Iris Melanoma

yuna

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I came home from work today and when I took a look at Ziggy his left eye had all these brown spots all over it! I looked it up online and I found this:

http://www.eyevet.info/iris_melanoma.html

and the picture of that cat's eye on that website looks exactly how Ziggy's eye looks.

I made an appointment to take him to the vet tomorrow at three, but I'm really upset now because the website says it could be something serious! the thing I don't understand is, that the website says it happens with older cats, Ziggy is two (almost exactly two years old his 2 year b-day was just March 7!). so I am probably worrying and overreacting way more than I should, so if any of you guys have any friendly words, or any helpful stories of expierence with this same sort of thing that would be great! I'll keep an update and post what the vet tells me tomorrow.
 

python

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Hi Yuna. Did this happen suddenly? Was Ziggy's eye OK in the morning when you left for work and was like this when you came home? The reason I ask is that something like that wouldn't happen so quickly. You would have noticed changes over a period of time. Pigmentation could cause differences in the iris (one of the reasons Biometric iris scans in humans are not accurate - the pigmentation and pattern in the iris can change from time to time). You've done absolutely the right thing in making an appointment to see the vet and I really hope he can put your mind at rest.
 
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yuna

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I never noticed it until this afternoon when I got home, and it seemed to just pop up suddenly and its only in the left eye, his right eye is clear and fine. he has always had one little brown spot in his eye I asked my vet about last year and the vet told me it was nothing, so I'm hoping it will be nothing. even though I'm broker than broke, I'd rather pay the one vet visit tomorrow and have the vet say 'you are worrying too much its no big deal' than put it off you know?
 
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yuna

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OK so I brought him to the vet, they ran tests on him and examined his eye, my regular vet wasn't there today but the lady I had was very nice, she said it worried her a little because there was one brown spot that was raised, but since he is so young and otherwize healthy it would be rare to find a melanoma. she said we have to wait for the bloodwork to come back and then from there I would probably have to make an appointment with an opthimologist (sp?)

the entire vist cost me $221 dollars... I try not to complain about vet costs, but I only make 8$ an hour at my job and I'm a student, she said that with the eye doctor the original visit would probably cost around $85 and then if any testing would need to be done I would have to pay 'specialty prices' (I dont even know what that means but it sounds scary). I don't know how to handle the cost, I am already worried sick about Ziggy and $221 is almost one entire paycheck for me, I would never decide not to bring him because of cost, but if I just don't have the money in my account to pay it, what do I do?? are there vets that allow customers to pay over a period of time? I'm so worried because I want my baby to get healthy as soon as possible and if I simply don't have the money then I can't do that. I'm so stressed.
 

booktigger

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Fingers crossed it is nothing serious. As for vet bills when the vet makes you pay up and you dont have insurance, I have always had to rely on the credit card for that, not the best answer though I'm afraid.
 

python

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My own feeling on vet bills is they are far too high. Not everyone has a credit card and many people, especially old people can't afford pet insurance which over here in the UK is at least £5 per month for a cat, more if it is a pedigree cat. I don't know what it's like for old people in America but here many of them get barely enough to live on and sometimes their cat or dog is the only company they've got. We have a new law coming in thanks to the RSPCA that now means if your cat or dog gets sick and you don't take it to the vet you can get prosecuted. I'm not sure if it's becoming compulsory to vaccinate your cats (or dog) or not, but if it is it could explain the huge rise in the price of vaccinations and also the huge hike in vets consultation fees here in the UK. A couple of years back, our vet charged £18 ($35) for the initial consultation. That price has been hiked up to £27 ($52) plus the cost of medication on top of that. Our vet wanted to charge us £60 to take Lucy's blood pressure. No way does taking blood pressure warrant £60. For humans we have our NHS, but even taking a human's blood pressure in a private hospital wouldn't cost a fraction of that. To do blood work our vet wanted £100, so to get Lucy's blood pressure taken plus a blood test it would have cost us £160 ($309) plus the consultation fee and any medication on top of that. We are in the position where we can't afford these tests as we're on a very low income so we had to refuse. There's no doubt that vets are on to a good thing. I worked out that our vet makes on average £1620 per day on consultation fees alone ($3129) and that's before the profit from any medication sold is added on. Frankly, I think it's obscene and I have no doubt many cats and dogs are put to sleep unnecessarily because of the greed of vets. I'm not saying our vet isn't good, he is, but the price he and most of the vets charge is nothing short of extortion. Older cats can't get insurance anyway once they reach a certain age. Medicine, whether it's for humans or animals is one big money making scam.
 

cloud_shade

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It is difficult to find a vet who will take payments over time from a new client. Most are only willing to consider that if you've been with them for a long time. However, there is a program called Care Credit. It's like a cross between a credit card/credit account and a payment plan. Their website is www.carecredit.com.

I haven't used them, but I know a lot of people have. I'm fortunate to have a credit card large enough to cover most of the expenses my cats might run up, but it's tough.
 
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yuna

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my problem with credit cards, is that I already have two that are both maxed out and I'm having a very difficult time paying them off, and I have tried to apply for another but I keep getting denied because the other two are at their credit limit.

I'll just have to wait and see what happens when they call with the test results.
 

booktigger

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I do agree that vets charge too much - I pay £18 for the first consult and it then goes down, the lowest is about £15 I think. When Ginger had his blood pressure taken, I was told it would cost about £12 - but cost less than that on the day - but then I am a very regular customer at my vet, I pay them hundreds of pounds each year, so my vet will do what she can to help me out. Yours does sound a lot more expensive than mine though, I have one of the most expensive blood tests, and it is about £80 - it has to be sent away, I could get it done cheaper, but prefer to be very thorough. My vets do expect payment up front - now i have got the credit card paid off, I take £20 to the vets every month which covers both girls boosters and annual bloods, so I have split it - they are insured, so the insurance covers anythign else.
 
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