Do you ever get paranoid about your cats health?

[td128]

I'm pretty paranoid. But I wasn't such a good kitty momma in the past. My first cat Smokey ate Meow Mix, wasn't spayed, and only saw a vet to be put down at the ripe old age of 26. I swear I got by on sheer luck then. But I didn't know and ignorance is bliss.

Then I adopted Tara and slowly progressed, but it was still shaky as far as vet visits because Tara is so mean you just couldn't get her to the vet. I remember back in the early days when I actually contemplated not spaying her because I spent 4 days chasing her around trying to get her into a carrier and I ended up with stitches from a scratch she gave me. To this day, I cannot take her in just to check on things because she simply won't go, there needs to be a definete and absolute problem before an appointment is made and even then, the appointment usually needs to be rescheduled due to me not being able to get her in the carrier, or even if we get there, she has torn up and attacked vets so badly we've been refused service at some places. I just pray a lot with her and hope she never has any serious ailments or injuries.

But since I got Drusilla, I've been super paranoid about her health. I got her used to the carrier right away so she can be whisked in for sneezing or coughing or not eating and my vet always chuckles at how often he sees her. I try not to be so paranoid, and ask around before taking her in, but all the animal communities are just as paranoid and say to just take her anyway.

 

[menagerie mama]

I am paranoid all the time,mostly cuz I know too much about what can happen. I'm always scrutinizing every little thing about them!

 

[jcat]

Originally Posted by td128

Then I adopted Tara and slowly progressed, but it was still shaky as far as vet visits because Tara is so mean you just couldn't get her to the vet. I remember back in the early days when I actually contemplated not spaying her because I spent 4 days chasing her around trying to get her into a carrier and I ended up with stitches from a scratch she gave me. To this day, I cannot take her in just to check on things because she simply won't go, there needs to be a definite and absolute problem before an appointment is made and even then, the appointment usually needs to be rescheduled due to me not being able to get her in the carrier, or even if we get there, she has torn up and attacked vets so badly we've been refused service at some places. I just pray a lot with her and hope she never has any serious ailments or injuries.

Our last cat had been a feral for many years before moving in with us (his colony was dissolved due to construction, and attempts to trap him were unsuccessful). I always fed him in a small carrier for precisely that reason - it was the only way to get him to the vet's or inject medication. He had to be "knocked out" for thorough examinations, though. He "lived" with us for a little over six years, and the most contact he would allow, after two or three years, was a few strokes on the head (by me only). He did like to watch my husband gardening, but only from a safe distance of at least 3 or 4 feet.
As bad as he was, it's Jamie who is called "the cat from hell" by our vets' assistants, and he certainly wasn't a feral (though dad was, and mom was a "stray", i.e., abandoned).

 

[fatkitties]

I'm not overly paranoid, I don't think. But I've had animals my whole life, and I try to keep myself up to date on illnesses and diseases. I'm pretty in tune with all my animals and I can usualy tell pretty easily if everyone's feeling alright or not. But I usually know when to panic and when not to. Like my dog Sammi has been a little off her feed for a couple days. She normally eats all of her food right away when I put it in her bowl, but for two days now, she's not eaten it right away, but it's gone within a half hour. Not normal, but not overly alarming either. She's also acting normal in all other ways, and her brother who eats from the same bag of food that she eats is eating just fine. We have a vet appointment Weds evening for shots and stuff for two dogs, Sammi included, and one kitty, so I'll mention it to him and we'll go from there. But when I came home and Sammi had made a big wet poopy mess on the floor (this was over a year ago), yes, I PANICKED!!!! It turned out to be not life threatening, but a bad digestive upset from rawhides that she's no longer allowed to have. But it COULD have been a few very serious things. So I knew that it was a good time to panic. And when Sasha came up to me when I was cleaning the litter box, and peed right in front of me, and there was blood in it, well I think I had the vet on the phone before she'd even finished peeing, and had her in the vet's office about an hour later (the soonest they could get me in). My vet told me a few years ago to quit being so overly paranoid, when my horse was pregnant and I started reading those books about mares and foaling, and asking him questions about diseases and disorders that can happen to a pregnant mare, and prolapsed uteruses and all sorts of things that are highly unlikely to happen. He said to quit scaring myself, quit reading those books, and call him if anything looked suspicious. What I love about my vet is that after hours, the office phone rings into his house. It's midnight right now, but if one of my critters suddenly became ill, I could pick up the phone and then meet him at the office in 45 minutes. Had to do that several years ago when my little kitten suddenly started showing symptoms of feline leukemia, and we ended up having to put her down. He met us at the clinic at midnight to see what was wrong with her (another vet had vaccinated her but hadn't drawn blood to check first).
So educate yourself, but don't scare yourself, and don't hesitate to call your vet if you have any questions or concerns!

Amber