OMG - I'm pissed - Thumper back from vet

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Barbara

Barbara

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For years, even before diabetes DX I told the old vet that Thumper was limping. They even did xrays but never did/said anything. A few times they would suggest something called "Joint Gel" but it is the consistency of Laxatone & she wouldn't just eat it, I would have to force it in her mouth so I would just give up. I had planned on taking her back to the new vet for a check up & to talk about Lev in mid April when work slowed down. Over the last week her numbers were getting higher & I noticed she was limping more than ever. On Thursday I made an appt. for today which was the earliest they could get me in after work. I increased her insulin again also. I was pretty sure we were gonna switch to Lev for lack of any other ideas. I started trying some pain meds on her & she walked better with those.

So today we go to the vet, she said she'd like to do some xrays to see if we could figure out the limping. I swear when she came back & I saw the look on her face I thought for sure she was going to give me a fatal diagnosis. She said she was really glad she did the xray cause Thumper's hip joint has MAJOR damage & has been like that for years! She said it had been injured somehow & over time has led to really bad arthritis. If she were younger she would do surgery. If she were an elderly human she would no doubt have to have a hip replacement no matter even if she were an 80 yr old!!!! I cannot believe the old vet didn't find it. :evil: I feel awful that she has gone around in all this pain for so long. :cry: Really she said she can't believe Thumper is walking at all.

She said nothing is going to "cure" it. It's bone rubbing on bone but she wants to try to do some things to help the inflamation. She got an Adequan injection tonight & sent me home with Bupe. The clinic just got a laser machine last week so for about the next 3 weeks they are trying it out of pets that need it and the best part of that is there is NO CHARGE!! Yay! It's too bad they are 45 mins away but I will have to deal with it. She goes back Thursday for her first treatment then probably on Monday. We will just be taking it as we go to see what helps & what doesn't.

She didn't switch insulin since she's not sure that the insulin is the problem. She wants to see if we can manage the pain & if that will make a difference. Her teeth are ok for now & she wants to wait on that for now. That is more than fine by me after Klinger's horror story. I would be willing to bet if we had gotten all this diagnosed she wouldn't have had trouble on Pro Zinc. I always felt like there was something else & for awhile I thought it was just the pancreatitis. Now I know what the problem was. Can you sue a vet for malpractice??? :evil:

I hope I'm making sense cause I'm not going back to proof read. I'm too tired but you guys were the first place I needed to vent to! No one else really understands. My poor baby.... :cry:
 
Oh Barbara I'm so sorry
Thumper has gone undiagnosed with this for so long, poor baby!
The pain I am sure has contributed to her unpredictable numbers on both ProZinc and Lantus.
I hope the Adequin will help relieve some of the inflammation. The laser treatments sound interesting and thats great they are offering them free, I think they are expensive.
You might consider accupuncture if this vet knows a good animal accupuncturist, it helped Henry a lot with his arthritis and disc nerve root problem. Hes now walking great up on his toes and jumping on things. It takes awhile but I do think it helps.
As much as we spend trying to keep or babies healthy, I know you are p/o'd something this major could be missed.
 
Wow, just wow.

It makes me happy and sad at the same time. Happy that you finally have a dx and a treatment plan to get Ms. Thumper out of pain, poot baby. But sad that it took so long.

We worked so hard to get her regulated.
 
Poor thumper. So sorry she is in so much pain. Hope the pain med's and lazer helps soon! How old is thumper? I know my dog has bad arthritis and has taken the adequin shots and it really helped until she got allergic to it. But why she was taking them she was doing good. Hope it is going to help her. Are you going to stay on the Prozinc then?

Keep us updated when you can!!!
 
I would definitely at least file a complaint with your states veterinary board and the BBB. This should lead to some investigation as to whether they are adequately doing their job. A malpractice suit I'm not so sure is applicable since they didn't actually cause the problem but rather failed to catch it. And unfortunately these don't always do much good since most states don't see pets as family but rather property. but definitely check into your states veterinary board. It would be like a human filing a complaint with the American Medical Association.
 
owlgal said:
Are you going to stay on the Prozinc then?
Click to expand...

We actually switched to Lantus back in December. I'm just a board crasher cause this feels like home. :smile: Thumper is 15.

Angela, I forgot about the accupuncture. I will have to try to remember. She did mention therapy but IDK if Thumper would stand for that.
 
Wow! After all these months...and for this to just finally being found. Hopefully there will be a treatment regiment to help Thumper.

And, Yes, always know that this is Home!
 
Barbara, I thought the accupuncture would be a disaster the first time I went too. Henry was a little antsy the first trip but had no reaction to the needles and after the initial visit, he was calm as could be and actually went to sleep a few times when the needles were in!
Its almost like it calmed him and he could feel it was helping.
 
OMG!!!
Barabar, I cant believe this, for the last year we were all banging our heads against the
wall trtying to figure out Miss thumper's numbers
and then to now get a diagnose like this!! and that she has been like this for so long
no wonder her numbers were all over the place
I am so sorry for the both of you, but at least now you can move forward with some
sort of treatment for poor miss thumper, knowing that her numbers are probably crazy cause of the pain
Hang in there honey
and know that this is always yours and Thumpers home
I miss you both terribly and I am always thinking and praying for both of you!
 
I'm just a board crasher cause this feels like home.
Click to expand...

To paraphrase from my all time favorite movie EVER.....
"but you've had the answer all along, dear....just click your heels together three times and say 'there's no place like home'....."!!!

I am so happy that you have a "reason" finally. I am so sad for Thumper and I pray the adequan helps some. I'm also wondering if there is some sort of super duper non-steroidal anti-inflamatory they could shoot her with. I hurt my back when I was moving into the new house about 4 weeks ago. I tried to tell myself it would go away by itself like it has done before. Nothing doing this time, so I finally went to a new chiro last week. After x-rays, the first thing they offered was a steroid injection.....to which I said "uh, no thanks, I don't want to get feline diabetes!" Instead, I choose a high powered NSAID injection into my hip/butt. The relief was almost instantaneous. Within 30 minutes, tops, the pain was significantly reduced, and the effect lasted for 3 or 4 days. I almost asked for a 2nd one, but since then, the treatment has really helped, so I held off on another shot. After 4 visits, I'm almost back to normal. Maybe there's kitty drug that will do that for Thumper?

Keep us posted Barbara.
there's no place like home!
Carl
 
Barbara, I am so sorry for Thumper. It makes me sad to think she might be in a lot of pain. I really hope the meds will help her. I am glad you were lead to a vet who is knowledgeable.
I swear I really don't know where some vets get there degrees.....Cracker Jack University I guess?

It doesn't matter what insulin you use. You always encourage all of us & that's what matters. :YMHUG:

I hope Thumper feels better very soon.
Jenn & Baxter cat_pet_icon
 
I don't know if this will help but...my cat got up in the ceiling tiles and fell through breaking her hip joint. The doc made a small incision and cut the broken ball off and sewed him back up. A few weeks later and scar tissue formed and he walks, runs and climbs with no problem.

Good luck!
 
Thanks for all the encouragement!

George you make it sound so simple! The vet acted like it was a major big deal to do a surgery like that on her.

Well, after lots of confusion about the appt. time when I called to confirm today DH took her over & said they only kept her back there about 10 mins. They brought her back to him & said she did fine. They were evidently swamped today & we actually didn't have an appt with the vet so he only spoke to her when they came out to get her. I had left a message for the vet to call me but she didn't so I'm thinking after we got the appt. disaster straight she was thinking that was all I wanted. Heck for all I know they didn't get the message to her. I called back but they had a message basically saying if your getting this message we're busy & call back. I got that message ALL afternoon Tues. when I called to confirm my appt. time. Thumper MAY be walking a bit better but I think both the adequan & laser need time to work. I don't know when we take her back, that was one thing I wanted to talk to the vet about. I guess cause it's new they don't really have the schedule worked out. The front desk people would not let me make the next appt. they said the vet had to do that. It was a mess. They are doing it for free so I hate to call & complain. I hope she's in tomorrow & I can get in touch with her.

Ugh....I'm exhausted...I have worked the past 3 Saturday's & we still have a lot of work to do before our deadline.

Josie seems ok so far but that lump by her mouth looks worse to me.
 
What does the bump look and feel like, Does she scratch it?

The procedure is simple. You should see Trouble climb trees. They cut the broken part away and round it off. Nature does the rest.
 
Oh Barbara, I am a week late seeing this! We were awol for too long I guess.
So sorry to hear Thumper has been in pain. I’d be steamin’ mad too, but I guess the best thing to do is report the earlier vet, and then move on and be as positive as you can.
At least you know now and can help her thru this. Crazy stuff :sad:

All the best comin’ your way... :YMHUG: cat_pet_icon :YMHUG:
 
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