Making Decisions At The Veterinary Clinic

By Ruth aka Kattaddorra

Further to a few articles on Vets recently we found ourselves rushing off to ours on Monday with Jozef.

He suddenly started coughing so we made an appointment for the afternoon with the vet of our choice but ended up having to dash in as an emergency instead when he got a lot worse and so saw a vet we didn’t know.

She checked his heart and chest and lungs and said all was clear, of course he wouldn’t cough for her! Well we all know how cats hide any illness!

There was nothing in his mouth or throat as far as she could see but it was possible he had a blade of grass stuck further down in which case he would have to have an anaesthetic so she could have a proper look.

She decided to give him an antibiotic/steroid injection as he wasn’t in distress then and if he was still coughing the next morning we’d have to take him in and he would have to have blood tests before any anaesthetic, although she suggested if he had them there and then she’d have the results that day and less trauma for him, so we agreed….

Josef and cat scratcher
Josef and cat scratcher. Collage by Ruth aka Kattaddorra.

…Later she phoned and said all clear, everything normal and that was really good news at 11 years old.

Next morning he was still coughing, so off we went and left him for anaesthetic, throat exam and X Rays. Babz had to go to work, I was at home awaiting the vets phone call then I could phone her, the morning was endless for us both.

Eventually the receptionist phoned to say we could collect Jo at 2.30, he was awake and fine and had been a very good patient and the vet would explain what was wrong.

We went to collect him, poor little chap with his shaved leg and neck, we heard him shouting I WANT TO GO HOME even before we went in the consulting room. He nuzzled into my coat and purred and gave us both head butts, he was so happy to see us.

The vet had found nothing wrong but a bit of a red patch on his throat, a little infection.

But she was a bit of a prophet of doom saying if he wasn’t better with the antibiotics he’d need more tests, a endoscopy, maybe a bronchoscopy, which is quite dangerous for cats, she put the fear of God into us! So he’s on a course of antibiotics and thankfully he hasn’t coughed at all today.

The question is, the antibiotics are working, so did he go through all that yesterday needlessly? Could the tests have waited until we saw if he was better with more antibiotics? When I worked for vets, before all the tests they seem to immediately offer now, they would have tried a full course of antibiotics first.

Did we do right to agree to the tests so quickly? I think so as there may have been something stuck in Jo’s throat and also we now know he has nothing nasty lurking as all his tests were clear.

What would everyone else have done?

Anyway he was quite hyper yesterday but he’s calmed down today and just a bit quieter than his normal self.

The new scratch sofas arrived just right to cheer him up and Walt too, who was a bit down that his companion was away and had come back smelling strange.

Almost £300 vets fees, worth every penny to us of course as our cats health and welfare are very important to us but the cost of vets treatment now is frightening and may put people off going when they push expensive tests so quickly, which is a shame.

It’s hard loving cats as much as we do isn’t it and feeling for them, I’d rather be ill myself than one of our cats.

Ruth aka Kattaddorra

31 thoughts on “Making Decisions At The Veterinary Clinic”

  1. The author of the best comment will receive an Amazon gift of their choice at Christmas! Please comment as they can add to the article and pass on your valuable experience.
  2. Great news about Cardi! It’s wonderful what a bit of tlc can do for a cat, well done you!
    I think you and we will have to go busking on the streets to pay our vet bills Michael lol

  3. Here, here. It is stressful caring for an ill cat. You don’t know what will happen. And giving a cat medicine is hard because we know the cat will be upset and struggle and we don’t want to put our cats through that. We want to do the opposite. I am pleased he is feeling better. Cardi has found a food she likes and is scoffing it (expensive Hills)! She has put on a bit of weight which is strange and beautiful.

  4. After a bit of a scare yesterday morning when Jo wouldn’t eat he is fine today. We think it was a hairball causing the trouble as he’s always been prone to them despite being groomed every day, he went off out and came back looking for his breakfast. PHEW. Thank goodness the antibiotics are finished, twice daily torture for him and for us, he started to avoid us at pill time!
    Today he had us up at 5am wanting to play catnip mice, he had a good breakfast and has been on his morning rounds.
    It’s such a different atmosphere in the house when a cat is better isn’t it!
    I’d honestly rather be ill myself than one of our cats be ill.

  5. Thanks Leah, Jo’s antibiotics finish tomorrow, hoping and praying he stays well now, it’s the hardest thing walking away leaving your cat at the vets, wondering what they are feeling and going through and worrying what the vet will find, isn’t it!

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