Vet asking not to test for 2 weeks

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Meowluv

Member Since 2013
Has anyone had this happen? My vet has requested that I not test Ferdinand for 2 weeks. Just give him an am and pm dose of 3 Units, making sure to give it at the same time everyday. We are finishing up week 1 of not testing bg levels and he seems to be doing just fine. I'm not sure why she is suggesting this but this was apparently the suggestion of her friend who is a board certified feline diabetic veterinarian or whatever it is called exactly.

Because she is a fantastic veterinarian I will comply with her wishes. If it was any one else I don't think I would have followed this directive.

Melody
 
unfortunately yes we've seen that request many times over the years. some vets for some reason think it stresses out the cats to be tested?? maybe sometimes in the beginning it does because kitty doesn't know what you're trying to do but in all my blunt honesty :smile: , a little stress is worth the huge safety net it gives me knowing what their level is and if it is safe to give the insulin at all or not.

what if you don't test, kitty is at 89, you give 3 units and kitty crashes? if you had tested, you would have seen the 89, skipped the shot, and kitty doesn't have a hypo? i couldn't tell you how many times i've gone home in the evening and tested Mousie at 12 hours or 15 hours since her last shot and she's well under 100. i would have killed her if i hadn't caught that and just gave her insulin

fwiw, just cause you test doesn't mean you have to tell the vet you are. if i were in your shoes, i would test for the peace of mind it will give you, and for kitty's safety, and just let the vet think you aren't so that you can keep the working relationship. what will that hurt?
 
Oh Peadoodle...another vet with their head up...well... :-D :-D

I looked at KT's spreadsheet right quick - NINE DIFFERENT TIMES since January, if I'd shot, I HIGHLY probably would have lost my cat. I didn't even count those numbers above a '75' on a human meter. I wouldn't even consider giving him insulin without testing - period. Ever! Once IN there's no gettin' it OUT.

If I were stressing out my cat by testing, WHY, after almost 2 years, does he come TO ME when he hears his meter beep? He lays right down in the position we have chosen for testing. AND we just adopted another diabetic cat - got him FIVE DAYS AGO! HE also comes TO ME for his test! Before this, he didn't know me from Adam...does this sound like a stressed out cat? Nope....

PLEASE don't shoot without testing - what if his pancreas DOES begin to sputter? That will dump MORE insulin on top of what you gave.

BIG HUGS!
 
Hi Melody,

Ummm.... I'm really scratching my head about this one....

OK.... A very smart person on this forum (can't remember who at this moment) said that they considered the advice from their vet to be "...a suggestion, and not a directive from God."

Nuff said....

Hugs to you.

Eliz
 
Yes my vet did the same thing to me. She started my cat on two units of Lantus twice a day and told me to not test her. Well, her numbers ever barely went above 250 mostly around 200 or 220. I probably would have killed my cat at that time had I listened to her.
I did test her and it made the vet mad but I did not care, it was my cat. You can`t get the insulin out once you put it in.

Terri
 
terri1962"... said:
Yes my vet did the same thing to me...I probably would have killed my cat at that time had I listened to her.
I did test her and it made the vet mad but I did not care, it was my cat.
You can`t get the insulin out once you put it in.
Click to expand...

Very sound advice....
 
Elizabeth and Bertie said:
Hi Melody,

Ummm.... I'm really scratching my head about this one....

OK.... A very smart person on this forum (can't remember who at this moment) said that they considered the advice from their vet to be "...a suggestion, and not a directive from God."

Nuff said....

Hugs to you.

Eliz
Click to expand...

Eliz, that would have been me only a couple of days ago. I'll try not to get a swollen head for being called a 'very smart person'. Thank you.

Three units 2 times a day is a lot of insulin. We equate giving insulin without testing to driving a car with a bag over your head. Safe perhaps, if you are sitting in your driveway with the engine turned off. Not a good idea if you a driving down the road.

Would you skip testing your human child if they were diabetic and needed insulin? I think not.

If something happens to the cat, you will be devastated. The vet, not so much.

I think the main reason vets suggest NOT home testing is because it can make the cat owners stressed. Then the owner is calling the vet clinic too frequently for advice and they do not have the knowledgeable staff to deal with these questions.

I had a friend on here that was yelled at by her vet clinic staff when she called to question the dose. "Just keep giving the 3 units of insulin. We know what is best for your cat. Just keep him on the 3 units and he'll be fine". She was testing and her cat hypoed and she immediately reduced the dose.

We want your cat to be safe. That is why we are strong advocates of home testing . It gives us a sense of power and control and knowledge in managing this diabetes in our cats.
 
Meowluv said:
My vet has requested that I not test Ferdinand for 2 weeks. Just give him an am and pm dose of 3 Units, making sure to give it at the same time everyday. We are finishing up week 1 of not testing bg levels and he seems to be doing just fine. ...Because she is a fantastic veterinarian I will comply with her wishes. If it was any one else I don't think I would have followed this directive.
Click to expand...
If Ferdinand was your child (well, he is), would you not test him before sticking him with insulin? Ferdinand is YOUR cat, not hers; who's paying the bill? I don't mean to be disrespectful to your vet, but not testing a diabetic cat before each shot is callous and uncaring. I'm certain she is not a feline diabetes specialist or she would never have told you to not test your cat for 2 weeks. It is extremely dangerous to not test before shooting. You can't tell by looking at your cat how good he is doing. My cat (now OTJ) looked perfectly healthy when his BG was in the 40s and 50s, but I would have never given him a shot at any level below 60; I could have killed him or at the very least, could have put him into a coma. And how would you know if the dose needed adjusted? There are some really good vets out there (mine being one of them), however, most are not diabetic specialists and most have very few diabetic patients (and treat more than one species!). Think of it like this: if you went to your family doctor, and you had heart issues; would you continue to be seen by your family doctor for said issues, or go see a heart specialist? There are many good family doctors, but most aren't specialists... I do hope your kitty is okay :-D
 
Please listen to everyone that has suggested you ignore your vet. The only way to prevent hypoglycemia is to test before EVERY shot. Only by testing will you know if it is safe to give insulin. If your cat's BG levels drop too low that could cause major health problems and/or death. Then what is your vet going to say?? Oops???? My vets have tried to tell me not to test also, even though they know that I have several years experience with several diabetic cats. We have come to the agreement to disagree on our method of treatment. You are the one who is responsible to give your cat the best care and your vet works for you.
 
Thank you all so much for your advice. I have felt really unsure about not testing before his shots. The vet may have suggested this because she knows how stressed I am. I have a lot of life stress going on right now. I think I'll just test and not tell. :)
 
Think of it like this - if you were the diabetic, would you give yourself insulin without testing? Would you get in your car, blindfold yourself (make sure you can't see) and then drive your car?

well why is it ok then not to test because the patient is a cat and not a human? It really is no different. If you are stressed and upset, well what can be done to alleviate that and not be so stressed and upset?

My former vet actually forbade me from testing Maui. when I pushed and pushed her on the reason for that, her answer was, because I am not a professional and don't know what I am doing and more importantly, she did not want to be liable (and she even said sued by me) if something went wrong. what she wanted me to do instead was leave Maui with her for one week to get regulated and then I would need to bring her in every day for testing.

Needless to say, this is why she is my former vet.
 
If I hadn't felt uncomfortable about not testing Gus I probably would have killed him!!! He has been otj since 5/12/13 and he's had excellent numbers between 74and 147. I would've gone mad if I didn't have the safety net of testing. I did what the vet said, don't worry about testing 3 units 2x daily and after I gave 2 shots Gus went hypo!!!! So tough cookies to your vet....test away!!!!
 
If I hadn't felt uncomfortable about not testing Gus I probably would have killed him!!! He has been otj since 5/12/13 and he's had excellent numbers between 74and 147. I would've gone mad if I didn't have the safety net of testing. I did what the vet said, don't worry about testing 3 units 2x daily and after I gave 2 shots Gus went hypo!!!! So tough cookies to your vet....test away!!!!
 
Meowluv said:
Because she is a fantastic veterinarian I will comply with her wishes. If it was any one else I don't think I would have followed this directive.
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And if she told you to drive off a cliff?

I have a vet that I really, really like. I think she is really knowledgeable. She diagnosed Beau's HCM based on my describing how he was acting (but sent me to a specialist for an ultrasound and confirmation after she examened him). However, when it came to treating diabetes, not so good. I learned that only after finding this site. She and her colleagues told me not to test. The best I can say is that Beau didn't die, the truth is that he not only did not get regulated in six months, but he got worse. I was shooting 7u of vetsulin without testing nailbite_smile

Never, in a million years, would I inject insulin into any living being without knowing what their blood sugar level was. I have treated three diabetics and every one of them has thrown a low number out of the blue - an 80 or 69, or something like that, at shot time.

But it isn't just the preshot numbers that are important. You can test at preshot and get 300s every time and the vet would tell you that you have to increase the dose, but just getting that one mid-cycle number that reads *43* and it is enough to rethink that increase, right?

Finally, it was such a relief to get Beau into regular testing and to KNOW what was going on. For six months I was a basket case. Always fearing what I would find when I came home from work. See, in addition to telling me not to test, my vet said, "there are diabetic cats that have hypoed and those that will hypo..." like if was a guarantee and the only question was when

Do yourself a favor and always test. Give a treat afterwards and it becomes a bonding time with your cat. I will never forget making myself cocoa one night in the microwave and waking out of the kitchen to find Beau sitting on his testing blanket waiting for his test and treat - and purring away. All because the microwave always dings before we tested (heating the rice sock). (yes, I gave him a treat :mrgreen: )
 
Meowluv said:
Has anyone had this happen? My vet has requested that I not test Ferdinand for 2 weeks. Just give him an am and pm dose of 3 Units, making sure to give it at the same time everyday. We are finishing up week 1 of not testing bg levels and he seems to be doing just fine. I'm not sure why she is suggesting this but this was apparently the suggestion of her friend who is a board certified feline diabetic veterinarian or whatever it is called exactly.

Because she is a fantastic veterinarian I will comply with her wishes. If it was any one else I don't think I would have followed this directive.

Melody
Click to expand...

Hi Melody,
I am not sure why you think she is a great vet..... telling you NOT to test, and give your cat a high dose of shots is not a good vet at all. She is very dangerous.

What are the symptoms of a cat who is hypo? Did you know that some cats could go hypo and you would see nothing before your cat convulses and has a seizure. You will end up at the vet ER and having to spend hundreds of dollars in hopes that your cat could be saved.

I would not stay with a reckless vet like you described.

Gayle
 
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