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Do you feel your cats are treated differntly because they are "rescue"

post #1 of 15
6/14/10 at 8:18am
Thread Starter 
Last night we took a little kitten to the E.R. The vet was kind of cold and basicly said that she probably had F.I.P. and that he recommended euthinasia. We decided, that since there is no test for FIP, we would give her a chance over night with antibiotics. So this morning I spoke with the vet on staff and she said that her lungs look bad, but that an ultrasound of her abdomen showed now swelling. She agreed that this little one deserved a chance and she is staying the night on antibiotics. There is still a chance that it is FIP but we are trying to give her a chance to recover just incase it is just a bad URI. (keep in mind this is a 3 - 4 month old kitten) So it made me wonder how many times vet write off sick shelter or rescue cats as incurable, simply because they are shelter or recue cats?
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post #2 of 15
6/14/10 at 9:08am
That is absolutely horrible and I do know that if I were to ever encounter a vet who acted this way, they would never get an OUNCE of my business again. Vets are there to care for animals, that is their JOB and if they are not doing their job, they have no respect from me. Sending vibes for the little one.
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post #3 of 15
6/14/10 at 10:24am
I have encountered this quite a bit, but our vets are country vets who are just incredibly practical minded. I get the feeling that they know that there are just too many cats and dogs for the homes available; I know of a woman who had her ferals put down at the vets because she didnt' want them doing the mandatory time at the shelter, only to be PTS via the shelter's methods.
So, I do have to agree with you that some vets have that attitude, which can be very unfair to the cat or kitten, especially if they have been rescued by someone who has the time, money and commitment to help the kitty thru the illness. I have encountered it myself, and if I feel that is occurring, I just explain that I believe that if a cat or kitten is put into my path, it's God's will that I do what I can to save that creature, and that has always changed their (the vet & staff's) attitude.
Sending mega prayers and vibes that your little girl recovers quickly - bless you for taking care of her
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post #4 of 15
6/14/10 at 10:30am
Actually, quite the opposite with the vets I have been to. Given none of my cats has never been really really ill but I have been to emergency appointments, and it most of the time comes up that my cats are from shelters. (Most of the time the sickest episodes have been right after they have come from shelter).
Vets have been most sympathetic and supportive of the fact that our cats are rescues. I do not know if anything would change if the outlook was generally bad. I would detest to any vet who at those moments did not show some great sensitivity in general.

(I apologize if I misunderstood your original question and you asked it as a representative of a shelter. I am just talking as a regular cat 'owner')
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post #5 of 15
6/14/10 at 12:30pm
I'm not sure. I used to work for a vet who was very anti-TNR and bottlefeeding rescues. She figured there was plenty of cats out there who needs homes without expending resources on both.

Of course I'm for saving or helping all of them, not just some of them so she and I didn't see eye to eye.

She also said if I was going to cry every time one of my fosters passed away that I shouldn't foster.

Yeah I don't agree with that either.
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post #6 of 15
6/14/10 at 1:14pm
Yes, I have come across this, and in fairness to the vets, the reasoning is normally that rescues have limited money, so wont recommend things that they would if it were a pet with an owner. IT isn't an approach I agree with though, except in certain illnesses where the animal might either not stand much chance of survival, or it would make rehoming incredibly hard, in which case they would live the rest of their life in a shelter.

My old vet was similar, as I only have oldies as pets, she didn't want me spending loads of money to only buy them a short space of time, but we soon came to a bit of a compromise.
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post #7 of 15
6/14/10 at 2:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LadyHitchhiker View Post
I'm not sure. I used to work for a vet who was very anti-TNR and bottlefeeding rescues. She figured there was plenty of cats out there who needs homes without expending resources on both.

Of course I'm for saving or helping all of them, not just some of them so she and I didn't see eye to eye.

She also said if I was going to cry every time one of my fosters passed away that I shouldn't foster.

Yeah I don't agree with that either.
I can understand her viewpoint, even if I don't agree. TNR isn't a magic bullet; it takes time to trap the cats, costs money to fix them, and then doesn't remove the cats from the area. For people who want solutions yesterday, this isn't very appealing at all :-/
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post #8 of 15
6/14/10 at 6:39pm
Yes, I have - to some extent I think they are trying to save the rescues money, knowing the money will stretch further with healthy cats but some of them know that rescues only have limited vets they can use (due to distance, cost, being able to keep up with the volume of animals or whatever) and so treat them as second class
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post #9 of 15
6/14/10 at 7:15pm
The vet who treated Speck as part of our adoption agreement with the animal shelter was absolutely lovely. She talked about how much healthier Speck looked than some of the purebred kittens she'd seen that had been purchased from breeders. All of our cats were strays or rescues and our regular vet has been wonderful with them as well.

That's a bad vet for treating you and your kitten that way. A healthcare provider who discriminates belongs in another line of work, whether he or she is caring for a person or an animal.
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post #10 of 15
6/14/10 at 7:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nurseangel View Post
The vet who treated Speck as part of our adoption agreement with the animal shelter was absolutely lovely. She talked about how much healthier Speck looked than some of the purebred kittens she'd seen that had been purchased from breeders. All of our cats were strays or rescues and our regular vet has been wonderful with them as well.

That's a bad vet for treating you and your kitten that way. A healthcare provider who discriminates belongs in another line of work, whether he or she is caring for a person or an animal.

I don't think this was "her kitten" I think it was a rescued stray?

I'm on the fence with this one. There ARE already too many cats and kittens who need homes, healthy ones at that. On the other hand, every life deserves a chance.

That vet may have just been trying to save the kitten a lot of suffering, anyone who knows about FIP knows there is suffering, and/or thinking to save a rescue organization some money and heartbreak. FIP is contagious too, so quarantine is required.

The vet possibly was just giving his honest opinion of the case, in my opinion, and the person in charge of the kitten is, of course, free to not accept that option, and go ahead with treatment.

This was a kitten with no loving home yet, right? The vet perhaps would not have been so quick to suggest euthanasia had the kitten already had a forever home.
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post #11 of 15
6/15/10 at 11:48am
Thread Starter 
I guess being a no-kill shelter we have a differnt opinon from some of the other shelters. We understand that we can't save them all, but prefer to do the best we can for those already in our care. This kitten has been with us for around a month now & she was healthy when she came in. She is coming back to the shelter today. The vet I spoke with today feel she has a respiratory disease, and the biggest hurddle will be to get her eating on her own.

No she doesn't have a home yet, but she is a sweet young girl who deserves a chance.
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post #12 of 15
6/15/10 at 3:13pm
Every time I've been to the emergency vet, I've been less than impressed. It might just be the ER in this area, but I don't like them at all.
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post #13 of 15
6/15/10 at 5:39pm
I know the vet I use does work with a small rescue group here (who mainly focuses on saving dogs). If they get a positive on an ELISA test on a cat they don't consider retesting even though it can be false positives in kittens.

When I took Siri in and was waiting for the results of her tests I asked because I knew she had been someone's pet and had to have been vaccinated before. Had she tested positive for FIV I would have demanded a different test - he doesn't suggest or do that for the rescue.

They also seemed a bit taken aback that the ~7wk old feral kittens I was took in were not going to be put out in a barn somewhere...
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post #14 of 15
6/17/10 at 6:23am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Willowy View Post
Every time I've been to the emergency vet, I've been less than impressed. It might just be the ER in this area, but I don't like them at all.
I have to say this is the first bad experience I have had with this ER. We have had 2 other cats at the clinic & they have always been wonderful with us, and worked very had to help us save our cats. In addition, the owner of the clinic has gone out of her way to give us discounts. So I guess the attitude of this one vet was a bit shocking to me.

Update on the kitten, she is holding her own. Not eating a whole lot, but eating a little on her own. She is alert and while not super active is responsive to people. She is such a sweet girl, I would hate to have seen anything happen to her.
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post #15 of 15
6/17/10 at 6:33pm
I'm glad she is doing so well!
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