Cleveland Vet? (East preferred)

I'm looking for a vet in the Cleveland area that has experience with feline diabetes. I like my vet and she seems to be pretty knowledgeable, (what she says seems to agree with what I'm reading online) but I'd almost like to get a "second opinion" just to make sure I'm not taking too much for granted and that we're exploring all the options.

I'm on the east side of Cleveland, so anything in the city, the eastern burbs, or even the west side of Cleveland would be of interest.

Thanks all, and hello! I'm new to the boards. My kitty was just diagnosed two weeks ago, and is in the vet today for her first blood curve. She's on 1 unit once a day of Lantus. I haven't been doing home testing, but have ordered a kit.. I admit I'm a bit of a chicken about doing it, and I've been waiting on the first curve results to see if it's needed.

For food, I've been feeding her Wellness Core since before she was diagnosed, so I just kept her on that. She really seems to prefer the dry to the wet food though, so I'm not sure what to do about that. She lost 2.6 pounds in 4 months so I'm just happy to get her to eat, even if it's not wet food. Also tried tuna and sliced turkey breast, which she picks at, but she really seems to prefer the Wellness Core dry. Unfortunately my other kitty is overweight so I'm also trying to figure out how to make sure the one has plenty of food while the other isn't gorging herself. :roll:


Edited to add - I got her when she was full-grown from a shelter, and the vet at that time guesstimated she was 2-3 years old, but wasn't entirely sure (since I guess there's no easy way to tell?). That would make her 5-6 years now, but does the diabetes diagnosis mean she's likely significantly older? It doesn't seem like 5-6 is a likely age for a cat to be diagnosed with diabetes. She's never been overweight.

 

Hi Sapling

I understand your nervousness about testing...we were TOTALLY and COMPLETELY unwilling...I even left this message board after I got tired of people telling me I needed to. But then Squeak relapsed and I realized that I needed to. It really isn't nearly as difficult as it sounds!

A couple of quick thoughts...

1. lantus is a twice a day insulin; giving it once a day is not terribly helpful as lantus needs to build up in your cat's system
2. hometesting is completely and utterly necessary...testing prior to injecting and also testing inbetween shots to determine how well the dose is working...

Hope this helps

Jen

ps sorry, forgot to answer your last question...Squeak was 6 when he was diagnosed, so it is possible that you've guessed your cat's age correctly

 

Hi and welcome. I saw your question on lantus about rolling insulin and that you got an answer. You may want to take the oppty and tell the vet this information, as she doesn't really know. But good for the vet to recommend lantus to you!

Regarding home testing - think of it this way, if you were injecting yourself or a family member with insulin - you would 100% test your finger before injecting the insulin. The human doctor would not only suggest it, he/she would probably require you do it and even show you how.

So, how is it different if the family member is a cat and not a human? You must learn to home test and stick with the lantus board and they will help you to understand what the tests mean.

While, yes you're scared. Talk with your vet and see if she will teach you how to test - the options are the ears or the paw pads. The vet may discourage you from this, but it's vital that you learn.

As one of the vet techs on this board likes, to say, you wouldn't get in your car, blindfold yourself and proceed to drive down the road! Not testing your cat is the same thing, shooting blindly.

It's ok to be a chicken, find that inner strength to do this task. Both you and your cat will benefit from it.

Regarding food, it is very important to remove the dry food and feed wet. Maui was an 11 year dry food addict and I thought would be tough to transition. It took several weeks of my spoon feeding her to get her to learn that this is the new food (hence the pic) and she started eating it. It was my two civvies that were the real problem to transition.

HEre is a good link to help you better understand about this:

Transitioning your cat from dry to wet

I can tell you that it's been one year since I started this journey and transitioned my cats to wet, and yes, if given the opportunity they will gorge on the dry food, but I won't give that opportunity.

 

Hi,

I know a real good vet in Cleveland, I will get the name for you.

I live in Akron but moved from NJ where there was a real nice lady Vet that I worked with at an emrgency clinic in NJ with and she moved to that area and works at the emergency clinic.

Give me a little bit to check my info and I will send u a pm.

Kay

 

Can you narrow down where east a bit? Came from Ohio and know people in Mentor area I can ask.