Losing vet tech and cat sitter

OK... so I lost my favorite vet in the world (though I did find her on Facebook so I was still able to personally tell her thank you for all she has ever done for my two kitties).  I had to call up to the new vet and leave a message so he would review my cat's records and see when he wanted glucose readings.  He said like every 3-4 months!!  That seems like a long long time but I guess he thinks they are regulated.

Now that I have lost my favorite veterinarian, I am now losing my favorite vet tech!  I went in one time looking to get some boarding set up at the clinic and my old vet told me some of the girls at the clinic will come to my house and watch my cats.  This was extremely nice of her ... especially since it causes the vet clinic to lose money.  I was a little nervous at first... I didn't really know the girl and I was allowing her into my house while I was out of town.  She could've easily robbed me, so be warned.. I am not recommending that this is something you do.  She came over and watched them.  Eventually... she and I became friends outside the vet office/pet sitting.  She is now moving at the end of this month.  Such a bummer.  I had been using my friends as sitters for years but that just became more and more difficult.  I like just being able to pay someone to sit the cats and let it be more a business transaction.

I am supposed to switch to another vet tech.  One I have met quite a few times and she is friends with the girl who is moving away.  So I trust her... though it's always nerve wracking at first.  It isn't much cheaper then boarding them at the vet office (which is cats only) but cats are always more comfortable at home. 

For me finding a petsitter is like finding a babysitter !  Hard to find someone trustworthy.  I'll miss my old cat sitter who sat the cats for the last time this past weekend.

Finding and losing a good vet

All these years ever since my cats have been diagnosed with diabetes and everything else that is wrong with them... I found an amazing vet clinic.  It's cats only which is even better.  Yes there are some things that annoy me, like the fact that the techs and the veterinarian won't touch my cat Merry when I bring him in because he gets all vocal and loud and kind of aggressive so so they always think he is going to attack them. I have to handle him when I go in.  They don't even touch him usually.   But otherwise my vet has gone above an beyond for my cats.  Giving me donated meds, even doing some appointments for free to just check the cats out.  When I first started going to the clinic the veterinarian was fresh out of school.  She was joining the family business to take over for her uncle so that he could retire.  I would say she's been there now for like 3 years maybe a little longer.  Today I found out she was fired. So sad. I only know this because I became friends with one of the vet techs there who actually comes to my house and takes care of the cats when I go out of town.  Apparently the uncle had been unhappy with her for a while and was unable to retire.  The vet wasn't handling the business side very well or something. It is a sad day for me.  I am sure the vet will go back to the state she is from... though I wish she would go to another clinic so I could follow her there. I don't even know how I would find out though what clinic she ends up at. I wish I could let her know somehow how much I appreciate what she has done for my cats. Gone out of her way to research what's wrong with Merry.  Looked for alternative meds to help him out.  It's just sad that behind the scenes can make a vet just go away.  The uncle veterinarian I have only seen once when I first started going there and didn't really like him that one time.  I remember him berating me about the insulin I was giving and I was new to cats with diabetes.  So we'll see how the care goes from here.  It is sad though.. I mean my old vet even was going to come personally to my home to put my cats to sleep when it was time.  I am pretty sure the new vet would never do anything like that. Just a sad day all around. 

November is Pet Diabetic Month

November is Pet Diabetes Month. Diabetes in cats can be managed with proper diet, blood glucose checks and regular insulin injections at home.  If your cat has diabetes, or you suspect has diabetes, you can check out the AAFP's website for additional information.  

 

It is quite easy to manage diabetes but not cheap. We recently started a new drug on my cat Merry called Pioglitazone.  This drug replaces glipizide for him.  It has been amazing.  Brought down his insulin from 7 Prozinc units and 5 Vetsulin units to 3 Prozinc and 2 Vetsulin.  So glad my vet continues to do research for my cats and discovers new drugs.  After Thanksgiving we will probably try this medication on Pippin too.  The only thing that is no fun about it is right after starting it you have to do constant Glucose checks to make sure they don't bottom out or that the Glucose is too high.  I would recommend giving this drug a try.

Last month Merry's eyes did dilate differently one morning.  For no reason.  I called the vet and took him in right away.  By that time his eyes has dilated normally.  We suspect that the Acromegaly tumor moved around.  The vet told me that if it happened again he would probably have to be put down because the tumor may have moved up against nerves.  His eyes have been normal ever since!  So maybe the tumor moved a little but is now back to where it is fine.  Phew!  That was scary.  

So far things with the cats have been going well.  With winter here they mostly sleep.  Be sure to get your cats checked if you suspect diabetes.

Updates

Hello!  I haven't updated in a while since things have been going well.  We went on a vacation recently which is always hard when you have a diabetic cat (or cats in my case).  Really it has come to the point where asking friends is a hassle. After my cats having diabetes for two years asking for a favor to have people come over has really just run it's course.  No one wants to do it anymore.  Maybe if my parents or sibling lived here it would be different since they are family, but we only have friends who live around us.  So then we had to go on the hunt to actually hire someone (though we did offer friends the same amount of money it would cost to board them).  Luckily we were able to find someone at our vet who also goes to people's homes to take are of their cats.

What is really great about this is that the vet allows this.  It's not actually through the vet at all, they have their own boarding in the building.  But they do allow the workers to tell people they would come to their house.  So nice. I really prefer keeping the cats at the house. AND since she works for the vet if anything bad happened or the cats looked sick she could either ask my vet or take them up to the vet. It wasn't cheap but I had piece of mind.

Then.. the night we got back, I completely forgot to give them shots.  I couldn't believe it.  The only reason why I even realized it was because the next morning my husband woke me up to ask what time they got their shots and I couldn't remember.  It dawned on me because I couldn't remember giving it to them.  Being on vacation 8 days I guess will do that.  I forgot to also set my alarm on my phone for the shots.  I felt terrible. I know they probably didn't feel good at all. Luckily, there were no seizures or deaths. Which is what I was afraid of. 

Soooo.. needless to say everything is back to normal.  Curves have been coming out good.  We will do another one next weekend.  Pippin is on 7 units Prozinc, 5mg Glipizide twice a day, 1 steroid in the evening. Merry is on 6 units of Prozinc, 4 units of Vetsulin, 5 mg Glipizide twice a day.

Arthritis in Cats

Everything has been going really good with the cats... which is why there has been a lack in posting.  I will say we have a hard time going on trips.  We recently went on vacation and had someone lined up to watch the cats and give them shots and they bailed two days before we left so we had to scramble to find someone else to come over two times a day and give shots.  We always pay people to watch them since they are hard to take care of.  Pippin is now on 7 units of Prozinc, 1 Glipizide, 1 steroid in the morning and 1/4 Cerinia at night.  Merry is on 6 units of Prozinc, 4 units of Vetsulin 1 glipizide pill.

I have noticed Merry has been limping a lot lately on his back left leg. I am pretty sure he has full blown arthritis now.  I googled it, and it seems that there are a few ways to help this starting with medicine.  Sigh... even more meds.  It said either a NSAID or steroid depending on how bad it is.  I am sure my vet will want to see him first before prescribing anything so there is $50 for that.  I am going to give him this week and see if stays the same/gets better or wise.  Hoping it goes away.  So we'll see.  I really don't want this to be the reason he dies.  I had a golden retriever growing up and eventually we had to put him down because his hips gave out from arthritis.  So sad. So here's hoping. Since Merry is overweight from all his other issues this makes his chances of having arthritis worse.

Merry

Any advice for someone with a cat with arthritis?

Teeth Cleaning Success

If you read the previous post on the blog you know we weren't able to clean Merry's teeth last week.  He wasn't able to go under because he couldn't breath on his own.  So this week my vet tried again using a different anesthesia.  It was successful this time. Though it turned out quite expensive.  When Merry went in the previous week my vet could tell he has a lose tooth, but that was all she could really see at the time.  When I picked him up he had like 8 teeth pulled!  I did have his teeth cleaned in May 2012 so I didn't think it had been that long and then 2 years before that.  He has never had teeth pulled before now.  I don't know how they got so bad.  She did say that when a cat is diabetic their teeth will go bad... but that bad~!!  He was under anesthesia for 50 minutes and so she didn't take xrays because he was under so long.  Merry gets sooooo moody at the vet.  I had to go in the back and move him into his carrier.

The vet did say she wants to see him in two weeks but she can't even get near him.  I asked her how she would look at his mouth and she said from a distance.  Well I am not going to pay $50 for her to stand away from him and say he looks good.  I have been feeding him wet food for the week, and of course he is on all kinds of medication.  I am going to start softening his diabetic dry food so he can eat that from now on.  I think with all those teeth gone it's going to be too hard for him to eat normal hard food.  His eyes also wigged out the night after his dental.  One eye was fully dilated and the other was not.   I googled this and of course this is a major sign of stroke.  Luckily my vet will email after hours if you email her so I emailed her right away! She did say this was a symptom of coming down off morphine.  But it was still very scary.

Be sure to get your cat's teeth cleaned. I had NO idea this is how bad his teeth were.  I would've never know he was in pain.  His breath did stink real bad so that's how I knew it was time.  Plus my vet had 10% off this month for dentals so I saved a lot of money there too. 

Yellow teeth are the ones removed

Teeth Cleaning

Merry's breath has not smelled good lately and it's been about 1 1/2 years since the last time he had his teeth cleaned.  I think it's important to take care of your cat's teeth.  Imagine a painful mouth!  Cats can't tell you when their mouth hurts so I try to do it every now and then (I don't do it as often as recommended though). If your cat has bad breath though then it's time.  Most likely there is plaque stuck somewhere in their teeth.

He fasted during the night but since he is diabetic he had to have a little food this morning. No shot though, no food or water during the night.  After dropping him off I called and check on him a few hours later.  Turns out he couldn't breath on his own while he was gassed so my vet decided to not do it today.  She was able to get some plaque off some of his teeth, but went ahead and woke him back up.  He does have one lose tooth so she wants to try again.  Next week we will bring him in and she will use a different anesthetic.  She said they would be able to tell before he is under whether or not he can breath.  I am hoping it works because a lost tooth can be very painful and I am not sure what the next option will be for this tooth.  This month is dental health month for pets so my vet also offers 10% off cleanings.  I wasn't charged for today either which was really nice of them.   I don't brush my cat's teeth though I should.. I do have a tooth brush and tooth paste for them for the vet but it is tough work. Be sure to get your cats teeth checked out especially if they are diabetic.  I'll update next week about how that appointment goes.

Missed Shots

The worst feeling is when you and your significant other don't communicate right on who is giving the meds and shots and the cats miss it.  This morning we both thought the other one was going to do it and then no one did it.  Then becomes the debate... when to give the shots/pills.  Right away or wait a couple hours and get them back on schedule right away. I feel terrible thinking that they don't feel good right now because of our mistake. This has only happened twice in the 2 1/2 years since they have been diabetic but it's AWFUL!

Updates

Well.... surprisingly things are going well here.  Thought I would let you know... we tried a few different meds on Pippin and they seem to be working.  Merry even dropped down a unit on his insulin!!  So he is doing really well.  I am quite pleased with the cats.  Merry has puked a couple times this week and he never does... but I am hoping that it's nothing.  Usually it's Pippin's puke I am cleaning. Merry also decided to pee for me today.. I put him in a box since he loves them and he got so excited he just peed.  The joys of diabetic cats.. they just can't hold it in!

Not much longer....

So Pippin had a little episode of puke last night.  He couldn't hold his food down this morning either.  I called the vet and told them there was just no way I could have another $1000 day and that we keep going in and doing tests to only find out that his pancreas isn't doing good.. and same old same old.  She told me to bring him in and that she would do an ultra sound for free to see how he is doing inside.  When I called today I also told her we would probably have to put him to sleep.  I picked him up this evening and turns out that of course his pancreas is still bad and has a lot of scaring in it.  The gallbladder still has sludge in it too.  The only organ that doesn't have any issues right now is the liver.. which will probably eventually will be going soon.  This is called Triaditis. 

So we talked about what is next.  She said there is really nothing left to do, the pancreas will not get better but can be managed.  We are going to try that route... so Pippin will get a steroid twice a day, and nausea meds twice a day along with his insulin.  She did say if this doesn't work we'll have to put him down.  I asked about them putting him down after hours.. but they said for some clients they will come to your house and do it.  Since we have been long time clients they will come to my house, I am quite happy about this. 

Having a good vet even if they are pricey can really been a good decision in your pet's life.  Today all the procedures and medicine I was sent up with were all free.  That isn't something you get if you don't have a relationship with your vet.  Even if you have a healthy cat be sure to do their check-ups and teeth cleanings and get to know your vet.

 

EDIT:  It is now February 18th, 2014 and Pippin is doing really well.  The mix of pills has turned his pancreas around.  He takes a steroid, 1/2 nausea pill, and his diabetes medicine everyday.