I took out 10 year old Tonkinese named Schrödinger (herein referred to by his nickname of "Boo") to the vet on Monday for what seemed to be a little respiratory crud. His meow was hoarse and he just seemed a little bit out of sorts. He had also been on long term meds for suspected HCM, but his most recent check on that status showed no presence of HCM as reviewed by a board certified cardiologist. (Bolded because this may be important).
Other than sounding a little croaky and basically just chilling out more instead of cruising around the house like he usually does, he seemed pretty much okay. He was eating and drinking just fine-- ravenous as always. He would quickly respond to a dangled toy, his eyes were bright and alert, he was still jumping up onto my shoulders and sitting on the computer desk like normal. But the hoarseness and reduced activity were enough of a concern and there is the concern that his bug might be contagious, so I took him in to be safe.
The vet did a cursory exam, then decided to give 2 shots: one was a "long acting antibiotic" (which I knew to be Convenia-- I refused to allow it, so he did NOT get that one)-- the other was what the doctor referred to as an "anti-inflammatory".
Now, I have almost 25 years of experience working in vet hospitals, from receptionist to 'tech' though I am not a licensed RVT-- but I did all the work of one. The word "anti-inflammatory" immediately conjures up drugs like Metacam, piroxicam, etc. which we HAVE used with caution but also with good safety in the practices where I worked. My fault, I suppose, but because the link was SO strong in my mind that I didn't question what it was, EXACTLY, that my cat got.
Now-- a little back story: Last year Skye, our 14 year old Birman mix, went to the same clinic for her 6 month senior bloodwork. The vet (a different doctor that time... I'll refer to her as "Dr. F" for Female) noticed that Skye was in the midst of a flare-up of her chronic skin allergy. She has eosinophilic granuloma complex and OCCASIONALLY needs a little pred to get her over the acute phase... just about a 7-10 day long step-down course maybe once a year. This time, however, Dr. F thought it would be a good idea to do a Depo-Medrol shot.
Bad idea. By the end of the day, Skye was miserable. Then she began hiding, going off food, being very lethargic and losing weight. She lost a FULL POUND in 2 weeks. I had her back in that clinic 3 days after the shot because she was doing so poorly. But on those visits, she saw "Dr. Male". Dr. M seemed totally unconcerned about the symptoms. He offered NO further testing, NO treatment suggestions, NOTHING. So we called another vet, a cat specialist that I know quite well and trust very highly. She did a chest and abdominal X ray and noticed what she thought might have been a very slightly enlarged heart. I saw the image myself and the heart did look just a little bigger than expected, but it wasn't "huge". Nonetheless, we got a referral to the diagnostic clinic. She had an echocardiogram and another ultrasound, and the diagnostician gave her a good clean bill of health based on what he saw. This is a top-notch doctor as well, and I highly trust him. He did say that the heart was "bigger than a usual cat heart", but "not abnormally large" and the function is fine. Anyway... he thought Skye's issue was a bad reaction to the Depo, and he does not like using that drug unless there is NO other choice. Happily, Skye is now pretty much back to her old self-- but it took about 2 months, and for the first week or two after the shot, we thought we would lose her. I told Drs. M and F, "No more Depo", and that was to apply to ALL of our cats.
Back to Boo... when I took him in and Dr. M said he wanted to give the anti-inflammatory, I know I should have ASKED. But I automatically flipped into the part of my brain that understands "anti-inflammatory" as drugs like Metacam, Advil (I know... not a cat drug), Rimadyl, ketorolac (Toradol)... etc. I do not consider Depo to be an "anti-inflammatory", even though that's one of its functions. I consider it a STEROID, and that is exactly what it is. The word that the doctor used to describe the shot was misleading, and as I said, my "vet worker" mode-brain took me somewhere else... like, to medicines that ARE actually anti-inflammatory drugs and NOT steroids.
HAD THIS DOCTOR UTTERED THE WORDS "DEPO", OR "STEROID" OR "CORTICOSTEROIDS", OR SOME OTHER WORD THAT MORE HONESTLY AND ACCURATELY DESCRIBED THE MEDICINE... I NEVER EVER WOULD HAVE AGREED TO THIS SHOT! In fact, I had specified verbally after Skye's experience that I did NOT want any of my cats to have Depo-Medrol ever again UNLESS there was absolutely no other choice. So I feel that this vet was dishonest when he used the word "anti-inflammatory" rather than the true drug class-- steroid.
Now it is Wednesday. Boo is hiding under the sofa. He won't eat. He won't drink. He cries when I pick him up. He won't purr and he is "the best purr-er in the whole world". He won't play. He just looks like he wants to cry like a human baby.
On top of that, this vet prescribed BAYTRIL... another medicine that I will not give to a cat because of the risk of serious side effects. By this time, I was so disgusted with the whole matter that I just took the bottle of pills, paid the bill and left. I did not give any of the Baytril, and I'm looking for another vet that I can take him to. I don't drive so it has to be somewhere that I can get to by cab without shelling out a HUGE fortune. Unfortunately the cat vet is quite a distance from me and a cab ride would cost well over $35 just one way or $70 round trip-- there is a bus, but it would require 2 transfers and take over an hour one way, which would just be too stressful on the cats. So... I am limited as to where I can take him now.
I have a call into the treating vets' clinic and am waiting for a call back.
In the meantime I did a little investigative work-- Dr. M has at least ONE serious reprimand on his license record that I was able to see. This vet took over the practice after the original founding vet, who was our family's vet for 20 years, passed away a couple of years ago. Dr. A would NEVER HAVE given Depo and Convenia to Boo or Skye for something like this. His treatment would have been something like Clavamox and the suggestion to let the cat hang out in the bathroom with me while I take a steamy hot shower and let him breathe the moist air. I am now very upset-- the action on Dr. M involved a case where a d*g had bloodwork prior to a dental, and was told by the d*g's owner NOT to sedate the animal if there was ANY abnormality. There was an elevated WBC-- an abnormality-- but the vet went ahead anyway. The pet died under anesthesia minutes after it began. Further, the vet claimed that the pet was sent for "private burial" but that was also a lie-- the pet was communally cremated. Dr. M was reprimanded by the state's Veterinary Medical Board... NOT for going ahead with the anesthesia contrary to the client's request that the anesthesia not be done if there were any abnormality (the vet chalked up the high WBC to gingivitis... and that may be true, but did he actually call the client to discuss it? Not mentioned in the court document)-- but because he "countered" his own record by saying that the pet was sent for communal when it supposedly said on the record "private burial" and the owner planned to pick up the body but he was denied the ability to do so).
I apologize that this is so long-- but I am now quite concerned. I do not have adequate transportation to another vet for follow-up. If I have to get this cat to "a vet" for urgent care, this is the only choice that is nearby and I can get there reasonably fast. But I really do NOT want these people touching our cats again! I am able to do home supportive care like syringe feeding, SQ fluids for hydration if I can get a bag and 'set-up' from this vet (I am excellent at doing SQ's) and such. But I don't think I want these people touching another cat.
Also-- would any of you file a complaint based on the way the doctor misled even an experienced vet worker by referring to Depo as an "anti-inflammatory" rather than calling it the "STEROID" that it actually is? He never even mentioned the NAME of the drug! I didn't find out it was Depo until I saw it on the receipt!
Again, my apologies for the long post-- but I hope that I can answer some questions from the get-go, and provide enough background to help the "smart paws" here.
~MackieMac
Other than sounding a little croaky and basically just chilling out more instead of cruising around the house like he usually does, he seemed pretty much okay. He was eating and drinking just fine-- ravenous as always. He would quickly respond to a dangled toy, his eyes were bright and alert, he was still jumping up onto my shoulders and sitting on the computer desk like normal. But the hoarseness and reduced activity were enough of a concern and there is the concern that his bug might be contagious, so I took him in to be safe.
The vet did a cursory exam, then decided to give 2 shots: one was a "long acting antibiotic" (which I knew to be Convenia-- I refused to allow it, so he did NOT get that one)-- the other was what the doctor referred to as an "anti-inflammatory".
Now, I have almost 25 years of experience working in vet hospitals, from receptionist to 'tech' though I am not a licensed RVT-- but I did all the work of one. The word "anti-inflammatory" immediately conjures up drugs like Metacam, piroxicam, etc. which we HAVE used with caution but also with good safety in the practices where I worked. My fault, I suppose, but because the link was SO strong in my mind that I didn't question what it was, EXACTLY, that my cat got.
Now-- a little back story: Last year Skye, our 14 year old Birman mix, went to the same clinic for her 6 month senior bloodwork. The vet (a different doctor that time... I'll refer to her as "Dr. F" for Female) noticed that Skye was in the midst of a flare-up of her chronic skin allergy. She has eosinophilic granuloma complex and OCCASIONALLY needs a little pred to get her over the acute phase... just about a 7-10 day long step-down course maybe once a year. This time, however, Dr. F thought it would be a good idea to do a Depo-Medrol shot.
Bad idea. By the end of the day, Skye was miserable. Then she began hiding, going off food, being very lethargic and losing weight. She lost a FULL POUND in 2 weeks. I had her back in that clinic 3 days after the shot because she was doing so poorly. But on those visits, she saw "Dr. Male". Dr. M seemed totally unconcerned about the symptoms. He offered NO further testing, NO treatment suggestions, NOTHING. So we called another vet, a cat specialist that I know quite well and trust very highly. She did a chest and abdominal X ray and noticed what she thought might have been a very slightly enlarged heart. I saw the image myself and the heart did look just a little bigger than expected, but it wasn't "huge". Nonetheless, we got a referral to the diagnostic clinic. She had an echocardiogram and another ultrasound, and the diagnostician gave her a good clean bill of health based on what he saw. This is a top-notch doctor as well, and I highly trust him. He did say that the heart was "bigger than a usual cat heart", but "not abnormally large" and the function is fine. Anyway... he thought Skye's issue was a bad reaction to the Depo, and he does not like using that drug unless there is NO other choice. Happily, Skye is now pretty much back to her old self-- but it took about 2 months, and for the first week or two after the shot, we thought we would lose her. I told Drs. M and F, "No more Depo", and that was to apply to ALL of our cats.
Back to Boo... when I took him in and Dr. M said he wanted to give the anti-inflammatory, I know I should have ASKED. But I automatically flipped into the part of my brain that understands "anti-inflammatory" as drugs like Metacam, Advil (I know... not a cat drug), Rimadyl, ketorolac (Toradol)... etc. I do not consider Depo to be an "anti-inflammatory", even though that's one of its functions. I consider it a STEROID, and that is exactly what it is. The word that the doctor used to describe the shot was misleading, and as I said, my "vet worker" mode-brain took me somewhere else... like, to medicines that ARE actually anti-inflammatory drugs and NOT steroids.
HAD THIS DOCTOR UTTERED THE WORDS "DEPO", OR "STEROID" OR "CORTICOSTEROIDS", OR SOME OTHER WORD THAT MORE HONESTLY AND ACCURATELY DESCRIBED THE MEDICINE... I NEVER EVER WOULD HAVE AGREED TO THIS SHOT! In fact, I had specified verbally after Skye's experience that I did NOT want any of my cats to have Depo-Medrol ever again UNLESS there was absolutely no other choice. So I feel that this vet was dishonest when he used the word "anti-inflammatory" rather than the true drug class-- steroid.
Now it is Wednesday. Boo is hiding under the sofa. He won't eat. He won't drink. He cries when I pick him up. He won't purr and he is "the best purr-er in the whole world". He won't play. He just looks like he wants to cry like a human baby.
On top of that, this vet prescribed BAYTRIL... another medicine that I will not give to a cat because of the risk of serious side effects. By this time, I was so disgusted with the whole matter that I just took the bottle of pills, paid the bill and left. I did not give any of the Baytril, and I'm looking for another vet that I can take him to. I don't drive so it has to be somewhere that I can get to by cab without shelling out a HUGE fortune. Unfortunately the cat vet is quite a distance from me and a cab ride would cost well over $35 just one way or $70 round trip-- there is a bus, but it would require 2 transfers and take over an hour one way, which would just be too stressful on the cats. So... I am limited as to where I can take him now.
I have a call into the treating vets' clinic and am waiting for a call back.
In the meantime I did a little investigative work-- Dr. M has at least ONE serious reprimand on his license record that I was able to see. This vet took over the practice after the original founding vet, who was our family's vet for 20 years, passed away a couple of years ago. Dr. A would NEVER HAVE given Depo and Convenia to Boo or Skye for something like this. His treatment would have been something like Clavamox and the suggestion to let the cat hang out in the bathroom with me while I take a steamy hot shower and let him breathe the moist air. I am now very upset-- the action on Dr. M involved a case where a d*g had bloodwork prior to a dental, and was told by the d*g's owner NOT to sedate the animal if there was ANY abnormality. There was an elevated WBC-- an abnormality-- but the vet went ahead anyway. The pet died under anesthesia minutes after it began. Further, the vet claimed that the pet was sent for "private burial" but that was also a lie-- the pet was communally cremated. Dr. M was reprimanded by the state's Veterinary Medical Board... NOT for going ahead with the anesthesia contrary to the client's request that the anesthesia not be done if there were any abnormality (the vet chalked up the high WBC to gingivitis... and that may be true, but did he actually call the client to discuss it? Not mentioned in the court document)-- but because he "countered" his own record by saying that the pet was sent for communal when it supposedly said on the record "private burial" and the owner planned to pick up the body but he was denied the ability to do so).
I apologize that this is so long-- but I am now quite concerned. I do not have adequate transportation to another vet for follow-up. If I have to get this cat to "a vet" for urgent care, this is the only choice that is nearby and I can get there reasonably fast. But I really do NOT want these people touching our cats again! I am able to do home supportive care like syringe feeding, SQ fluids for hydration if I can get a bag and 'set-up' from this vet (I am excellent at doing SQ's) and such. But I don't think I want these people touching another cat.
Also-- would any of you file a complaint based on the way the doctor misled even an experienced vet worker by referring to Depo as an "anti-inflammatory" rather than calling it the "STEROID" that it actually is? He never even mentioned the NAME of the drug! I didn't find out it was Depo until I saw it on the receipt!
Again, my apologies for the long post-- but I hope that I can answer some questions from the get-go, and provide enough background to help the "smart paws" here.
~MackieMac