First Kitty - Chestnut my voluptuous 20 lb, soon to be 13 year old girl. Rescue cat, we adopted from Kitty Kind in NYC/Union Square. Sweetest Girl, loving us now for 6 years.
Back story: Around Christmas, she started sneezing, runny nose and eyes, other than that she seemed fine and the "cold" cleared up. I then noticed she would lay on her side while eating and then started peeing very frequently. She's super regular, goes in the morn and at night, #1 and #2. like clockwork.
Without wasting time we took her to the vet who gave her a Physical Exam, and prescribed her Baytril 68mg, 1/2 pill morning and night. This was a task, but thanks to reading "TheCatSite" I read some advice on wrapping the cat like a burrito. It worked, with a bit of patience.
We collected the urine and had a Urinalysis Test, and the Urine Culture & Sensitivity Test. We finished the Baytril and then got the call stating that she had Crystals so we finished the Baytril and put her on the Royal Canin Urinary SO (her brother has been on that for years so we had the dry in the house I also went out and got the wet). Then the vet called again with results from the Urine Culture & Sensitivity Test and said she had 2 kinds of bacteria's Proteus and "Anthrosully Species?????"(forgive my spelling but the dr. wasn't clear and was getting annoyed because of all the questions I was asking) - these bacteria's were infecting her kidneys and we now need to put her on Clavomox. My neighbor, who works with cats got us the liquid which was much easier than giving her the pills, and saved us $52. The vet said she should be on it for 14 days, 2ml, 2 times a day for a total of 4ml a day. That's a lot of drugs to me, although I'm not a vet.
Advice Needed: When my vet examined her, she said her eyes were not good due to aging, which we could already tell, then after reading up on the Baytril I wasn't pleased to learn it can cause blindness, but we followed instructions. When we put her on the Clavomox the vet said 14 days, but my issue is, she's 20 lbs she would need an additional 2 bottles total 3 all together. We did finish the first, and after that she is her old self again, peeing a couple of times more a day, but shes back to chirping, cleaning herself (although she meows for me to wipe her, she got spoiled during her illness), jumping up on furniture just happy. even her constipation is clearing up which I think was due to the Royal Canin dry & meds. I'm not sure about continuing her on the Clavomox, it seems like a lot. There has been talk in the neighborhood that this vet over prescribes meds . I'm not sure what to do. I know she needs to go back for follow up and I will not deny her care, but this vet was so busy the day we went, she didn't take the time to hear our concerns, rushed us, and made me feel terrible for skipping her exam this past year. Again, I know annual exams are important, but I had my own health issues which needed to be addressed. She made me and my husband feel like crap. There is another doctor who works in the same office on other days, and we will follow up with him or just find a new vet all together.
I guess what I'm asking is, if she's acting happy and normal, can she wait for a second opinion or am I harming her by not finishing her meds? She seems so much better now. It's breaking my heart, and this vet besides being heartless I feel took advantage of us in our time of worry.
And while this was going on I didn't realize that my boy Simon had developed issues.
Second Kitty - Simon, my pride & joy, long and lean stretches out to 5 feet. Long body short legs. So funny. Found in street when he was 2 weeks.
Back story - Okay, while dealing with Chestnut, Simon got really quiet, I thought it was because he saw Chess going through her issues and he knows too well when the cat carrier comes out he's leaving the house. What I did end up noticing is that he developed a large lump under his chin on the left side (he's set for an appointment Sunday) At first I thought it was because he slipped off the bed and banged his chin. But his breath is terrible and saliva slimy, real bad last week, a little better this week, but the lump hasn't gone down. He's a kitty who lives to clean himself to the point of getting hairballs and at least twice a week throw up a hairball and his food. He was pretty skinny, now with this issue, since he's not cleaning as often, he's keeping his food down and put on a much needed pound.
Advice Needed - I need to be educated on DENTAL for cats, questions I can ask about procedure anesthesia etc and worse case if this is a tumor. I've been reading but I'm getting overwhelmed and I'm getting side tracked with all the cute cat pictures on this site. Anything will be appreciated. Thanks to all who have given me advice thus far.
Back story: Around Christmas, she started sneezing, runny nose and eyes, other than that she seemed fine and the "cold" cleared up. I then noticed she would lay on her side while eating and then started peeing very frequently. She's super regular, goes in the morn and at night, #1 and #2. like clockwork.
Without wasting time we took her to the vet who gave her a Physical Exam, and prescribed her Baytril 68mg, 1/2 pill morning and night. This was a task, but thanks to reading "TheCatSite" I read some advice on wrapping the cat like a burrito. It worked, with a bit of patience.
We collected the urine and had a Urinalysis Test, and the Urine Culture & Sensitivity Test. We finished the Baytril and then got the call stating that she had Crystals so we finished the Baytril and put her on the Royal Canin Urinary SO (her brother has been on that for years so we had the dry in the house I also went out and got the wet). Then the vet called again with results from the Urine Culture & Sensitivity Test and said she had 2 kinds of bacteria's Proteus and "Anthrosully Species?????"(forgive my spelling but the dr. wasn't clear and was getting annoyed because of all the questions I was asking) - these bacteria's were infecting her kidneys and we now need to put her on Clavomox. My neighbor, who works with cats got us the liquid which was much easier than giving her the pills, and saved us $52. The vet said she should be on it for 14 days, 2ml, 2 times a day for a total of 4ml a day. That's a lot of drugs to me, although I'm not a vet.
Advice Needed: When my vet examined her, she said her eyes were not good due to aging, which we could already tell, then after reading up on the Baytril I wasn't pleased to learn it can cause blindness, but we followed instructions. When we put her on the Clavomox the vet said 14 days, but my issue is, she's 20 lbs she would need an additional 2 bottles total 3 all together. We did finish the first, and after that she is her old self again, peeing a couple of times more a day, but shes back to chirping, cleaning herself (although she meows for me to wipe her, she got spoiled during her illness), jumping up on furniture just happy. even her constipation is clearing up which I think was due to the Royal Canin dry & meds. I'm not sure about continuing her on the Clavomox, it seems like a lot. There has been talk in the neighborhood that this vet over prescribes meds . I'm not sure what to do. I know she needs to go back for follow up and I will not deny her care, but this vet was so busy the day we went, she didn't take the time to hear our concerns, rushed us, and made me feel terrible for skipping her exam this past year. Again, I know annual exams are important, but I had my own health issues which needed to be addressed. She made me and my husband feel like crap. There is another doctor who works in the same office on other days, and we will follow up with him or just find a new vet all together.
I guess what I'm asking is, if she's acting happy and normal, can she wait for a second opinion or am I harming her by not finishing her meds? She seems so much better now. It's breaking my heart, and this vet besides being heartless I feel took advantage of us in our time of worry.
And while this was going on I didn't realize that my boy Simon had developed issues.
Second Kitty - Simon, my pride & joy, long and lean stretches out to 5 feet. Long body short legs. So funny. Found in street when he was 2 weeks.
Back story - Okay, while dealing with Chestnut, Simon got really quiet, I thought it was because he saw Chess going through her issues and he knows too well when the cat carrier comes out he's leaving the house. What I did end up noticing is that he developed a large lump under his chin on the left side (he's set for an appointment Sunday) At first I thought it was because he slipped off the bed and banged his chin. But his breath is terrible and saliva slimy, real bad last week, a little better this week, but the lump hasn't gone down. He's a kitty who lives to clean himself to the point of getting hairballs and at least twice a week throw up a hairball and his food. He was pretty skinny, now with this issue, since he's not cleaning as often, he's keeping his food down and put on a much needed pound.
Advice Needed - I need to be educated on DENTAL for cats, questions I can ask about procedure anesthesia etc and worse case if this is a tumor. I've been reading but I'm getting overwhelmed and I'm getting side tracked with all the cute cat pictures on this site. Anything will be appreciated. Thanks to all who have given me advice thus far.
