I don't know where else to turn. I just need to vent.
My cat Fuzzy, she 'found me' back in 1997...an adult then so don't know for sure her age. I noticed a few weeks ago that she was being more fussy with eating and she felt a little more 'bony' to me (hard to tell with her, she's a long haired cat and looks so fluffy). Got her into Vet Jun 3 and requested senior panel including Free T4 plus urinalysis. She'd also been periodically throwing up clear liquid....but has always been like this, most often due to furballs.
Bloodwork showed BUN 14.5 (range: 5-12)...Creat up @ 227 (range: 71-203).....Potassium low @ 3.5 (range: 3.9-5.3). Not hyperthyroid.
Vet more concerned with peddling Hill's K/D than discussing what we were going to do about low potassium. No way Fuzzy will eat that crap. She will ONLY eat Fancy Feast or Friskies, canned.....trust me, I have a pantry of premium canned cat foods that I should donate to the Humane Society or a rescue, from trying every canned food under the sun that's "good" and my cats only like the crap canned.....Fuzzy the most.
I told her I had some Tumil-K leftover from my angel cat Tigger (who had CRF) but that it had expired Jan/2011. I asked if she could call in a prescription to a local compounding pharmacy as I wanted it made into a flavored liquid. She agreed. Told me to go ahead, while waiting for liquid, to give the Tumil-K but then said "it probably won't do anything though because it's old." Knowing what my clinic charges for meds, I decided I'd just buy some Potassium Gluconate and give it that way. The clinic 'forgot' to fax the Rx to the compounding pharmacy and I had to call a million times to remind them.
Today, as it's been about 2 weeks, I took her in to get Potassium level checked.....and requested a blood pressure be done as BP can be high in CRF cats. I was also a little concerned she might be a little dehydrated...gums didn't feel as 'slippery' as my other cats'.
$100 to have BP done. I hard to argue with the tech because she was going to use a BP cuff that was the size for a large dog (I'm an RN and no stranger to CRF cats). She finally agreed to use the proper sized one. BP was SKY HIGH!
226/155
225/147
223/156
214/139
215/153
230/139
Heart rate range from 180-204
I nearly crapped! That's darn high. Fuzzy is totally deaf (which occured 3 years ago and i'm convinced it was related to anesthesia during a dental)....and if her BP is so high that her retinas detach, she'd be totally blind and then I'd have to put her down because it would be cruel to have a cat that's deaf and blind. I asked if I could speak to the Vet about the high BP and get Fuzzy started on Amlodipine. She was snotty, told me Vet was doing a root canal but she'd see if he could talk. I told her I could wait to talk to him. She came back telling me he'd call me later and not to worry, BP wasn't that high (WTH?)....I told her about my fear of retinal detachment and she stood there and told me that wasn't very common (WRONG!).
By the way, she felt Fuzzy was a little dehydrated and was about to rush us out of the exam room. HUH? I told her that I would have to give her subQ fluids then.....but the bags of fluids I have at home are well past expired.....I'd need to order more (order them from local medical supply place). She didn't seem to care. I then asked if I could buy a litre bag from them. She agreed.
I came home and gave her 125cc of lactated ringers (she's a tough one, tried to nip at me many times LOL)
Well as I figured, clinic is now closed for the day. before I left I asked her to ask Vet to please all me (that was 1:30pm) prior to closing so that I would be able to go back and get some Amlodipine....but it's now after 6pm and I guess my cat will have to wait until tomorrow to get on anything.
If that's not enough, when Vet called me to review lab work (usually I ask them to fax me copy of results so I can see them myself but this time i didn't - stupid me)....didn't bother to mention that her urine pH is 5.0 !!!!! That's very acidic......puts her at great risk of developing Calcium Oxylate crystals/stones. I've never in all my years of having a cat had one with a pH that low. EVER!
I am so disgusted.
I feel tonight I am going to have to take her into the 24 hr vet hospital in the next city, armed with copies of her lab work and today's BP results....and beg them to prescribe Amlodipine because I just can't let her go on, even until tomorrow, with a BP that high. But that will be another $100 + a $75 Vet exam fee. I am livid.
Having had CRF cats before, I have never had one with a BP that high before. the tech did tell me that she'd showed the Vet the readings and he agreed they were high.......but not a priority to call me before closing so I could get her started on something?
They are the best clinic in the city (the other 2 clinics are truly a joke).
I have spent, literally, thousands of dollars on my cats at this clinic.....not many others have 5 cats...they make a fortune off of me and this is what I get? But I don't care about me, I care about my poor old cat.
My cat Fuzzy, she 'found me' back in 1997...an adult then so don't know for sure her age. I noticed a few weeks ago that she was being more fussy with eating and she felt a little more 'bony' to me (hard to tell with her, she's a long haired cat and looks so fluffy). Got her into Vet Jun 3 and requested senior panel including Free T4 plus urinalysis. She'd also been periodically throwing up clear liquid....but has always been like this, most often due to furballs.
Bloodwork showed BUN 14.5 (range: 5-12)...Creat up @ 227 (range: 71-203).....Potassium low @ 3.5 (range: 3.9-5.3). Not hyperthyroid.
Vet more concerned with peddling Hill's K/D than discussing what we were going to do about low potassium. No way Fuzzy will eat that crap. She will ONLY eat Fancy Feast or Friskies, canned.....trust me, I have a pantry of premium canned cat foods that I should donate to the Humane Society or a rescue, from trying every canned food under the sun that's "good" and my cats only like the crap canned.....Fuzzy the most.
I told her I had some Tumil-K leftover from my angel cat Tigger (who had CRF) but that it had expired Jan/2011. I asked if she could call in a prescription to a local compounding pharmacy as I wanted it made into a flavored liquid. She agreed. Told me to go ahead, while waiting for liquid, to give the Tumil-K but then said "it probably won't do anything though because it's old." Knowing what my clinic charges for meds, I decided I'd just buy some Potassium Gluconate and give it that way. The clinic 'forgot' to fax the Rx to the compounding pharmacy and I had to call a million times to remind them.
Today, as it's been about 2 weeks, I took her in to get Potassium level checked.....and requested a blood pressure be done as BP can be high in CRF cats. I was also a little concerned she might be a little dehydrated...gums didn't feel as 'slippery' as my other cats'.
$100 to have BP done. I hard to argue with the tech because she was going to use a BP cuff that was the size for a large dog (I'm an RN and no stranger to CRF cats). She finally agreed to use the proper sized one. BP was SKY HIGH!
226/155
225/147
223/156
214/139
215/153
230/139
Heart rate range from 180-204
I nearly crapped! That's darn high. Fuzzy is totally deaf (which occured 3 years ago and i'm convinced it was related to anesthesia during a dental)....and if her BP is so high that her retinas detach, she'd be totally blind and then I'd have to put her down because it would be cruel to have a cat that's deaf and blind. I asked if I could speak to the Vet about the high BP and get Fuzzy started on Amlodipine. She was snotty, told me Vet was doing a root canal but she'd see if he could talk. I told her I could wait to talk to him. She came back telling me he'd call me later and not to worry, BP wasn't that high (WTH?)....I told her about my fear of retinal detachment and she stood there and told me that wasn't very common (WRONG!).
By the way, she felt Fuzzy was a little dehydrated and was about to rush us out of the exam room. HUH? I told her that I would have to give her subQ fluids then.....but the bags of fluids I have at home are well past expired.....I'd need to order more (order them from local medical supply place). She didn't seem to care. I then asked if I could buy a litre bag from them. She agreed.
I came home and gave her 125cc of lactated ringers (she's a tough one, tried to nip at me many times LOL)
Well as I figured, clinic is now closed for the day. before I left I asked her to ask Vet to please all me (that was 1:30pm) prior to closing so that I would be able to go back and get some Amlodipine....but it's now after 6pm and I guess my cat will have to wait until tomorrow to get on anything.
If that's not enough, when Vet called me to review lab work (usually I ask them to fax me copy of results so I can see them myself but this time i didn't - stupid me)....didn't bother to mention that her urine pH is 5.0 !!!!! That's very acidic......puts her at great risk of developing Calcium Oxylate crystals/stones. I've never in all my years of having a cat had one with a pH that low. EVER!
I am so disgusted.
I feel tonight I am going to have to take her into the 24 hr vet hospital in the next city, armed with copies of her lab work and today's BP results....and beg them to prescribe Amlodipine because I just can't let her go on, even until tomorrow, with a BP that high. But that will be another $100 + a $75 Vet exam fee. I am livid.
Having had CRF cats before, I have never had one with a BP that high before. the tech did tell me that she'd showed the Vet the readings and he agreed they were high.......but not a priority to call me before closing so I could get her started on something?
They are the best clinic in the city (the other 2 clinics are truly a joke).
I have spent, literally, thousands of dollars on my cats at this clinic.....not many others have 5 cats...they make a fortune off of me and this is what I get? But I don't care about me, I care about my poor old cat.
