Not happy with vet.

Ok three days ago found out Barney has Diabetes. He tested 400 in the office (major stressed out cat he was shedding like mad, something he never does) and we were sent home with Vetlisuin and needles. the only med instruction was 1 1/2 units if he eats all his food and 1/2 that if he does not, none if he does not eat. Come back in 10 days. This is a totally new vet for us as our old one died last April. Not crazy about him at this point. He did call yesterday with results of the blood work. Yes it is diabetes and no other issue were found. He also said to come in between 8 and 10 hors after eating and his morning injection.

Question is bolt now or wait and see if things get better on the second visit.

 

I suggest you buy a human glucose meter and learn to test at home. Read the info stickies at the top of the Vetsulin/ Caninsulin/Novolin forum to learn more about how the insulin works and how dosing is determined. And - ask a whole lot of questions here.

If this new vet is willing to let you take on the FD treatment yourself and is someone who can care for all the other issues properly then you'll be OK.

 

Is it his general lack of good "bedside manner" the issue, because it doesn't sound like a bad place to start. Could have taken a bit more time with you, but again, not a bad place to start your diabetes journey.

Did he mention home testing? It wouldn't be a shock if he didn't at this point...it seems that is something we take upon ourselves, not because a vet suggested it. Home blood glucose monitoring is very important in trying to find out exactly what is happening to your kitty.

 

Vetsulin is not the best insulin. You have much better options in the US. If the vet insists on Vetsulin, I would look for a new vet. And if he resists you home testing, then for sure time to find a new vet. I think there are several others on this forum from your area who might have recommendations for you.

 

That's about what I got except mine didn't say anything about whether he ate or not. I learned to take proper care of KT, our first diabetic, here on FDMB. Dakota, that cute old man as my avatar is our second diabetic...

Me and my vet agreed to disagree on diabetes approach long ago - I handle anything diabetic, he handles anything else needing vet's attention. He writes my Levemir prescriptions yearly but doesn't ask anything else.

 

Get a meter and rest at home. It's really the best way to keep your cat safe and find the ideal dose.

 

My wife has a very good meter, she just has to watch what she eats and does not take insulin. The strips are horrible expensive and the insurance does not cover enough strips to share with Barney. If we test it will have to be hit miss. We are still dealing with giving him the shots and a pill ( mild Blandder infection) I don't think the wife is up to sticking the cat to get blood. I am going to look at finding a meter that use cheaper strips.

 

Many here use a Walmart type. Their brand name is ReliOn and the Micro and Confirm models take only a tiny drop of blood. If I recall the strips are about $30+ dollars for 100. The prime model has the cheapest strips ($18 for 100 I believe) but needs a larger blood drop.

A lot of people arrive here very reluctant to go down the road of testing BG at home. Those that do decide to take it on often do so after a scare (hypoglycemic cat) or they change their mind about it. Almost every one of those people is glad they took it on and are surprised how easy and routine it becomes. There's a lot of great advice and support here on FDMB but we're very data driven. It's difficult to give good dosing advice without data.

 

Thanks that would work but now I have to break my Vow never to shop at the great Satan of store. LOL. But first I will check the other devil Amazon. ( not a big fan of Wal-mart coming to small towns and running the local stores out of business with insane low prices and than jacking the prices up once the local stores have folded and you don't have a choice where to shop. )

 

I don't like Walmart either. If I need something now, they won't have it stocked for at least a month. I recently had to go to another Walmart in town to get lancets because of that laziness (the Relion brand lancets work just fine, and they are SUPER cheap: 100 for $1.88 or 200 for $2.85 or so). So I know the struggle is real! Haha. I use the Bayer Contour Next meter and buy my strips online. I don't know how much the meter costs (I got it free from work), but I have been really enjoying buying the strips from Ebay. I just put in an order yesterday for 200 strips for $42.99, which is a steal, in my opinion.

 

I believe there are Arkay meters available at ADWdiabetes.com such as the one I've linked you to below that are either the same or very similar meters to those available at the "great Satan" store. This one requires the smallest sample of blood available in any meter and the strips are reasonably priced compared to most.
https://www.adwdiabetes.com/product/4045/arkray-glucocard-01-blood-glucose-monitoring-kit

 

I'm not a Walmart shopper myself for similar reasons. However, it might be worth it financially to bite the bullet ...

 

I think it depends on which Walmart you deal with. I get my Levemir from the one by me and even though they don't stock it as a regular item they have it within one day for me when I order it.

 

Some stores are OK. I get my syringes at Walmart and while they often don't have them in stock (only stock 6mm for some reason!), they will order them in for me.

 

Barney went back to the vet yesterday for his follow up and more blood tests. ( 13 days) Same office but we got a young lady vet this time. I don't think Barney knew what to think of her Blue hair because he was tame pussy cat for her which is 180 change from how he normal is at the vet. He never hissed or tried to bite her. ( he has only seen male vets before)

At the 9 hour mark his sugar was 180 and he had gained a pound back, the vet was happy with that at this stage of the game and said no changes in insulin levels until he has been on it longer. I asked all the question I could and she was not pro or anti testing but she thought it did more harm than good if done as anything more than a spot check. She said if the you feed the correct food and keep the diet and amount steady than there should be no need to be raising and lowering Insulin daily. Since cats can't speak and most people have to go to work leaving the cats alone the danger of to much insulin was much greater problem long term than letting the numbers go over 100. I am still going looking for a new vet office because while she was nice and knowledgeable its a office with 6 vets on staff that does not take appt's.

 

A note about Walmart. I order all my strips on line. Its free shipping on orders over $35 and 100 strips meets that minimum. I found that Amazon was less expensive for the lancets so I order those there.