A New Member's Advice to other New Members

As a new member of the FDMB (2 months), I just want to impart my impressions to other new members that may be at a crossroads as to their pet's care.

Keep in mind the people who are posting in the Insulin Support Groups giving advice are just that - people.

Be patient. They have jobs, they have kids, they have duties and responsibilities away from the forum just like any of us. They are not the Help Desk ready to answer a question as soon as it's posted.

They are also non-professional caregivers. Their advice should always be taken with a grain of salt and evaluated by you, the caregiver, to determine if that advice really applies to your pet's situation. If you want a professional opinion then ask your Vet for a referral to the nearest Veterinary school and you can spend hours with endocrinologists and lab-work and all that comes from that. Can't afford to pay for that? Then remember what you are getting for paying nothing here on this board. Advice.

Be specific in what you are asking. Many times (and I was guilty of this, and may still be) the person asking for help was ambiguous in what they were asking. "Help. Fluffy doesn't feel well." doesn't really give these people much to go on. They are not mind readers and they certainly have less information than you do as to your pet's daily routine. A better way to ask a question would be "Help. Fluffy doesn't feel well, he hasn't eaten in 6 hours and the last Blood Glucose reading I took was at 8:00am and it read 300." Now there's some data to go on.

And speaking of data .... You must learn how to communicate in the same language as the people you are asking help and advice from. This a numbers game no matter what kind of insulin you use. And those numbers are the "secret language" of how your pet is doing that day, that week, or that month. Don't have enough time to set up a spreadsheet? Then write down the readings on a piece of paper and post them when you have time. Asking forum advisers to tell you what to do next with only a handful of data is like asking them to guess what's in your pocket and the only clue they get is that it's yellow. Really? Really?

It's your responsibility to determine how your pet's quality of life is being managed. You are ultimately the final word in your pet's life or death.

The reason why many people come to FDMB is because they felt that they were not getting the full story from their Vet or the full answers to their questions from other sources. If you think the advice you are getting from a more experienced person trying to help you in these forums doesn't fit your situation then keep pressing for another opinion or seek out more defined answers to your questions. There is nothing wrong with responding "Please explain your reasoning." or "I don't understand." And if that person can't adequately explain what they meant to you in the first place, then the problem is theirs not yours, and should give you an indication of the kind of advice you are being given.

Managing a pet with Feline Diabetes is a full time job. This is not a "set and forget" type of disease, you already realized that from speaking to a Vet that wants you to "set and forget" by giving 2 units of insulin twice a day no matter what and wants you to buy the prescription food that they sell in their clinic. Feline diabetes is a team effort involving you and your cat. If you make the commitment to manage your cat's diabetes away from your Vet's recommended protocol you will have to become more involved in your pet's care. There is no way around that.


You likely came to this forum at the suggestion of someone from the main Feline Health forum. These forums are specialized in several types of Insulin and methods of treatment for Feline Diabetes.

Now is the time to ask yourself some questions :

*Do I have the time, resources, and patience to go down this road with my pet?
*Do I want to stick close to what my Vet told me but seek support from other people who are in the same situation as I am?
*Do I want to manage my pet's care as best as I can and improve on what my Vet has told me?
*Do I want to try alternative methods to manage or even alleviate Feline Diabetes in my pet that my Vet doesn't know about?

The answers to those questions can be found in any one of these Insulin Support Groups.

Ok, it is now up to you to go out and decide if you are a good knife juggler or a good fire juggler. Keep in mind, either way, you will be juggling. And, after a while, you will become the best damned juggler anyone has ever seen!

I advise you in about a month or two from now to go back to the very first post you made on this forum and admire how far you have come from that frantic call for help. You can do this! We are here to help you!

Stay safe and give kitty many many skritches and love! cat_pet_icon

 

Bump

 

I've never seen this post before. I think it should be recommended reading for every new member! Well done, @Cini Mini's Mom!

 

I have never seen this post either and it is excellent. A good read for anyone starting on the FD road.

Bumping this up.

 

Like this a lot.
Bump

 

Excellent.

 

Should be on the list of required reading, excellent post.

 

Awesome. Ty for sharing.

 

nicely done!

 

Absolutely needs to be strongly recommended reading!!

 

It's really good it should be one of the first readings one does

 

Bump please!

 

Bump! I needed this!

 

Agreed. Excellent!! I wish I saw this on day 1. Thanks

 

As a newbie myself (5 weeks on Lantus) I would add a couple notes to this post:
1. Read and digest all info in the Stickys at the top of each Forum before asking lots of questions. It will be several wks before you understand how it all pertains to your cat.
2. If you have already purchased a meter calibrated for pet blood on the advice of your vet, run, don't walk, to your local retail store and purchase a human meter (you can ask members for pros/cons of each brand). All the info provided on the FDMB is based on human meter readings. Most of the veterans use human meters and communication with them may be more difficult if you are speaking two different languages (pet v. human meter readings), You can always use the pet meter for curves (as many on the MB do) if your vet demands it, but please save yourself lots of confusion and grief by using a human meter sooner rather than later. Also, the pet meter supplies are 3-4x more expensive so you won't go broke in the process. Members of this MB will tell you it's your choice, and it is. I'm just one person hoping to save someone else from making the mistakes I made.

 

@fearlessmom, good additions. Have you seen http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/updated-tips-for-new-members.173572/?

 

No, I hadn't seen that post. I've saved it in my favorites and will read it this afternoon. BTW, I see that the bold red note at the top of both the TR and SLGS protocol stickys that previously read Reference numbers given are for blood glucose meters calibrated for humans, not pet-specific meters was edited this past Monday evening to include the additional language: Therefore the use of pet-specific meters is discouraged. This happened just after I said that I wished someone had communicated that point (strongly discouraging the use of pet meters) to me previously. My thanks to the moderator who added those very important (IMHO) words. Hopefully this will help other newbies.

 

The reason we are careful how we communicate the preference for human meters is that some people get offended and feel we are criticizing them or bullying them. It is a fine line we have to walk. In the end, the best we can do is lay the options before each new member and allow them to make their own choices.

 

I understand. I would never feel like I was being criticized or bullied if someone had said that to me from the outset. But that's just me.

 

Bump