Last week I met the cutest lady. Her plate is full. She is taking care of her 99 year old mother. Her husband is about to have surgery. And she recently adopted a chubby cat who has been drinking a lot since she rescued her 2 months ago.
Pet owners run the gamut from lackadaisical to overzealous when it comes to management of their diabetic pets. We don't want to over-test and strain the emotional bond between the diabetic pet and the human due to excessive pokes with a lancing device.
Last week's newsletter was about the value of running a periodic urinalysis - not just for diabetics but for pets who are ill or as screening tests for senior pets.
Every now and then one of our customers asks me about testing urine glucose instead of blood glucose testing. There is a time and place for testing urine in the home, but in general blood glucose testing provides us with much better information for insulin dosing adjustments.
Hurricane season is a bit stressful for this veterinarian. Recently, Tropical Storm Erika threatened to visit. I’ve lived in South Florida for 5 years but hadn’t had such a close call from a potential storm until Erika. I had to buy hardware for my shutters for my vet clinic. I bought gas cans and gas for […]
I got home the other day after a busy day of surgeries and just wanted to be horizontal. Instead, I opened my front door and got blasted by the stink of fish. Only a cannery might have smelled more fishy than my front entryway smelled. One of the dogs had pulled a nearly full bottle of […]
I'm sure you've heard of diabetic cats that were on insulin then off then on again? Are they doing this just to vex their humans and veterinarians? How can a cat be diabetic then not diabetic? Why has the incidence of diabetes increased in our felines? Are there factors predisposing felines to diabetes the same as with humans?
Nobody wants to be boring. The ole hum drum gets pretty old after awhile. As mind numbing as routines can be, they are also of great benefit when managing diseases. Patient compliance is one of the bigger obstacles to good diabetes management for human diabetics.
I always ask for feedback and questions from my own patients and from the readers of this newsletter. Over the years, I have learned that no question is silly, and in fact if one person is asking it, many are probably thinking it.
I was chatting with a friend this morning about the cost of health care. Her insurance company wants her son to use a generic of his medication. Her son feels he can tell the difference between the generic and the "brand name" medication.