She thinks she missed the train to mars - Raven Update III: Diabeeeeet--Not really?

Raven Update III: Diabeeeeet--Not really?

Sep. 23rd, 2008 at 1:47 PM

The short of it: almost 700$ spent to have the final decision be that the diabetes is probably an underlying symptom of either Cushing's disease or some sort of growth disease.

For those of you curious, here's a good link about Cushing's Disease: http://www.cat-world.com.au/CushingsDisease.htm

The test for Cushing's can only be done in a certain state, which I have forgotten already due to all the other details running around in my head. The test is, also, apparently very very expensive as well as all the other tests they'd have to run to pinpoint what is specifically wrong with Raven.

And then of course, there's the high chance that after doing all those tests, all of them show up negative and we'd have to begin another round of expensive tests.

The medication to treat Cushing's would be roughly another 100$ a month on top of roughly that much for her insulin and needles. We could treat her for Cushing's, but what if it's not that? What if the meds don't work? Medications for cats with Cushings is vastly different than the medications which work for dogs with the same disease.

It all comes down to money, and I hate it, because we really cannot do anything more now than make her comfortable and wish for the best. That's not exactly what I'd hoped for.

raven

Comments

( Comment )

slwatson wrote:

Sep. 23rd, 2008 06:37 pm (UTC)

I'm sorry it's come to that, too. Talk about an awful spot to be in.

elf_fu wrote:

Sep. 23rd, 2008 06:48 pm (UTC)

Yes. "We could do more for her, and maybe make her feel better and be healthier....if we had the money for it." Human or cat, I wouldn't wish for some one to have to go through with that and yet they do, everyday. :/

Thanks very much.

horizonchaser wrote:

Sep. 23rd, 2008 09:22 pm (UTC)

Oh boy. ::Hugs:: We had a cat that had suspected Cushings, he lost all of his fur in the "bilateral" pattern (actually, all he had left was fur on his head and a stripe down his back.)

They actually waived a lot of the fees for testing because it was a teaching office we went to, and we okayed them to bring in their students to watch.

This was cured, though, they decided it was stress and hormone imbalance. (They put him on oviban, a birth control pill for dogs, and valium).

But we did have a cat suffering Feline AIDS, and there wasn't really much we could do but keep him comfortable and enjoy him. It's so aggravating when it's down to money.

elf_fu wrote:

Sep. 23rd, 2008 10:41 pm (UTC)

It is, but I am so grateful, very much, for Village Animal Hospital who completely understood our situation.

Thank you for the link you sent me, by the way. I've forwarded it to Shawn, too. It's actually really, really eye opening. I didn't know the first thing about animal insurance. In our case, it sounds like a really good thing to look into.