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….
…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.
Your cats are your family as ours are and you do everything in your power to make sure they are well. We also trust our vets decisions after all do we really have a choice?
You did exactly the right thing for Jozef and really he is probably thanking you for it because he feels much better!!
I know exactly how you feel. I am protective towards animals and if they are scared and I am causing it because I have to for their own good, it hurts me.
Furbys doing great. His time is spent between bumming for treats and knocking things off the counter just to watch them fall. He’s also slept with me a few nights lately. He gets URI’s easily but he’s FIV and FeLV negative. He just finished a round of antibiotics for his latest.
Furby has been plans for the year. Check out his page at http://www.facebook.com/furbyshouse. He’s going around announcing he’s the greatest cat writer in the world. I’m beginning to believe he may be right 🙂
Thanks Elisa, it’s good to know you would have done the same, yes we’d have been worrying something nasty was down there and it’s reassuring to know all the tests were normal, thyroid included, blood cell count etc …..phew ….
Poor Furby, Jo says he knows how he feels being violated. Is he OK now?
Love to everyone in your house xx
Everyone sends best wishes back Hairless Cat Girl. The red patch was further down than we can see so the only way to know if it’s gone would be to leave him at the vets for anaesthetic again and we don’t want to do that if we can avoid it. We will be keeping a very close eye on him though and any sign of a cough again we will go back.
I can’t seem to pull myself together after all this and poor Barbara has been ill all week too with the cough and cold virus going around, we haven’t had much sleep with all the worry and noisy neighbours don’t help!
But Babz says she feels much better today and Jo is fine so I’m trying to calm myself down and count my blessings, live for the moment when all is well.
Walter loves the scratch couches, we have one upstairs and one down now, Jo prefers the upright Fat Boy post.
You really didn’t have much choice. What if he’d swallowed something that could be toxic. In the U.S. our children used to be bad about swallowing a penny. They were made of copper and didn’t cause a problem. Now they’re made of zinc and can kill. I’d rather be safe than sorry any time with a cat. You’d worry yourself to death otherwise.
Furby always loved to ride and go to the vet. We took him to the expensive vet last time. as usual he slept the whole way there. But that vet “violated” him more than the cheap vet. Furby was sitting on the table shaking from head to toe. I felt so sorry for him but he was really sick and he has cat insurance.
Give Jozef a hug from Furbys house. 🙂