Any Answers or Reassurances Given with a Grain of Salt

puck

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I love helping others, and can usually help the 3-or-4-legged better than us bipedal folk, as I speak critter better than human gobblygook. As a long-term advocate and nurse of small animals, for health and happiness, I will voice effective possible solutions that may help our cats, without judgement, without brow beating to make myself "feel superior" and without rancor. I see too much self-righteous judgemental accusatory flaming statements on other critter network sites, that I refuse to be a part of. I will stay late to answer all the nuanced concerns of an owner after a 13 hour shift, to ease their mind, so they, at least, can finally go home and sleep, guilt and worry free.

Any advice, experience, or little anecdotes I offer here on TCS, or on my own veterinary professional networks, and to clients/patients in person, via phone and email, is with the recommendation to ask a doctor of veterinary medicine that has physically had your critter in their hands, seen by their eyes, listened to with their ears, and interpreted with their very (hopefully!) intelligent mind. Eight years of training and skill went into each doctor, and it's used to the hilt if the doctor is of an analytical bent, not a regurgitator of facts/books, and takes initiative to always grow their practical knowledge base, challenging themselves, while remaining grounded and approachable.

Not all vets think of all the little things to try, the nuances, the "magical combo" of treatments, which is why they all pick each others' brain, go online to the various information networks to find answers, and find by trial and error what may or may not work for their patient. When you come asking for help with your cat, I give you samples of effective treatment for so many babies in my care, to investigate for your own, With your Vet.

If a medication is mentioned, it's a given that you should broach the topic with your vet. Medication must be prescribed to be dispensed. Some folks have broached and broached and their vet has run out of ideas, may be too proud, or too busy, to listen to another "idea" for a treatment one of their clients is calling about. They filter through so much Dr. Google from clients, and anti-chemical, anti-western medicine, pro-"natural" preferences from people for that pets that just cannot be condoned by a vet, as their goal is to provide the best possible care within the financial means of their client.

I give pointed advice, so the subject and object are clear, you know what to go ask your vet about, without too many details or adjectives leading the vet to have to filter and find the "meat" of what you're asking about.

I've given a "common dose" for antacid to ask the vet about, as well as antidiarrheal meds, anti-inflammatory/steroids, and neuro-pain meds, at the particular milligrams per pound or kilogram of body weight that has proven to help the particular problem one of your cats is facing, so you can go the vet asking them to check their networks, their immediate vet cohorts, and other resources for practical use of such treatment at that effective dose. Ask why wouldn't they prescribe it, if they answer it's not applicable to your cat's case, and what are your other options, in addition to or in place of what you've already tried that has you meeting a wall in caring for and advocating for your cat, your little beast that relies on you to speak for him/her.

If I read a cat is on medication at a toxic level or ineffective level for that particular condition/problem, by reading the treatment regimen in a message, I'll tell you to specifically ask your vet about the lower effective dose #mg/kg, or the higher dose that won't just be acting as a placebo, like giving your cat a sneeze of pain medication, but a nice ##mg/kg three times daily so your cat is comfortable and functioning again. I'm not prescribing drugs. I, of course, cannot write you a prescription, or call one in, or send you a bottle of that treatment. Somehow, that's been the interpretation. You still have to get prescriptions from a vet, as they hold the license not only to practice veterinary medicine, but also a license from their state/federal drug administration to dispense and prescribe medications.

By phone, I talk to hundreds of people a week calling my triage line after midnight, that I nor my ER/specialty hospital has ever seen, describing what their pet is already on for pain and they're snowed in, what else can they do. Their vet is unavailable, or the owner is traveling out of the country, what should they do. Their cat swallowed their ADHD or fibromyalgia or blood-thinning med before they could sweep it up from the floor, what to do! I know how to talk with you, the anonymous caller, without legally being held responsible for the outcome of your pet, without harming your pet, or without holding my employer hospital accountable, let alone harm the integrity of this anonymous online forum.

We do not prescribe or diagnose via phone in my profession; after initial treatment, I may add or tweak a treatment via phone later, but that is with an established medical foundation with the pet, a known entity, assessed by my hospital. I do not prescribe or diagnose on websites either. Referencing a website that has doses, as is so often done on networks, with no understanding of the website's content, is potentially detrimental, compared to my explanation of a therapy I've utilized many times for many patients for many years, prepared to give examples and known effects and errors with this therapy I and my cohorts have used.

For Example:

If you cold-call my hospital, with never being treated/seen there before, and tell me you're giving your pancreatitis, fractured limb, luxating patella, hit-by-car, attacked-by-possum, bit-by-snake, renal disease, or IVDD cat pain meds, but he's still refusing to move, or won't eat, or acting aggressive, I'll review the label with you. Tell you to read the label back to me, checking for dose changes or ranges: "1 to 2mL every 8 to 12 hours or 2 to 3 times daily" or "...then reduce to 1 once daily, then..." and help you see there is a higher or lower dose range to take advantage of. If there isn't a range on the label, but it's a drug with a known obvious effective range, I'll recommend calling your regular vet about it, or coming in so we can treat your pet's pain plus find the cause if as yet unknown, as legally I cannot tell you to give more if it's not on the label, or how to find the nearest ER vet to your location, walking you through searching for a critical care hospital proximal to you.

All good things in moderation. All advice said and heard with a grain of salt. Roll it around, think on it, ask for and find more details, weigh and consider if it's "for you" or not.

For example, in many cases, cancer treatment isn't "for me," decided after consulting many professionals and owners about the prognosis and level of care, the effect of therapies on the patient and the owner(s), and rates of success compared to mortality rate, as well as close observation/witness of onco patients in my care. Weighed, considered, and declined. We have choices to make for our beloved pets, to choose to act, to try, to listen, to pay attention, to be accountable, to be honest, to educate ourselves, to be worried, to be protective etc.  Take the message, consider it, weigh it, and decide to follow with more questions, or decline, and seek another answer. I don't every expect anyone to blindly accept what I tell them. I hope to catalyze a thought, to tease out some ability to observe and seek answers, to help people as well as their pets.
 

Anne

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You've made some great points in this post. I'm afraid while most people are responsible cat owners, there are always those few who do not view online advice with a critical eye. Some people will follow advice given to them ad verbatim without consulting their vet, especially as vet care is not always available to them.

This is why we are so careful here and have strict rules where it comes to providing medical advice. If and when medical procedures are discussed, one has to remind people to discuss treatments with their vet. Don't assume those reading your posts here - members or visitors - share your understanding of the limitations of opinions and thoughts offered online. I'm afraid people do need the constant reminders to discuss online suggestions with their vet. It's not necessarily something which needs to be posted in every post, but it's probably worth mentioning whenever a post deals with specific medications or procedures.

There is a difference between providing medical information and providing medical advice. It may be a thin line sometimes, but one that we all should be careful not to cross. Even a fully qualified veterinarian posting here (and we have a few members who are vets) cannot provide medical advice. A vet has to conduct a proper consultation, preferably examining the patient as well before taking on the professional responsibility of advising on a course of treatment. 

Again, I agree with everything that you've said. Just reminding us all that posts here do not come with an attached disclaimer, definitely none as detailed as the excellent post above, so the principles need to be followed with each and every post dealing with health issues.
 
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denice

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One thing I think people use websites like this for is lack of trust in the vet care their kitties are getting.  I know I did the vet hopping thing for several years with my chronically ill kitty before finding a vet that got things figured out and he has been healthy for a little over 4 years now..  Unfortunately he had fatty liver when I found a good vet.  I am now looking for another vet because both of the vets that I trusted at that clinic have left.  I didn't realize until I had a kitty that was ill that there are so many vets that are mediocre.  For those of us who aren't animal professionals we are left with Dr. Google and sites like this to check out what the latest vet that we are going to is doing. 

I have narrowed things down to two clinics that I am going to try.  I have to do something soon because Patches is on a low maintenance dose of Prednisolone and I need to get started with another clinic before he runs out of medication.
 

Columbine

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puck puck :clap: I'm sure we all appreciate the time and though you took to write that out. Your approach is a perfect balance,and one which is not easy to achieve.

denice denice You're absolutely right that sites like this are a valuable resource for owners who feel at all uncomfortable with their vet's approach or treatment. I'm sorry you had a rough time finding a good vet, and even sorrier that you have to go through the whole process again :vibes: and :cross: that you find someone soon.

I think there is a danger, though, that there's an assumption by some that, if you start a thread about your cat's health it automatically means that you're dissatisfied with your vet's approach - or even that your vet must be incompetent. Sometimes a poster is simply after reassurance, or extra care tips to hurry the healing process.
 

handsome kitty

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I like this site for advice and insight to cat antics, but my vet is definately the goto person.  My cat has been seen so many times (I've only had him since June) but once I saw him bite a day lily leaf and when he vomitted later that day I rushed him to the vet and it turns out he had gotten into something the previous week that was affecting his liver (the lily would have hit his kidney) and it was caught early.  Then 3 weeks ago we took him in because it sounded like he was trying to cough up a hairball and nothing was coming up, turns out it was pneumonia, again caught early.  I didn't realize there are good and bad vets out there. I guess I got lucky.
 

catwoman707

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Exactly, often times people who have been to the vet already left feeling confused, so many questions come after the appt, also people google everything, and there's alot of scary info out there! 

So people come for reassurance, better explanations for what their cat's diagnosis was, then some will come saying there's just no chance to seek a vet's help. If it's something that home remedies can help, we are all on it, of course sometimes every reply to the original post is, TAKE YOUR CAT TO A VET ASAP basically.

I think people also need to hear whether they are looking at something very serious or urgent, or you can try this or that, it's worked for me type thing, and see if that does the trick, etc.

This time of year brings lots and lots of newborn kitten drama, and I must say, me personally, I don't say take the baby to the vet too often, unless dehydrated and needs fluids asap, etc.

Otherwise, and I say this from many, many years of experience, and gone through every vet in my city as well as outside it, and it's a rare find for a vet to be able to do much if anything for newborns. 

Vets are great for giving meds when needed, but newborns don't, so I am glad to be here assisting and guiding people through, even saving some lives :)

Reminds me of the little 2 week old flat chested baby, my guidance and make-shift vest I KNOW saved his life, and she had already taken him to her vet and got a grim prognosis. So I'm proud of that :) He is normal and thriving, spunky and doing perfectly.

I will also make a recommendation for meds, but it's not like they can get the med without seeing a vet anyway, so no harm, just might be useful when asking the vet, and is all based on my experience and what has worked for me.
 
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