Thumper & I are back from internist

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Barbara

Barbara

Very Active Member
I truly live in vet hell...or maybe I'm crazy. When this guy told me she needed to eat the same flavor of FF every day I knew I was done. He also said she should only eat 2 times a day at the same time & the same amount each time. At least he didn't tell me she should be on that prescription stuff. :roll: He did an ultrasound & said he didn't see anything unusual. Her kidneys are small & some of her kidney values are "slightly" elevated. He said unless you were looking for something they wouldn't even pay any attention it's so slight. He took a urine sample & is having it cultured. He really didn't make any comments on any thing else. When I asked him about the lasix causing the trouble Wed he said "that could be what happened". He saw how she was breathing but made no comment...just yes he could see it. When he was getting ready to send me out the door I asked him "what about how lethargic she is?" He said he will send a report to my vet when he gets the culture, but he did end up asking what was the best # to reach me. I asked him about an echocardiogram & he said he didn't think she needed one...he saw nothing to indicate there was any problem her heart. I just don't get it!

Kim, I think they have "crazy cat lady who has crazy internet friends written on all my paperwork!" Pay no attention to anything she says! cat(2)_steam
 
OH...I had a some of the last few days #'s written down for him. When he saw the say she went in the 100's & was still showing "trace" ketones he proceded to tell me it was an error....she can't have ketones with her #'s that low.
 
Amazing! That is all I can say.

My vet has tried to sell me that same bag of goods about the feeding only twice a day. I was feeding too much.

I was hoping you would get so much more from the trip.

Debit or Credit?!
 
Yeah, this guy was worse than my vet...at least they say something back....he didn't comment on anything...or answer any questions. I really did give up though when he said that about the food.
 
I need dosing help. Just so it's all here I'm gonna post it all again.


Last night:
10:30 pm - 412
11:00 - 361
shot .2 @ 11:30
+ 3.5 - 280
+7 - 358
+7.5 - 308
she ate then hid for an hour
+8.5 - 328
I had to leave so ended up shooting .5
+6 - 276
off to the vet they got a reading somewhere in the 300's
+10 - 360
It's time for dinner & my regular time for PM shot. I would like to try to get back on schedule. Any suggestions?
 
Barbara, I wish it had gone better .... maybe we all need to chill? did you hear about my selection of the day, a nice Sonoma wine :) I'm not sure the vets are any better or as good as we are .... on your post on health you need to answer the questions, which will put you back on top again. Larry asked how much? when you answer him your post will go back to the top, which a lot of people look for .... the top posts. You want to converse with the people that answer, the more responses, the more people will read it. (and that was keep your post on top 101 :)

Nancy and Payne
(annoyed to the _ _ _ with me :)
 
Well, how discouraging. The only good thing he said was the FF for food.....

But he is used to seeing horrible stuff and didn't seem to find any (with the testing he did...)

I really think you are going to have to vet shop. Get a list of basic questions and ask those of the clinic. (how do they treat diabetics, do they agree with hometesting, what is their understanding of ketones.). If you get a live one, go in without Thumper and ask to pay for an interview time with the vet.
 
I think I would go with a .8u or 1u.

With everything that she's been through the last few days she may start feeling better now, I'd like to see what her bg's are on a normal day now.
 
1 sounds ok. Not to be a pest, but if you could update your spreadsheet as well as posting numbers in the thread, one could have the current picture as well as the history. I know it may be overkill, but I have found that helpful. If you are too busy, feel free to ignore me!
 
Ok, I'm going with 1 unit. She was fussing at me on the way home and she's been licking her self trying to get this ultrasound gel off. Poor thing..she's sick of the vet too!
 
Nancy and Payne said:
Good on health, keep it up!
Click to expand...

I didn't even know anyone had asked a question. I haven't had time to go over there today. Thanks!

Judy, I will get it caught up. :smile:
 
Sorry to hear that things didn't go better at the internist. All you want are answers and so far you're not getting much. Hope you and Thumper can get some R&R this weekend and she starts feeling better. Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.
 
Barbara,
I am so sorry to hear about another crappy experience
SUe is right on the interviewing first...
It took me 4 vets to finally find the one that I have
She is great and continues to take diabetes classes to learn as much as she can for Shakes.
She checks his numbers once a week, I gave her my passwords so she can access whenever she wants to check
on him...
I know it is hard, but try to be patient, you will find a good one!

What state are you in?

Denise and SHakes
 
So sorry this vet wasn't any better. I'm on vet #3 now and I have finally found a keeper.

Maybe tomorrow we can help you put together a questionaire for interviewing vets.

Tonight there is wine to drink and relaxing to do.
 
Oh cr*p. ohmygod_smile Makes you wish vets had a money-back guarantee. :lol:

Deep breaths, glass of wine or whatever works for you. Maybe this weekend get out and focus on something else? I find sometimes I get tunnel vision and just can't evaluate if they are miserable or not, or anything else. For me, a few hours out doing something relaxing, taking a walk, getting together with friends, etc., can help me have a more objective perspective when I get back.

On the plus side, it does not sound like she is miserable. You have gotten a reality check now from a couple vets, and they seem to think she looks ok. Of course they may be idiots :roll: but I think if she were miserable they would be at least picking up on something a little more (am I being naive?). Anyway, I hope that is it. Sometimes we are so close to them, it's hard to be objective. Do you have a trusted friend maybe who could come over and observe her for a little way, and see what they think?

On the FF keeping to one flavor, my guess is he was thinking you want the same carb count each day, which is a good thing. I think it's probably overkill, but still a well-intentioned suggestion (not commenting on some of the other things he said, or didn't say! ohmygod_smile ).

Another thought I have is you could do a phone consult with Dr. Lisa, I think she does those? She is a diabetes expert (I think?) and certainly an expert on diet questions. Might be reassuring to talk with someone you know you can trust.

Make sure you are taking care of yourself. I wouldn't go in circles and over-worry about dose and stuff. Pick something and maybe shoot that for a couple days barring lows or ketones. We make it harder for you with all the tiny increments and stuff. I know I have tried to tone some of that down but I keep recommending it to people anyhow. :oops: A couple years ago it was pretty much just 0.2u increments and maybe a fat or skinny here, but 0.1 increments weren't even mentioned on the whole. So we do make it more confusing I think. Of course I love the 0.1 increments, just can't help myself! :mrgreen:
 
+4 - 336

Joanna, I guess I could ignore the breathing (I don't think it's normal for me to be seeing her sides move while I'm sitting across the room) but she just doesn't move around much. The biggest thing is after she eats she just lays there on her side for awhile. She eventually gets up & moves to the den but it's just so different. She has always slept with someone but now most nights I have to carry her to bed. She just stays on the den couch. Anyway, nothing else I can do at this point. I read a brochure when they were doing the ultrasound & it actually said they would not look for/treat anything else other than what your vet referred you there for AND they would let your vet know their diagnosis. That really annoyed me...I was not told that before I went there and there was no way they could have sent the brochure to me, so they should have the info available on the net somewhere & direct you there to read before you go over there. I guess that's one reason he wasn't saying much. It was like she wasn't my cat but my vet's property? Why in the world would they take that approach? I know the ER vet's diagnosis was diabetes ohmygod_smile but I don't know what my vet sent over so I guess I was lucky that he even did the ultrasound & took a urine specimine to culture. And now he's gonna be communicating with the vet I said I wasn't going back to so for now I guess I'm gonna be forced to deal with them.

On a positive note a friend at work did some research & found a vet that has a LVT who said she was especially interested in diabetes. When I looked at their website they have a section for links to helpful websites...guess what one of them was! I asked another friend who her vet was (but she has a dog) and found their website & it has a link to Janet & Binkys food list!! The one with the food link is a little closer so I might start there. I had plans to call them tomorrow but I'm not in the mood right now. I'm off the end of next week but it's doubtful I will be able to go visit them but at least I know where they are now. Hopefully one of them will work out.
 
I had a fantastic phone consult today with someone from the Camuti Center at Cornell's Vet Hospital, so if you are looking for a second opinion that can go over lab work and treatment to date that might be an option Best $55 I've spent in a long time. Wonderful, caring doctor who spent a long time with me on the phone going over her entire history and labs to date. We didn't focus on her diabetes so much because that wasn't the big issue, but perhaps if you can talk to someone even by phone it might help to ease your mind or at least give you some ideas of things to pursue further? It just helped to know we've been headed in the right direction with treatment, and she gave me some great ideas as to things to look for or how to tweak things. PM me if you want more info and the doctor's name, but I was very pleased with their service.
 
Awwwwwww. I agree with you it just doesn't sound right, but I can't figure out why the vets aren't doing more to diagnose. Maybe they just don't know what to do. But I can see that for a regular vet, or for the ER vet who is just there to treat the emergency and not be a full-service vet. But the specialist should be different.

I've seen some variation in specialty places - some are almost more like they are just doing the tests your doc ordered, and they have the fancy equipment (like u/s) that your vet doesn't have. But then I have found others where they really seem happy just to take over, and with the specialist I see now, once a kitty is on board with her I almost don't even use my regular vet at all. Only like if I don't want to drive to the specialist but need to get bloodwork or something.

So I am sure this has already cost you a bundle, but it might just take some shopping around. Maybe there is another specialty practice with a different philosophy. I know the one I go to now will look at anything I ask them to, they aren't limited to just what you were referred there for. In fact now that I think of it when I was back in the DC area you had to have a referral - like your vet would actually fax something over, you couldn't just call the specialty place and ask for an appointment. Out here in Cali I have just always called the specialists, when I first got here and asked the vet if they would do the referral paperwork they didn't know what I was talking about, they said just call them, no biggie. So maybe it's a regional thing? What a pain.
 
Joanna & Bix (GA) said:
Oooh I like the Cornell idea, and that is a pretty good price, wow!
Click to expand...

For the undivided attention of a university veterinary faculty member with extensive clinical and research experience (and practical experience with felines in particular) for over 1.5 hours? A bargain! I sent ahead her spreadsheet, nearly 20 pages of medical history plus test results, and some other miscellaneous information I had that might be helpful, and she had gone through it all. I was amazed. Very thorough, very concerned and caring too. She even called back twice when thunderstorms cut us off and offered to call back again over the weekend to talk more. I've talked with a number of people who have used their service over the years and they have been very pleased, and I see why.

More info here on their service and what they do: http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/camuti.cfm
 
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