Frustrating Vet Visit

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dholowiski

dholowiski

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It's been two week since Tiger Lily was diagnosed diabetic. This morning was her second checkup with the vet.
Yesterday morning her blood glucose started testing normal (see this thread for the details viewtopic.php?f=28&t=30856)- good enough that she didn't need insulin all day yesterday, or this morning.
Needless to say, I am very happy and she is like a new cat! However the vet visit today was very frustrating (I"m going vet shopping!)

She tested at 95.4, 1 hour after eating, with no insulin injection for 36 hours. The vet was mad because I changed her diet - from dry food to high protien low carb wet food. She wants me to continue with twice daily injections of 3 units Vetsulin, and start free feeding her 1/2 cup of dry food a day as well. She doesn't think I should have changed her diet, because 'that's too many variables'.

I'm not a confrontational person, but it was all I could do to not blow up at her. I just nodded my head and got out of there as fast as I could. So today I get to go vet shopping - which will be fun in a town with two vet's - one of which I'm never going back to.

GRRRR.
 
OMG

I'm truly sorry. This vet really sounds incredibly uneducated and dangerous! :shock:

I wish you luck with the other vet in town....

Jen
 
Congrats on getting Tiger Lily feeling better! That is the most important thing of course -- you have the tools you need to take care of her blood sugar control since you are feeding low carb canned food and testing BG at home.

So -- no huge hurry for the vet search - especially since it is such a short list.
 
When you're not prepared for that kind of treatment, it can be difficult to respond coherently.

Its just a thought, but printing out the Rand articles and providing them to the vet for reading might help you work with her if/when the other vet isn't available. In fact, providing those articles to BOTH vet practices may improve the care each of them can provide to the community, so it would be a public service. Because the articles were printed in reputable veterinary journals, they will carry more weight than a lay person (even though we know you've read up on this!)

Hang in there.
 
Sad, isn't it, that the vet couldn't look at your progress and think maybe she could learn something.....The important thing is what you know works and how well it has worked!
 
Thanks for the kind words (none of which I have for my vet right now) and thanks for everyone's advice. The insulin helped my cat when she was at 541 (her first blood test at the vet), but the advice I got on this forum most certainly saved her life. THANK YOU!
 
Print out all vet articles you can find......put it all in a manila envelope........then give it to that vet. Trust me......she will read it just out of curiosity. Sounds like she wanted to put TL either back into diabetes or kill her with a hypo. I just cannot fathom why this vet could not understand how well TL is doing with your treatment rather than hers. Apparently this vet does not believe in educating herself at all and I feel so sorry for any future FD cats that come into her care. Hopefully those future owners will find FDMB like you did. Kudos to you for your care of TL and for not using a 2 x 4 on that vet.
 
I am not at home so I don't have the warnings links handy for Vetsulin... can someone post them here?
When you have the links, how about print them out and hand them to your vet asking how come your vet is demanding that you use insulin that has warnings against it and ask if she bothers to keep up with meds and such that are dangerous and should not be used.

Obviously this vet is not good.
When you go against the vet's advice and reach OTJ, or possibly OTJ soon, how that vet can say you have done wrong is scary.
Man, I'd be doing back flips and if I were the vet, I'd be thrilled and ask how you did it!

I don't know how long you were giving insulin, 2weeks or less, but I bet alot of the improvement can be involving the food alone. I think some cats, newly dx just need a wee bit of a helping hand with some insulin and a diet change, and they can be diet controlled.
For that vet to tell you to give such a large dose when the BG numbers are not high strikes me as a vet that should change careers, maybe gardening or something?

I don't know about you, but I would get another vet as soon as possible, just going back to your current vet to give her some info on FD and diet, and let her know that she has bought herself some free advertising I bet she would rather not have. OK that's something I would do but still, if this vet is so rigid to reject obvious good results, and push you to practice harmful tx, then I wonder what this vet knows about other medical practices.

We have to trust our vets because our animals can't talk. I would not trust your current vet.
 
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