Advocate for your fuzzy and don't be afraid to fire your vet

So my last post (all my posts) were me in a panicked state, losing my mind, scared to death. Carbon was diagnosed in October and I was never able to get him stable. A visit to my vet met with a one time BG test and "oh, he's at 340, give him 3IU instead of 2" When I told the vet I had already increased to 2.5 IU after doing in home curve and testing, and no changes, he stood his ground. Instead of seeing it for what it was, what my Type I roommate saw, and what you saw: Insulin resistance.

I took him to an all cat vet. He's still there and will be for three days. I have no idea how I will pay for it, but I will without qualm. They have determined he is type II, could still go into remission, but has some liver and pancreatic action increasing his resistance. He didn't say, and maybe you all can give me thoughts, on whether or not those issues are resolvable. He gets regular vet visits and his organs were healthy not but six months ago, so I am assuming related to 3 months of high BG, bad insulin treatment, stress, and starving. I'll be asking him this when I pick the little guy up, too.

They are keeping him so long to test a variety of insulin on him, what should have been done in the beginning. They ran test after test to figure it all out. I'm so mad at my first vet who did so little. In fact, I took Carbon at the first signs and he was sent home with a clean bill. I brought him back a few weeks later because I KNEW something was wrong, and he got diagnosed.

I won't go back to that vet. I have to drive over 35 minutes to this vet, which is hard on the cats, but worth it. I have four of them and they need good care. I am scared because of the organ issues, but the doc didn't seem overly concerned. I figure if he was in full out failure, the vet wouldn't have said there's a good chance of diabetic remission and many more years with the boy.

This has been such a nightmare but the piece of advice I most want to pass on is not to be afraid to shop for a new vet and/or get feisty when your little one isn't being cared for. Diabetes in humans is a damned impossible disease but cats are particularly tough and need someone versed in specifically cats. I called around to about 10 vets before I found these guys. (my dad and roomie both qualify, and god, what a nightmare. BG can spike for no reason. They had my dad on a set diet, same foods and portions, for a week. His BG was still all over. Maybe his shot went into more fat than muscle, maybe he was stressed, maybe he got too much sunlight. It is such a bullshit disease).

 

I'm sorry you've been through such a tough time. You're right that it's sometimes necessary to end your relationship with a vet who won't work WITH you. I hope you stick around here for all the great advice available as you move forward.

 

It took Max up to and over 5 units to finally get some lower numbers. If progress is still tough to come by my vet has suggested switching insulin and/or testing for resistance.