DaisyPaws
Member
Hello,
New here - and apologize in advance for the long post but just need to tell the story to someone who might care...
We live in an area that seems to be a feline veterinary wasteland. The vets around here have a fondness for livestock, and sporting dogs, but seem to think of cats as lesser creatures.
About 10 years ago, we had a beloved senior cat with recurrent skin allergies. One of the two vets in town gave him what we later found out was WAY too high a dosage of corticosteroid. When he began to have problems, same vet ran a blood test and diagnosed him as diabetic. He sent him home with a high dosage of insulin and a return appointment for two weeks later. Within a couple of days, the steroid wore off and his diabetes went into remission, causing a major hypoglycemic incident. He survived, but was never truly "himself" again. It was beyond sad, and we felt so guilty for not being more persistent after we got the brush off from the vet.
Fast forward to today... our little rescue kitty had a dental injury a week ago after a fall from the showerhead in the tub. (She is a climber!) The vet (not same as above) gave her antibiotics and wanted her back in today to extract a couple of teeth if they were still loose. We dropped her off per his instructions and awaited the call back that we could come get her. As time passed and no call, we began to call to check on her. The receptionist insisted each time that they would call if there was a problem, and when she was ready to come home. Finally, at 5 pm (still no call!), we drove over.
The vet informed us that they did a standard workup before the dental work, and revealed at UTI infection and that the cat is diabetic. They not only didn't do the dental work, but left our kitty in a cage all day, without calling us. The vet went on to explain that it was closing time, but we could come back tomorrow to get set up for insulin - no need to bring the cat back in.
When pressed for details about the test, he said Daisy's glucose level was 900. He couldn't say what time the test was done, because "one of the lab kids" did it and didn't record a time - but it was "probably this morning sometime". His plan of action is to start on 1 unit of insulin twice a day, and bring her in for check ups every 2 weeks until everything is normal.
This raises some immediate red flags! First, cat has been on antibiotics (Clindamycin) for a week, and they gave her a shot of Convenia today, for the UTI. Vet does not know if Convenia was given before or after blood test. Plus, Daisy has been in pain (dental) for a week and was under stress at the vet's office. There just seem to be an awful lot of factors that could cause an abnormal test. 900 seems crazy high for a bright-eyed, active cat of average weight; if "lab kid" can't record a time - or his/her name - what makes us think the number is even right?
We asked about getting a curve, and were told we could "if we really wanted, but it will cost you, and won't change the treatment plan". We asked about home monitoring and were told that "it isn't the least bit accurate". As I am reading tonight, it sounds like home blood glucose monitoring has become fairly accepted practice.
When we asked about the pros and cons of waiting and testing again - to see if stress or meds might be impacting numbers, the response was, "You probably don't want to give shots but don't fool yourselves that this will go away. You have two choices - start insulin now or we could just put the cat down. We can do that today."
He never asked about her diet, or about her behaviors (water intake, etc.) at home. We know for a fact that cats can go into remission - diabetes may not "just go away", but the need for insulin may, at least for awhile.
We're feeling pretty shaken by it. Other than problem vet #1, the next closest small animal vet is over an hour's drive away, and quite possibly no better than the first two. We were burned before by blindly following vet's instructions, and even though it scares us to death, the only plan we can figure out is to try to establish a good relationship with a way out of town specialist (kitty cat road trip!) and then try to monitor and adjust as well as we can from home. That seems horribly wrong, but if the only vets around see no point in monitoring and adjusting...
And we're angry and frustrated, too. No one would consider this an acceptable standard of care for a child, or suggest that a child be out down because it is too much work to care for her. We're out $200 for today's visit, with a stressed, depressed cat who still has a sore mouth, and no answers, just questions. Money isn't the problem, but it seems a crime that someone could be paid to be so useless and cruel!
Sorry again for the crazy long post. Thanks for reading - and we're thankful for any suggestions!
New here - and apologize in advance for the long post but just need to tell the story to someone who might care...
We live in an area that seems to be a feline veterinary wasteland. The vets around here have a fondness for livestock, and sporting dogs, but seem to think of cats as lesser creatures.
About 10 years ago, we had a beloved senior cat with recurrent skin allergies. One of the two vets in town gave him what we later found out was WAY too high a dosage of corticosteroid. When he began to have problems, same vet ran a blood test and diagnosed him as diabetic. He sent him home with a high dosage of insulin and a return appointment for two weeks later. Within a couple of days, the steroid wore off and his diabetes went into remission, causing a major hypoglycemic incident. He survived, but was never truly "himself" again. It was beyond sad, and we felt so guilty for not being more persistent after we got the brush off from the vet.
Fast forward to today... our little rescue kitty had a dental injury a week ago after a fall from the showerhead in the tub. (She is a climber!) The vet (not same as above) gave her antibiotics and wanted her back in today to extract a couple of teeth if they were still loose. We dropped her off per his instructions and awaited the call back that we could come get her. As time passed and no call, we began to call to check on her. The receptionist insisted each time that they would call if there was a problem, and when she was ready to come home. Finally, at 5 pm (still no call!), we drove over.
The vet informed us that they did a standard workup before the dental work, and revealed at UTI infection and that the cat is diabetic. They not only didn't do the dental work, but left our kitty in a cage all day, without calling us. The vet went on to explain that it was closing time, but we could come back tomorrow to get set up for insulin - no need to bring the cat back in.
When pressed for details about the test, he said Daisy's glucose level was 900. He couldn't say what time the test was done, because "one of the lab kids" did it and didn't record a time - but it was "probably this morning sometime". His plan of action is to start on 1 unit of insulin twice a day, and bring her in for check ups every 2 weeks until everything is normal.
This raises some immediate red flags! First, cat has been on antibiotics (Clindamycin) for a week, and they gave her a shot of Convenia today, for the UTI. Vet does not know if Convenia was given before or after blood test. Plus, Daisy has been in pain (dental) for a week and was under stress at the vet's office. There just seem to be an awful lot of factors that could cause an abnormal test. 900 seems crazy high for a bright-eyed, active cat of average weight; if "lab kid" can't record a time - or his/her name - what makes us think the number is even right?
We asked about getting a curve, and were told we could "if we really wanted, but it will cost you, and won't change the treatment plan". We asked about home monitoring and were told that "it isn't the least bit accurate". As I am reading tonight, it sounds like home blood glucose monitoring has become fairly accepted practice.
When we asked about the pros and cons of waiting and testing again - to see if stress or meds might be impacting numbers, the response was, "You probably don't want to give shots but don't fool yourselves that this will go away. You have two choices - start insulin now or we could just put the cat down. We can do that today."
He never asked about her diet, or about her behaviors (water intake, etc.) at home. We know for a fact that cats can go into remission - diabetes may not "just go away", but the need for insulin may, at least for awhile.
We're feeling pretty shaken by it. Other than problem vet #1, the next closest small animal vet is over an hour's drive away, and quite possibly no better than the first two. We were burned before by blindly following vet's instructions, and even though it scares us to death, the only plan we can figure out is to try to establish a good relationship with a way out of town specialist (kitty cat road trip!) and then try to monitor and adjust as well as we can from home. That seems horribly wrong, but if the only vets around see no point in monitoring and adjusting...
And we're angry and frustrated, too. No one would consider this an acceptable standard of care for a child, or suggest that a child be out down because it is too much work to care for her. We're out $200 for today's visit, with a stressed, depressed cat who still has a sore mouth, and no answers, just questions. Money isn't the problem, but it seems a crime that someone could be paid to be so useless and cruel!
Sorry again for the crazy long post. Thanks for reading - and we're thankful for any suggestions!
now that you are smiling ..... 
