Looking 4 vet w/ diabetes experience in Bellevue WA

My 12 year old cat was diagnosed w/ diabetes today. I'd already suspected she might be diabetic and had done some preliminary research. When the vet told me the diagnosis, I asked about in-home blood glucose monitoring. The vet strongly discouraged me from attempting it and told me she didn't know of anyone who performed in-home monitoring for their cat. I'm troubled by this, and would like to find a vet who has a lot of experience w/ diabetic cats and who would support my efforts to monitor my cat's blood glucose levels. If anyone knows of a vet in Bellevue or Issaquah, Washington they would reccomend, i'd really appreciate it.

 

Hello, and welcome to the FDMB;

We're not in Bellevue but not too far away. We live in Puyallup. Our vet was very supportive of home testing, although she steered us to prescription food, which we later learned wasn't the best thing for Beethoven. Through regular home testing and the help of folks here we were able to get Beethoven off insulin. He's been OTJ (off the juice) for 6 months now. We now check his BG about once a month and he's staying in a nice, normal and healthy range without giving insulin.

Let me know if you'd like the name of our vet as a contact for your vet. Also, if you'd like some help getting started with testing, I'd be happy to meet with you and demonstrate.

What kind of insulin will you be using?

 

Thanks for the info! I have a follow up appointment w/ the vet on Monday, which is when she'll give me the insulin. So at this point I don't know what kind I'll be using. I'm getting the impression that I should insist on glargine or detemir. I've already refused the prescription food b/c my cat has irritable bowl disease as well as a chicken allergy (which will make it tricker to find a new food that will work for her). I'm going to really make my case for in-home BG monitoring at the Monday appointment. Thanks for offering your vet's contact info and to demo the testing - I'll let you know if I need it. My goal is to get my cat to where Beethovan is - OTJ! The vet said Milla's a fairly promising candidate for remission, so I have that to cling to.

 

Hello, Is Kirkland too far away for you? I found a fabulous vet in Kirkland near Costco who totally supports home testing. She even came to my house and taught me how to do it! After I would do a glucose curve, I would email her the results and then she would call me back to discuss them. There was a fee for that, but in my mind worth every penny. My cat was put on lantus and after 6 weeks of insulin and changing her diet, she is now insulin free, but I continue to monitor her. Please let me know if you would like the vets name.

 

Again, not real close to you ....but I used The Cat Doctor Clinic in Federal Way.

Dr. Craig Tebeau.

Is your kitty on steroids for the IBD ? My Smokey was, and he had steroid-induced
diabetes.

I live in Cumberland..(north of Enumclaw). I get up to Bell/Iss about once per month.

 

Yes, please give me the name of the vet in Kirkland! I would gladly go to Kirkland for a vet who will support in home BG monitoring and help me get my cat off insulin. And someone who I can email test results to and discuss via phone? - sounds amazing. Can you tell me more about the diet changes you made for your cat?

My cat was on steriods for the IBD for a few months. I took her off when they didn't make much difference. I discovered that giving her grain free food made the biggest difference in controling the IBD.