2/19 - You are NOT my obsession

Let me start out by apologizing for being MIA - I really haven't had much to blog about except for feline diabetes and I did promise that this wouldn't turn into a sick cat blog.

This weekend was a good one - I bowled well and lost a pound - and that's even after spending Sunday hanging out with my friend Stephanie - said hanging out included breakfast at Ikea, winetasting at Total, and lunch at Panera.

I scored some shelving units that will be great for the basement, and some extremely cool wall art that deserves its own blog at some point (of course if you are my FB friend you already know about how its going to be raining men at my house).  There were also some encounters with the Kids of Ikea.....and I"m going to copy that album over here as a blog when I have a moment.

Weather was blustery and really really cold - which meant I didn't get in my hot tub, which let me confirm that it has a leak, sigh.  Its a slow leak this time - most likely a pump seal, but its too cold to be messing with it so for the moment I've filled it up way high (much more than it should be actually) and once it heats back up - I should be good for at least evenings  - it looks like I"m only losing a few gallons a day - but its hard to top it off in winter - the hose tends to freeze between uses.
I just need to hold off till spring when its warm enough to take a proper look at the mechanics of it all and hopefully figure out how to fix it.

Yesterday was National Drink Wine Day and I participated by opening a bottle of FireBlock Old Vine Grenache from South  Australia.  I was surprised to see this one is  a 2006, because generally Grenache is supposed to be drunk young.  I'm pretty sure I picked up this bottle within the last year. 
I didn't make it to the Clare Valley where this wine is made, but I did go to several vineyards in the Adelaide area, so now I get the added treat of being able to visualize where this wine came from.

And this is a special wine.  It's got the old vine trait of very concentrated flavor and I'm also picking up a ;lot of spice and pepper like I would in a good Zinfandel   Its "big" in the sense that I probably wouldn't drink it alone, but I had a portabello and swiss beef patty for dinner and it really balanced nicely.  Let me give you the official word.

"These dry grown Grenache Vines are producing something quite magical. High tone and exotic red berry notes waft from the glass. On the palate sweet cherry, plum, raspberry notes abound, all wrapped up in a delicious web of dry spices and pepper. Incredibly intense flavors with a finish that lingers long"

Sometimes older is better:)

Of course, none of this has anything to do with the picture or title of this blog, so let me explain here.  It involves feline diabetes, but not in the sense of "this is a blog on feline diabetes).

Rather - this is a blog about smart, knowledgeable people and their tendency to become obsessive.

You know Jez has diabetes - She's cost me a substantial chunk of my vacation fund, mostly in veterinary bills - so I learned to test her blood glucose myself to more effectively monitor her condition.  I also discovered a lot of information on the web including a really great website/forum full of people who are very knowledgeable about feline diabetes and are willing to help "newbies".

Anyhow, after my last vet visit they had me reduce the insulin shots to once a day, which was great for me.  However - when I learned to test, I discovered that Jezebel was running really high blood glucose numbers in the morning which is not good for her...and my vet didn't know about these numbers because they weren't testing during that time frame.  It made sense to me to go back to giving her a shot in the evening, but I wanted some support from the folks "in the know" about this.

Now, those of you who use message boards are probably going to nod your head and wonder that I didn't know this already......but I didn't.   Apparently there is a special sequence you need to follow when asking advice from the experts - you need to post in the correct place,  put the correct header on your post, make sure that you've provided a link to a spreadsheet in which you've compiled all your blood test information in the format they prefer.

Mind you, I'm not saying people weren't helpful.  They quickly explained to me what I needed to do - I did it  - and I got some welcomes and an answer with a confirmation that I was on the right track and a suggestion as to dosage.  I thanked them all and followed the advice....and it seems to be working better (crossing fingers).

End of story, I thought.  But no - it seems the advice givers worry if people don't post updates every day.  First it was suggested that I provide certain information every morning in an update.  When I responded with a brief summary of how I'd taken their suggestion and it seemed to be working better....I then got a private message suggesting that the numbers were 'interesting'  (this spreadsheet is open to the public, so to speak so anyone can look me up and see my cats blood glucose readings) and recommending that I do blood tests every two hours.  I politely responded that I work days and there is no one other than me that can test - and I appreciated the advice but I just couldn't track as intensively as the experts.

The messages kept coming - I should change my testing times to 5 am and 5 pm since I wanted to feed the cats when I came home from work - I should test Jezebel every couple of hours when I was home and not to worry because she'd soon learn to enjoy the experience....and a few others that I can't even remember right now....but the bottom line was I should give up my own life (including sleeping eight hours at a time) so that I could provide the best possible care to my cat. Mind you, that's not what the person said - but its what she said would mean for me.

 These people are brilliant but also obsessive....their cats are experimental test subjects and their "regimen" is like something you'd find at the Mayo Clinic.  These folks are measuring the size of poo and tracking it for heavens sake......and if a cats sugar level seems to have gone a bit low they are playing vampire every fifteen minutes even if its behaving normally just to be safe because hypoglycemia can kill.

These people would have scared the hell out of me a week ago - now they just make me feel a wee bit guilty because I don't share their obsession. 

I don't care if my cats live 10 years or 20 years as long as they are feeling good and enjoying themselves while they are there.  Jez has made it clear she would rather not be a science project and that she expects me to put food down as soon as I get home from work each evening.  Batcat is definitely with her on the food thing - although I think he enjoys watching her discomfort when I have to test.

So I'm going to ignore the obsessives and try to balance proper treatment with a good life......I just hope I can find a way to finesse this so they don't realize I'm ignoring them :)








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