle Libre for Dogs and Cats, tons of extensive information and a community of Libre users to answer questions.
Getting Started With Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) for Diabetic Cats
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