Gripe about a vet

[Tiggeroo]

How do you find a good one. I had a great one but it's too far from here. Since then I have been to several bad ones. My kitty is sick. I did some research and had a very good idea of the problem. Feline HyperEsthesia. He is classic for it, with all of the symptoms. If I could catch him when he has an episode and video it it would be clear. I took him to the vet expecting flea medication and some type of tranquilizer or anti-seizure med. She saw him do it, as did several techs. Every one of them when they was what happened, agreed that was the problem. I assumed we would do a full CBC type blood panel as well just to be sure nothing else was up. But he's an indoor cat, always and never exposed to anything contagious. She confirmed the FHS put him on flea meds and steroids, as he is highly allergic to fleas. Said unless the blood work said something different she would order phenobarbital for the other problem. I got to the desk and the bill was very high. Turns out she wanted to do more extensive blood work to test for FLV, feline aids and toxoplasmosis. He is an indoor cat, and none of those illnesses cause these symptoms. I declined. The blood work came in with some high white cell count. She said this is typically caused by allergies. I said, remember he is allergic to fleas. She said, yes that could cause it. She said to just do the steroids for a few weeks and see if they cure the problem.
I call back and say he is still needs the seizure meds. She said she wants to worm him and give him some shots first. Then she wants another visit before we talk about the seizure meds. Wow. I am now quite sure she just wants to jack up the bill as much as possible.
I don't know what to do, because another vet is going to make us start all over again, and I might not be so lucky that he will show those symptoms in another office. It doesn't happen all of the time. This vet saw it and was quite certain of what is going on. Does it sound like I"m being unreasonable? Do you think I could call and just try to insist he just give him the meds and schedule a follow up after a month?

 

[Tiggeroo]

nobody has any advice. I'm wondering if I"m over reacting. Is this typical vet behavior? I just don't take my house cat to the vets that often.

 

[Tina]

I can't understand what the symptoms are from your post. Can you describe what your kitty is doing?

I've had a few bad vets in the past and finally got fed up enough that I started going on "tours" and meeting the doctors before making appts. I found a fabulous cats-only vet. Her office is amazing. If it weren't for all the cats in the place, you'd think it was a human doctor's office. Her set up, equipment, staff, etc are all top notch. I don't know if I was just lucky or what, but I hope you can find someone as good in your area.

 

[jmpurdy]

go to a vet school if you are unhappy with the vet. You shouldn't need a repeat of any blood work with a new vet as long as it's really recent. And you can get that faxed no problem. Not sure why the vet needs another visit. That doesn't seem right since you were just there. A true seizure can mean other things, so try not to self-diagnose. A full panel blood work makes sense as well as testing for toxo and Felv/Fiv. All easy tests and blood tests that can be drawn at the same time if you have a full cbc/profile done. But I thought you said the profile was done? I'd think a phone conversation about next steps would be adequate? Good luck.

 

[torinsmom]

Sorry you are having trouble. I am always honest with my vet and tell them I need to know exactly what is necessary vs. what is recommended. I don't do the vaccines, except for rabies, since my cats are inside only. I don't do heartworm prevention pills or even flea prevention, b/c again, they are inside. Once I took a cat to the emergency vet. They wanted to do blood work, keep him overnight to hydrate him, etc. It would have cost $400 when it was all said and done. Instead, I had the bloodwork, and took him home with a bolus of fluids. I forced water into him all night and gave him meds in pill from instead of having shots. I saved about half and the cat was fine.

Vets will always tell you what it recommended and not what is necessary.

I would ask if you have to pay for another office visit to be seen again for the same concern. I don't think you should have to.

 

[Tiggeroo]

The cbc didn't include it because it was another 150. to add them. These aren't really typical seizures. His tail starts twitching and he stares at it like he has no control of it. He gets angry at it and attacks it. He has skin rippling in the back half of his body. Two times after that he had what you would think of as a seizure. If you go to youtube and search FHS you will see many videos with these symptoms. They all look exactly the same. It is supposed to be related to OCD, which he has. It is brought on by stress which he had due to a puppy in the house at the time it started. Cats like this chew themselves, which he is doing. If you were to look up this illness his symptoms are classic. The tech was able to replicate the symptoms by running her hand along his spine, also a major sign for this. The vet agreed that there was no reason to do the more extensive blood work because he is an indoor cat with no other cats in the home. When he was younger we had the tests done so I know he didn't have it when we got him. And why worm him? This has nothing to do with the problem.
The cat did not have a seizure while he was there. Just the tail twitching and the skin rippling. This disease is sometimes called rolling skin disorder and this is exactly what is happening.

 

[Tiggeroo]

Ok,this is what my cat is doing
He stares at his tale like it's a foreign object and the tail twitches and it angers him. He attacks his tail.
He obsessively grooms his tale and back.
He has skin rippling in the back half of his back.
He attacks imaginary foreign objects.
He is excessively clingy
Occasionally after a very bad episode he has a seizure.
He does not like you to pet his back, although he does not seem to be in any pain
We are also dealing with fleas, caused by a puppy who was here for awhile. He is allergic to fleas and even one or two will bother him. He is on steroids to calm this down. The vet for some reason believed this could be causing the fhs.
Here is a link to fhs and it is exactly, to the tee what is happening to him.http://www.petplace.com/cats/feline-hyperesthesia/page1.aspx
Before the vet saw him three techs all came in and made the same diagnosis. They have seen it quite a bit. When they pet him on the back it brings on some of the symptoms.

 

[npmommie]

How do you find a good one. I had a great one but it's too far from here. Since then I have been to several bad ones. My kitty is sick. I did some research and had a very good idea of the problem. Feline HyperEsthesia. He is classic for it, with all of the symptoms. If I could catch him when he has an episode and video it it would be clear. I took him to the vet expecting flea medication and some type of tranquilizer or anti-seizure med. She saw him do it, as did several techs. Every one of them when they was what happened, agreed that was the problem. I assumed we would do a full CBC type blood panel as well just to be sure nothing else was up. But he's an indoor cat, always and never exposed to anything contagious. She confirmed the FHS put him on flea meds and steroids, as he is highly allergic to fleas. Said unless the blood work said something different she would order phenobarbital for the other problem. I got to the desk and the bill was very high. Turns out she wanted to do more extensive blood work to test for FLV, feline aids and toxoplasmosis. He is an indoor cat, and none of those illnesses cause these symptoms. I declined. The blood work came in with some high white cell count. She said this is typically caused by allergies. I said, remember he is allergic to fleas. She said, yes that could cause it. She said to just do the steroids for a few weeks and see if they cure the problem.
I call back and say he is still needs the seizure meds. She said she wants to worm him and give him some shots first. Then she wants another visit before we talk about the seizure meds. Wow. I am now quite sure she just wants to jack up the bill as much as possible.
I don't know what to do, because another vet is going to make us start all over again, and I might not be so lucky that he will show those symptoms in another office. It doesn't happen all of the time. This vet saw it and was quite certain of what is going on. Does it sound like I"m being unreasonable? Do you think I could call and just try to insist he just give him the meds and schedule a follow up after a month?

I think your cat might need Prozac.
it isn't normal to jump immediately onto Phenobarb.
she may or may not need that.
at this point, if your diagnosis is correct, I would try to solve the flea issue, and give her a med such as Prozac.
jmo

 

[Tiggeroo]

sometimes prozac is the treatment of choice. It is what I expected. I am going to treat my house this weekend for fleas, even though I haven't seen them in the house. He has advantage on him. I am going to pick up a flea comb and see if he lets me do that too. He's a main coon so it might be tough.

 

[bballmom56]

We are lucky. We love our vet. She does not push additional drugs, procedures, vaccines. She tells us what the deal is and is straight about it. Her prices are very reasonable. We have been through a few difficult cases with her and we won't go anywhere else.

How do you find a good one? We went by the recommendation of trusted friends.

 

[Tiggeroo]

i want him on something since excess grooming is a symptoms and he sits here with his squin rippling and grooming himself. He has no fur at the base of his tail or the back of his legs. He had none on his stomach but that's starting to come back in. He is not loaded with fleas, there are a few, most likely hopping on from the house somewhere. I thought he might have a thyroid problem as he seems to crave warmth more then ususal but that was fine.

 

[LuLuO]

Ask them for your cat's records and copies of all of the tests run and take them to the next vet. Hopefully they can work with you based on the results of the previous tests as long as they are not outdated.

I would go to one or two reputable grooming shops or trainers in your area and ask them where they take their animals for vet care. I used to be a groomer and that is how I found my fantastic vet. The vet I used previously accidentally deprived my cat of oxygen during a routine dental cleaning. It was a long recovery for my poor guy and unfortunately he passed away from complications of that incident five years later.

I used to live very close to our vet but now I drive 25 miles or so one way. I won't switch again I've had too many bad experiences.

Good luck.

 

[Tiggeroo]

if I took my cat in a few times a year and had a good regular relationship I'm sure we'd be getting better treatment. I don'ot need to do that with an indoor cat who is very healthy, normally.
We are getting a new puppy soon. The first thing I will get is pet insurance. I do feel bad for vets since we often are unable to pay for all of these tests and it does sound like we don't care enough about our pets. I love my cat dearly and if I thought more testing would help him I would do it. However, if the vet gave him a mild tranquilizer and the problem went away why should I get all of that testing done. If it doesn't work I'd gt the testing.

 

[torinsmom]

Why should you feel bad for the vets? If something isn't necessary, then they can't blame you for not doing it. Maybe they tell us all the options to make sure we don't come back later upset that we weren't told about an option. Like I said, I just have mine explain what NEEDS to be done. They always suggest the FVCRP vaccine, but with the cats inside, I don't see that one being really necessary. They also explain the difference between the 3 year rabies and the 1 year. I have moved to the 1 year because of the chance of tumors developing with the 3 year. That is more $, but worth it to me.

I also ask how much something will cost and they find out right away. If something is necessary, but not urgent, and I don't have enough money, I will break it up into two visits. If it was necessary AND urgent, the vet will hold a check for a few weeks.

Hope you get help for your baby!