My diabetic kitty went OTJ after about a month, and (anti jinx) remains that way. I still come to the board and keep up with the newbies coming on, look at pictures Carl shares with us, and celebrate your victories and mourn your losses.
My civvie boy had to be pts 4 weeks ago Wednesday, so I'm still pretty sad and missing him, but most of you have had losses and sure understand that.
I wanted to recount a conversation with my vet, as we sat in my living room, making the decision and then releasing my Midi. My boyfriend remarked to my vet that he imagined this was the hardest part of his job. The doc said that it was and it wasn't. For instance, with Midi, he had been loved and all possible care given him to keep him comfortable and to release him when that was no longer possible, and so, while sad, it did not cause him despair. He said, however, that that very week he had diagnosed a dog that had been his patient for a long time with diabetes. That dog's owner said she could not give the dog shots twice a day, she was scared of needles, and just didn't want to do it and directed the vet to put her dog down. That had caused the vet much pain to have to do that.
When I get on here and read the newbies come on scared to death and knowing they won't be able to test, and then, there they are, poking those little ears, and soon agonizing over dosages of insulin, studying spreadsheets, and poring over nutritional information in food....my heart is so warmed. So warmed that I know a group of people who do not give up on their animals because of their fear and the inconvenience. So proud of you all. And so happy I found this forum. My vet said he knew I was scared of needles too, but when Samson needed me, I sucked it up and learned to deal with it, including learning to test at home, and he had never had an owner do that before (thanks for teaching me to do it!!).
So, any newbies out there that are wondering if they'll be able to do it.....you'll never know until you try, and you probably will be able to. And, believe me, as annoyed as your kitty is with what you're doing, once your baby starts feeling better, he or she will know that it's because of you....I could see in Samson when he was feeling better that he knew why....we truly grew closer because of this.
So, here's to you, my fellow beans, for being my heroes. drinking24
My civvie boy had to be pts 4 weeks ago Wednesday, so I'm still pretty sad and missing him, but most of you have had losses and sure understand that.
I wanted to recount a conversation with my vet, as we sat in my living room, making the decision and then releasing my Midi. My boyfriend remarked to my vet that he imagined this was the hardest part of his job. The doc said that it was and it wasn't. For instance, with Midi, he had been loved and all possible care given him to keep him comfortable and to release him when that was no longer possible, and so, while sad, it did not cause him despair. He said, however, that that very week he had diagnosed a dog that had been his patient for a long time with diabetes. That dog's owner said she could not give the dog shots twice a day, she was scared of needles, and just didn't want to do it and directed the vet to put her dog down. That had caused the vet much pain to have to do that.
When I get on here and read the newbies come on scared to death and knowing they won't be able to test, and then, there they are, poking those little ears, and soon agonizing over dosages of insulin, studying spreadsheets, and poring over nutritional information in food....my heart is so warmed. So warmed that I know a group of people who do not give up on their animals because of their fear and the inconvenience. So proud of you all. And so happy I found this forum. My vet said he knew I was scared of needles too, but when Samson needed me, I sucked it up and learned to deal with it, including learning to test at home, and he had never had an owner do that before (thanks for teaching me to do it!!).
So, any newbies out there that are wondering if they'll be able to do it.....you'll never know until you try, and you probably will be able to. And, believe me, as annoyed as your kitty is with what you're doing, once your baby starts feeling better, he or she will know that it's because of you....I could see in Samson when he was feeling better that he knew why....we truly grew closer because of this.
So, here's to you, my fellow beans, for being my heroes. drinking24
