Re: 7/7 Junior AMPS 102 Vet Visit Summary
Hi all!
Thank you for the well wishes for the vet visit! I hit a pothole on my way home and saw that I got a flat when I got home. Been dealing with that this afternoon.
Anyway, compared to our vet in Southern California and the one we've been working with, the overall experience with Sienne's vet was absolutely amazing! I never knew that a vet visit could be this wonderful. She was very methodical and thorough in our conversation, asking about things that my other vets had never asked about. Her support staff was equally impressive, tip toeing into the room and whispering to each other to keep Junior calm before they approached him.
Of course with Junior, it didn't work.
After burying him with 2 towels, a blanket, and a vet tech with the vulcan grip, Junior was sedated for some tests. We were there for 3 hours so I'll boil down what we discussed:
Diabetes
The new vet agreed with my old vet that Junior may be over treated for diabetes b/c his fructosamine results is too low. She recommended that Junior stop insulin for one week to see what'll happen. She said that it'll take a few days before we see the effects so I don't need to home test for a week but could start in 3-4 days if I wanted to.
Given that she is familiar with the Rand and Tilly protocol, I'm going to give this a try. We'll see what happens though I really don't think Junior is ready. He'll probably need his juice after a week. I'm also going to continue to home test daily anyway. Better to have too much data than not enough.
Junior's eyes are cloudy b/c of aging, not b/c it's related to diabetes.
Guts Stuff
Junior's blood was drawn to see if there is any pancreas or intestinal issues. Results will come in tomorrow. My old vet also needed to send her the x-rays that were taken on Friday so she'll need to look at that as well.
Thanks to Karrie and Maverick, I asked about fatty liver disease. She said it's probably not the case b/c you typically see them in overweight cats that suddenly stop eating altogether.
Hyperthyroid
Agreed with the old vet on this and recommends getting his blood checked in 3-4 weeks to see how the new dose is doing.
She was also knowledgeable on which radiation centers have a higher success rate, something the other office didn't know. Depending on the diabetes plan and the pancreas test result, Junior could be in radiation in 3-4 weeks. Otherwise it could be a couple of months.
Other
- Agreed that he does look underweight. She could see through his sagging skin that he used to be roly poly.
- Noticed that his breathing was belabored. Part of it is attributed to stress but there may be something going on there.
- Teeth are ok though they look like they need a cleaning and one might need to come out. She knows that the last time we gave him anesthesia, the vet had to pull him out b/c his heart got too faint.
- Said he has a "real cute butt."
Hope this wasn't too long to read. It's already weird that I'm not giving him insulin tonight.
I'd love to hear your thoughts and reactions.
Thanks guys!
Bonnie
