cats only vet

I had my first experience with a cats-only vet this past week. I took Bowie in first and he thinks he has allergies to something because his lip was a little swollen. He gave him a steroid shot and it seemed to help. Next I took in Buddha and Izzie and they checked out okay although I won't get the results of the urinalysis for Buddha till tomorrow. They all got their rabies vaccine. The reason why I went to a cats-only vet is because they only use Purevax rabies vaccine. None of the local vets in my area would order it for me.

The vet wasn't as pleasant as I thought he'd be. He didn't talk much or explain anything, like Bowies allergies. He just said I have to put him on a prescription hypoallergenic diet.... which I don't want to do. He said I can't feed him brands I buy at the store, but he wouldn't explain why even though I asked him. I wrote down all the supplements I give my cats (Cosequin for Buddhas urinary health, EYL and Vets Best Hairball for Izzie, L-Lysine for Bowie, Proden Plaque Off for all three) for the tech to write in their medical notes and when the vet saw the list he bluntly said that none of them are proven to do anything. It made me feel stupid... like I was over worrying about the health of my cats. He did mention my cats teeth looked really good for their age, which could be because of the Proden. He also pushed the prescription diet for Buddha, for all meals. I just feed him the prescription for dinner and high quality for breakfast and lunch. No issues so far... and his urine pH is a steady 6-6.5. When I asked the tech what exactly the urinalysis looks for (I had an idea but wanted further explanation), she fumbled her words saying that it checks if the urine ph is too acidic. She never mentioned anything about crystals...

Am I being overly cautious with the supplements or is the vet just making me doubt my decisions? I thought a cats-only vet would be more into nutrition and holistic care, not pushing the prescription diet.

Not all cats only vets are 'well versed' in all things Feline.  Some are cats only vets solely for the reason that they don't like dogs.  Cosequin has been proven to help bladder health.  I have 2 of my cats on supplements up the wazoo (Krill Oil, Lysine, Fish Oil, Cosequin, Pancreatic Enzymes for 1).  My vet recommends Cosequin for kitties with bladder health issues.   This talks about what a typical urinalysis tests for.  http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pet-health-information/article/animal-health/urinalysis/406  Neither one of my bladder kitties are on any kind of a special diet for their bladders other than canned food only and additional water added to the canned food. If you want a vet who is better versed in nutrition and holistic care you'll have to find one who specializes in it. 

There is an ABVP feline specialist designation apparently it isn't that easy to get, there are only 80 of them.  I thought there would be one in Philly but there isn't.  We have 3 in Columbus but I think that is probably because of the University having a vet school.  The specialist designation is probably why the clinic I take mine too participates in drug trials.  When I was doing the vet hopping thing with a chronically ill kitty I went to another cat's only vet that wasn't a board certified specialist and she was no more help than the general practice vets I went to.  She was the one that diagnosed my kitty with pancreatitis when he didn't have it.

As far as holistic things such as supplements and diets other than prescription you would probably get more help from a holistic vet.  Be warned though that initial consultation will be expensive.  I looked into one with Patches when I was trying to figure out what was wrong with him and I couldn't afford it at the time.  The charge just for his time is $75 per 15 minutes.  It isn't unusual for an initial consultation to turn into several hundred dollars.

http://www.inyourarea.net/local2/17445/?gclid=CNHt3ePkh7wCFckWMgodMl4AJQ   is a database of vets that claim to be holistic.  Again there is no specific criteria.  You would have to be careful of traditional vets that are just adding holistic to their practice to get more business.

I have a regular vet who is wonderful for routine car and a board certified cat specialist vet who is a little far from me, that I take the tough cases to i.e. Cat won't eat etc. I have found they are better at diagnosing problems that are feline specific and save me a lot if heartache and money, but for everything else a regular vet is fine with me. My specialist is board certified in feline medicine in Florida. Board certified or not, if you have a vet that is not too caring you are better off with a non board certified vet that really cares, because they will do the research for you and do everything for your cat. My regular vet has seen and successfully treated some complicated problems and saved me a trip to the specialist bc she was open to researching issues and not giving up. Looks like you just need to find a vet with a better bedside manner because when things get really critical you need a vet you can trust.

I have never gone to a cats only clinic, as the only one is 25 miles away, and I want my vet to be closer in case of emergency. I did consider them, though, and when I called they did not have a holistic vet, although they did have one or two that were interested in raw feeding and nutritional issues.

Although many natural remedies are not "proven," that does not mean they don't work. To prove something works, the drug/supplement would have to go through clinical trials which would involve lots of expensive testing. This is why many drugs are used off-label--there isn't enough time or anybody to sponsor all the testing.

To be frank - whom I'm not , I would find someone else.

What happened when I went to doctor I didn't like, who was too cold / distant and didn't explain anything?  I found another one. 

Life is too short to be dealing with goof balls, there's plenty of veterinarians out there vying for your money.  Find one that will actually take the time to answer your questions and that you have a good rapport with. 

I can understand your decision to go to a vet for accessing a specific vaccination after looking in to different options, however if you felt that the vet was not supportive of your approach to health care or offered emotional support then I would agree wholeheartedly with the others posting here that you should look to find another practice.  We rely on our vets to provide health care for our cats and if they do not share a significant proportion of our approaches to health care, or relate to us and offer emotional support through this then already distressing and often traumatic experiences and choices will become even more difficult.  We trust these people with our cats' lives, you owe it to both you and your cat to choose someone / somewhere that you feel comfortable with.