MA Vets that will help with Wet Food transition

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jguyott06

Member Since 2013
Hello all. My 13 1/2 year old was just diagnosed today. In addition to Lantus 2 x's a day the first thing my vet prescribed was Purina DM DRY and moist. She also said that my kitty would never be able to come off of the insulin and that all cats end up living on it forever. After reading all of the research on line I want to safely transition him off of dry and onto low carb moist as soon as possible in hopes of getting him off of the insulin and improving his health. Ironically the second thing my vet said to me was to ignore all of the info on the internet so it is critical that I find a new vet who is on board with assisting me with safely transitioning my kitty onto all moist and also home blood glucose testing. Right now my vet only has me urine testing at home. Does anyone know of any vets in western MA or in CT that are on board with this approach?

Thank you,
Janet
 
Not sure of any vets in your area, but someone else will probably stop by and be able to suggest a few vets for you.

Most vets are general practitioners, so finding one who is knowledgeable in not just diabetes but also feline diabetes is a rare thing. At the very least, what I would suggest is finding a vet that supports home-testing and leaves you alone to pretty much do your own thing. At the very most, you might get lucky and find one of those rare gems. ;-)
 
I just got a message from Valerie (&Cricket) from DCIN. She is not on this board but she recommended Dr. Maureen Ricksgers of The Cat Hospital in Northampton, MA. I trust you can Google for contact info.

MJ
 
See my signature link Vet Interview Topics for questions to discuss with candidate vets.

Happy hunting!

And have you learned to home test yet?
 
Thank you everyone from the bottom of my heart for all of your help and amazingly fast responses. I am drying my tears and breathing a little sigh of relief already. I will call Dr. Maureen first thing in the morning and have begun watching videos on home testing.

Much love,
Janet & Shadow
 
hi Janet

don't panic! Most people here were in the same position as you at some point and we got through it :-D
Stay on the board and post any questions, concerns etc.. and someone will respond. Everyone is very helpful and caring!

Denise
 
You should also be able to return the Purina DM Dry if you bought it from your vet. Again, most vets aren't trained in nutrition, much less feline nutrition, and those that are trained are trained by the pet food companies! :o

My vet is a huge Hills Prescription advocate, but I give him grace because he doesn't know any better. (Heck, I didn't know any better till I joined here!) When I returned my bag of Hills Prescription M/D dry to them and they asked why, I had a print-out of the AAHA Diabetes Guidelines with the section about canned foods vs. dry on page 4 of the PDF (218 of the Journal) highlighted. I also had a copy of the catinfo.org food list printed out, showing the Hills Prescription M/D at 14 carbs...and that was for the wet! Dry food is always higher in carbs than wet. My vet was shocked by this and asked if he could keep both print-outs because he'd never had any idea.
 
That is a great idea and I will do the same when I return the DM to my vet. Thanks for the excellent advice!
 
IMO, you don't need to follow every single advice/suggestion/recommendation your vet gives you. Sometimes the vet isn't up to date with current methods/treatments. This board has seen newbies come with dangerous harmful advice/treatment given by the vet (like a huge amount of insulin). If you want to feed YOUR cat canned food, then go ahead and do it. The vet can't control what you do with your cat at home. The vet may get upset or whatever but that shouldn't be any reason not to continue working with you. If your vet refuses to work with you just because you won't feed the prescription stuff, then it's time to find a new vet.

This board can help you make the safe transition from dry food to canned food. Daily blood glucose testing is key to prevent hypoglycemia.

jguyott06 said:
She also said that my kitty would never be able to come off of the insulin and that all cats end up living on it forever.
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Your vet is WRONG. There are many cats who do go into remission, some within a very short time after starting insulin and the right diet. Lantus in particular is a very good insulin to use for cats. The remission rate is 80% or so as long as the well known published dosing protocol is followed and the right diet is fed.

Right now my vet only has me urine testing at home.
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Urine testing is only useful to detect the presence of ketones, which can lead to a serious condition called ketoacidosis. All diabetics have glucose in their urine which builds up since the last trip to the litter box so the glucose reading is always high. Did the vet give you those GlucoTest confetti to put in the litter box? You can use KetoStix or KetoDiastix from the pharmacy instead.


Does anyone know of any vets in western MA or in CT that are on board with this approach?
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A former member has used this CT vet: http://www.danburycatclinic.com/
 
Maui is a prime example of a cat using Lantus and going into remission in three months. It's now almost 4 years later and she is still in remission.

Does this happen for every cat, no. But can it happen, of course!

My former vet never discussed food with me, she was more concerned that I DO NOT home test than anything. Why, she didn't want the legal liability if I did this myself and something went wrong. She actually told me that she would no longer treat Maui if I home tested. Needless to say, this is now the former vet and I researched one that supported home testing.

With regards to food, it's a subject that I just don't bother discussing with the vets. They have their own ideas of what should be fed - ie. prescription food and I don't agree with it. So, I just don't discuss food with them. When they ask, I tell them that I have it covered.

AND - if my cats ever need to stay at the vet - I bring their food and treats (labeled with their name on it) with strict instructions that this is all they are allowed to eat! Something else to keep in mind.

I get that some vets and people in general feel threatened by information off the internet. The bottom line is, do your own research, read through each forum and the posts, look at our profiles and spreadsheets and you decide if we are all nut jobs or if we may know a thing or two. ;-)
 
This message board and all of your posts have been such a saving grace for my Shadow and I. I made an appointment with Dr. Maureen and am very excited to hear what she has to say. Unfortunately my appointment is not for a few days, but with the help of this wonderful message board I am confident we will make it through just fine until then. I actually went back to my original vet on Friday try and discuss all that I had learned on the board about moist diet transition and the possibility of remission, and she would hear nothing of it. She just kept saying that "it's not proven science, and I need to ignore what I read on the internet". After that conversation I was completely confident going to see Dr. Maureen was the best thing I can do for Shadow. I will do whatever it takes to make sure he gets the best care, and will never give up hope of remission. Thank you all again for all of the advice and inspiration. I hope all of your kitties achieve full remission and excellent health!!!!!!
 
jguyott06 said:
This message board and all of your posts have been such a saving grace for my Shadow and I. I made an appointment with Dr. Maureen and am very excited to hear what she has to say. Unfortunately my appointment is not for a few days, but with the help of this wonderful message board I am confident we will make it through just fine until then. I actually went back to my original vet on Friday try and discuss all that I had learned on the board about moist diet transition and the possibility of remission, and she would hear nothing of it. She just kept saying that "it's not proven science, and I need to ignore what I read on the internet". After that conversation I was completely confident going to see Dr. Maureen was the best thing I can do for Shadow. I will do whatever it takes to make sure he gets the best care, and will never give up hope of remission. Thank you all again for all of the advice and inspiration. I hope all of your kitties achieve full remission and excellent health!!!!!!
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In this day and age, anyone who discounts the internet as a source of information is at best a troglodyte. At worst, they're frauds who know they'll be found out. Good riddance to a purposefully ignorant vet!

Here is some proven science that this works printed in the August 2009 issue of the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery: Intensive blood glucose control is safe and effective in diabetic cats using home monitoring and treatment with glargine.
 
Hi, Janet! I'm too new to give advice, but I want to welcome you.

You've found an amazing place here, with so much support and knowledge. The advice I've received here has pretty much replaced the insufficient advice from my vet. Good for you for finding a new vet. You are already doing what's best for your Shadow~ it's obvious you are a good kitty mom!

Good luck with the new vet! And though it's overwhelming and scary at first, it will get better.

Take care!
Josie
 
KPassa, I couldn't agree with you more. I was really shocked and saddened by my now ex vets attitude. I was always under the impression that they took an oath to protect and treat the animals to the best of their abilities, and her refusal to even research it was beyond disturbing.
 
Hi Josie,

It's nice to meet you. Thank you for taking the time to welcome Shadow and me. I hope you and Ripley have had success in finding a new vet as well as you sound like a great kitty mommy too. :-D I have been trying to read every post on this board so that I can become as informed as possible and although I keep saying it, it really is true, I don't know what I would do without all of the wonderful people like yourself and the others who are kind enough to offer encouragement and advice to help get Shadow and I through this. I too am way too new to give any advice but will definitely be here on the board to offer support to others and to share anything I learn that I feel may be helpful.

So very grateful,
Janet
 
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