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- Aug 14, 2016
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Hello! Long time lurker, first time poster here. I'm looking for some thoughts on some healthy issues we have been having with Clair. I apologize in advance for this REALLY long post.
About Clair: She is a rescue kitty, approximately 5-6 years old. We don't know her full history, but here's what we do know. She was originally adopted by another family from a rescue organiztion and she experienced a recurring UTI while in their care. Her medical records indicate that she was prescribed an antibiotic, but the previous family didn't administer it properly. They also had her on a dry food diet. When the UTI didn't subside, they turned her over to a shelter. This was all about 2ish years ago. We started fostering her in February 2015. The vet at the time required that she be on the Purina UR food (we found out later that this vet basically tells all of her patients to put their pets on Purina food...). We officially adopted Clair shortly thereafter, switched her to Stella & Chewy's frozen raw food, and found a new vet. New vet was awesome, 100% supported us feeding her raw food instead of the Purina. A year goes by without any major problems. A couple of hairball incidents, but that's about it.
Clair went in for her annual exam on July 6, 2016. Sadly found out that the vet we loved retired, so we were seen by a new vet. She had her rabies vax and other boosters. The vet noted she needed some better dental care and gave us Vetri Science Perio Plus Feline Bites which we began administering 2x/daily.
About 10 days later, Clair started vomiting. At first we assumed she was trying to get a hairball up (clear, foamy vomit). She was still eating and using the litter box normally. However, the vomiting continued for a couple of days, so I brought her back to the vet for an emergency check up on July 18th. We were seen by a different vet than the one who performed her annual exam. She conducted a radiograph to check for blockage. In looking at the images, I honestly started to question this vet's competence. She had difficulty identifying things on the radiograph. She noted that there may be some sort of a mass in Clair's belly, but isn't really sure. We mention the newly-added treats, and this vet notes that they contain whey and says that cats should never, ever, ever be given anything with dairy in them. Now I'm thinking, um, your follow vet is the one who gave them to us, but, okay, whatever. She speculates that this mass that may or may not be in Clair's belly could be a result of the bone that is in Stella & Chewy's food. She recommends we switch her to Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried, or another freeze-dried raw. They give Clair some subcutaneous fluids, order a fecal test, tell us to start using Animal Essentials Plant Enzymes & Probiotics and a high quality Omega 3 oil. This vet insists that Clair needs a dental cleaning IMMEDIATELY so we schedule an appointment for a future time. Fecal test comes back negative.
I immediately go shopping to buy some Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried. See it also contains bone. Administer it anyway. Do extensive research on raw food. It ALL contains bone. Ordered the probiotic and omega 3 and administer per instructions. No more issues. We transition Clair back to the frozen food. We stopped giving her the dental treats since this vet freaked out about the whey.
(The last time Clair vomited was actually the morning of the vet visit- July 18th.)
On August 9, we bring Clair back in for her dental cleaning and a grooming. Sign all of the scary paperwork indicating that I understand that the dental cleaning is risky because they need to put her under. Spend all day freaking out. Clair comes home that evening high as a kite. Her pupils were HUGE and she was wobbly. Per the vet's instructions, we feed her just a small amount of food that evening. By mid-day on August 10th, she's mostly back to normal. The vet gives us another recommendation for dental treats- the CET Oral Hygiene chews.
On August 11th, the day started off perfectly fine. I ran out for about 30 minutes, and when I got back Clair was whining like crazy. She is normally a vocal cat, so I didn't think much of it. But then, she really starts whining and trying to get my attention. Then I start seeing these little pink watery spots in her normal places. As I walk around investigating, I notice that she has backed up her butt to a wall and is shaking and little droplets of blood are falling from her backend. I immediately call the vet, who say they are too busy to see her. I pack her up and drive to the emergency clinic in a total panic.
At the emergency clinic, the perform a physical exam and sees dried blood on her backend, but it's difficult for them to determine if it's from her butt or her lady parts. When they use a Q-Tip, however, she nearly jumps 10 feet high when it touches her lady parts. They want to get a urine sample for testing, so I agree to leave her in their care while they give subcutaneous fluids and wait for her to urinate. This all happens between about 3:00-5:00 p.m.
The next morning, I'm informed that she didn't urinate until about 1:00 a.m. They tested the urine and diagnose her with a UTI. They send her home with a pain killer and an antibiotic. They note that the pain killer is optional/as-needed, and the antibiotic needs to be administered once daily for 10 days. She's not showing any signs of pain, so we skip the painkiller. There have been no more incidents of blood, and we're gradually seeing her urine output increase in the litter box, so she is thankfully on the mend. We have 8 more days left of the antibiotic, and then we are supposed to bring her back to our normal vet for a follow-up about 5 days later. We fully intend to continue administer the antibiotic per instructions.
Her discharge paperwork from the emergency vet concerns me greatly. They called our regular vet to get her files, and it indicates that they never did a blood test before putting Clair under for her dental treatment.
So, here are my questions/concerns:
-Any thoughts on the vet's concerns regarding bone in her food? I did a lot of research, and this seems like total nonsense to me. Cats naturally eat bones. And, she was on the food for over a year before this incident occurred.
-If it wasn't the bone, any thoughts on what would cause multi-day vomiting? Could it have been a reaction to the treats?
-My understanding is that blood work is essential prior to a cat being put under in order to ensure there won't be any adverse reactions. Is this true? I am seriously horrified that they failed to do this.
-Is it possible that Clair contracted the UTI at the vet's office when she went in for her dental cleaning? It just makes no sense to me that we have zero problems for a year and a half, and then suddenly she comes home from the vet and has a UTI.
-Clair's new CET treats arrived yesterday, and we haven't given them to her yet because we want the UTI to clear first. However, there is skim milk in the ingredients. If the vet was so concerned about whey, why are they now giving us a treat with skim milk? Do I need to be concerned about milk/whey in treats? It seems that all of the good dentals treats contain milk in some form.
I'm really starting to think this vet is a quack and I'm already looking for a new one. Their inconsistency with whey-containing foods, the failure to have blood work done prior to dental work, the speculation about bones in food...and then recommending another food that also has bones in it... it's just extremely frustrating. I'm trying to do what's best for my Clair, but I feel like every time we leave that office it's with more questions and more problems than when we went in.
Anyway, thanks for reading this novel. I really do appreciate any thoughts.
About Clair: She is a rescue kitty, approximately 5-6 years old. We don't know her full history, but here's what we do know. She was originally adopted by another family from a rescue organiztion and she experienced a recurring UTI while in their care. Her medical records indicate that she was prescribed an antibiotic, but the previous family didn't administer it properly. They also had her on a dry food diet. When the UTI didn't subside, they turned her over to a shelter. This was all about 2ish years ago. We started fostering her in February 2015. The vet at the time required that she be on the Purina UR food (we found out later that this vet basically tells all of her patients to put their pets on Purina food...). We officially adopted Clair shortly thereafter, switched her to Stella & Chewy's frozen raw food, and found a new vet. New vet was awesome, 100% supported us feeding her raw food instead of the Purina. A year goes by without any major problems. A couple of hairball incidents, but that's about it.
Clair went in for her annual exam on July 6, 2016. Sadly found out that the vet we loved retired, so we were seen by a new vet. She had her rabies vax and other boosters. The vet noted she needed some better dental care and gave us Vetri Science Perio Plus Feline Bites which we began administering 2x/daily.
About 10 days later, Clair started vomiting. At first we assumed she was trying to get a hairball up (clear, foamy vomit). She was still eating and using the litter box normally. However, the vomiting continued for a couple of days, so I brought her back to the vet for an emergency check up on July 18th. We were seen by a different vet than the one who performed her annual exam. She conducted a radiograph to check for blockage. In looking at the images, I honestly started to question this vet's competence. She had difficulty identifying things on the radiograph. She noted that there may be some sort of a mass in Clair's belly, but isn't really sure. We mention the newly-added treats, and this vet notes that they contain whey and says that cats should never, ever, ever be given anything with dairy in them. Now I'm thinking, um, your follow vet is the one who gave them to us, but, okay, whatever. She speculates that this mass that may or may not be in Clair's belly could be a result of the bone that is in Stella & Chewy's food. She recommends we switch her to Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried, or another freeze-dried raw. They give Clair some subcutaneous fluids, order a fecal test, tell us to start using Animal Essentials Plant Enzymes & Probiotics and a high quality Omega 3 oil. This vet insists that Clair needs a dental cleaning IMMEDIATELY so we schedule an appointment for a future time. Fecal test comes back negative.
I immediately go shopping to buy some Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried. See it also contains bone. Administer it anyway. Do extensive research on raw food. It ALL contains bone. Ordered the probiotic and omega 3 and administer per instructions. No more issues. We transition Clair back to the frozen food. We stopped giving her the dental treats since this vet freaked out about the whey.
(The last time Clair vomited was actually the morning of the vet visit- July 18th.)
On August 9, we bring Clair back in for her dental cleaning and a grooming. Sign all of the scary paperwork indicating that I understand that the dental cleaning is risky because they need to put her under. Spend all day freaking out. Clair comes home that evening high as a kite. Her pupils were HUGE and she was wobbly. Per the vet's instructions, we feed her just a small amount of food that evening. By mid-day on August 10th, she's mostly back to normal. The vet gives us another recommendation for dental treats- the CET Oral Hygiene chews.
On August 11th, the day started off perfectly fine. I ran out for about 30 minutes, and when I got back Clair was whining like crazy. She is normally a vocal cat, so I didn't think much of it. But then, she really starts whining and trying to get my attention. Then I start seeing these little pink watery spots in her normal places. As I walk around investigating, I notice that she has backed up her butt to a wall and is shaking and little droplets of blood are falling from her backend. I immediately call the vet, who say they are too busy to see her. I pack her up and drive to the emergency clinic in a total panic.
At the emergency clinic, the perform a physical exam and sees dried blood on her backend, but it's difficult for them to determine if it's from her butt or her lady parts. When they use a Q-Tip, however, she nearly jumps 10 feet high when it touches her lady parts. They want to get a urine sample for testing, so I agree to leave her in their care while they give subcutaneous fluids and wait for her to urinate. This all happens between about 3:00-5:00 p.m.
The next morning, I'm informed that she didn't urinate until about 1:00 a.m. They tested the urine and diagnose her with a UTI. They send her home with a pain killer and an antibiotic. They note that the pain killer is optional/as-needed, and the antibiotic needs to be administered once daily for 10 days. She's not showing any signs of pain, so we skip the painkiller. There have been no more incidents of blood, and we're gradually seeing her urine output increase in the litter box, so she is thankfully on the mend. We have 8 more days left of the antibiotic, and then we are supposed to bring her back to our normal vet for a follow-up about 5 days later. We fully intend to continue administer the antibiotic per instructions.
Her discharge paperwork from the emergency vet concerns me greatly. They called our regular vet to get her files, and it indicates that they never did a blood test before putting Clair under for her dental treatment.
So, here are my questions/concerns:
-Any thoughts on the vet's concerns regarding bone in her food? I did a lot of research, and this seems like total nonsense to me. Cats naturally eat bones. And, she was on the food for over a year before this incident occurred.
-If it wasn't the bone, any thoughts on what would cause multi-day vomiting? Could it have been a reaction to the treats?
-My understanding is that blood work is essential prior to a cat being put under in order to ensure there won't be any adverse reactions. Is this true? I am seriously horrified that they failed to do this.
-Is it possible that Clair contracted the UTI at the vet's office when she went in for her dental cleaning? It just makes no sense to me that we have zero problems for a year and a half, and then suddenly she comes home from the vet and has a UTI.
-Clair's new CET treats arrived yesterday, and we haven't given them to her yet because we want the UTI to clear first. However, there is skim milk in the ingredients. If the vet was so concerned about whey, why are they now giving us a treat with skim milk? Do I need to be concerned about milk/whey in treats? It seems that all of the good dentals treats contain milk in some form.
I'm really starting to think this vet is a quack and I'm already looking for a new one. Their inconsistency with whey-containing foods, the failure to have blood work done prior to dental work, the speculation about bones in food...and then recommending another food that also has bones in it... it's just extremely frustrating. I'm trying to do what's best for my Clair, but I feel like every time we leave that office it's with more questions and more problems than when we went in.
Anyway, thanks for reading this novel. I really do appreciate any thoughts.
