My cat Buffy was 11 years old and she started acting lethargic. I assumed her behavior change was because she was getting older and I started to monitor her more closely.
Within 2 days she was sleeping all the time and refusing to eat. I took her to the vet on the 3rd day, and the vet found an abscess on her upper leg, by the thigh area. My kitty was long-haired and I never noticed this abscess.
The vet looked at it, determined she had an infection and was "too far gone" to help her. He asked me if I have other cats, which I do, and he told me abscesses are from cat bites that get infected. He told me that if I tried antibiotics she would be dead by morning. I was in shock, and a complete basket case. Here I thought she was just getting older, and the whole time it was something that I could've prevented if I had given her an examination at home. He also told me that it was the result of a cat bite that had become infected.
My problem is that my cats are all indoor cats, that have always lived together, and are all declawed. They don't fight. They have their own areas they live in....and they've never bitten each other before.
So, I guess I'm wondering if a vet can determine the cause of an abscess just from looking at it? I kept asking him if he needed to test the abscess and he became very rude at times and told me he had been a vet for 40 year and knows what he is talking about.
I know it was in her best interest to be put out of her pain, but do you think it's possible the vet misdiagnosed her? Is it possible it could've been a tumor?
Within 2 days she was sleeping all the time and refusing to eat. I took her to the vet on the 3rd day, and the vet found an abscess on her upper leg, by the thigh area. My kitty was long-haired and I never noticed this abscess.
The vet looked at it, determined she had an infection and was "too far gone" to help her. He asked me if I have other cats, which I do, and he told me abscesses are from cat bites that get infected. He told me that if I tried antibiotics she would be dead by morning. I was in shock, and a complete basket case. Here I thought she was just getting older, and the whole time it was something that I could've prevented if I had given her an examination at home. He also told me that it was the result of a cat bite that had become infected.
My problem is that my cats are all indoor cats, that have always lived together, and are all declawed. They don't fight. They have their own areas they live in....and they've never bitten each other before.
So, I guess I'm wondering if a vet can determine the cause of an abscess just from looking at it? I kept asking him if he needed to test the abscess and he became very rude at times and told me he had been a vet for 40 year and knows what he is talking about.
I know it was in her best interest to be put out of her pain, but do you think it's possible the vet misdiagnosed her? Is it possible it could've been a tumor?