skipping blood work at the vet

[goofystitchfan]

My cat just turned 14 in February. Our vet has been suggesting senior screen blood work for the past several years. I have not done it as the PP has said, you know your cat better than anyone. If I thought my cat was in any kind of pain or sick I would, but thankfully that is not the case.

 

[Mom2Ben02]

We had a dog (she had to be put to sleep a week and a half ago while we were in WDW ). About a year ago, she had to have surgery. If she did not have the surgery, she would not have made it. They wanted to do blood work before the surgery, to see if she was healthy enough. I declined, because she had to have the surgery anyway - so why pay $200 for a test at that point?

 

[disneybound31]

I'm curious, did you vet say what could have been done about the kiddney failure if they did catch it earlier? Would it have been treatable with medication?

I'm sorry about the loss of your pet, I know it must have been very hard to see it suffer!.

OT, but one of my favorite songs/movies...Pete's Dragon...

 

[ChisJo]

I have a 14 year old cat, and we had bloodwork done when she was 12, and it was normal. We don't take her to the vet every year...about every 4-5 years (she's an indoor cat). I do her injections every year, and I switched her to a senior formula (we only buy her holistic high end food), and I know that if something were to start happening to her, I would be able to tell, so I won't be getting any more blood work on her. She had a full dental check and some teeth pulled the last time she went to the vet. She is still sprite, playful, and normal. If things changed, and she got really sick, I think the best thing for her would be to euthanize her. She's 14 years old. She has been the most amazing cat, but as someone who works in health care, sometimes quality of life is way better than quantity of life, and she has had a great quality of life.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

If its the cost holding you back call around and see what others charge. I had a freind who did this and found another vet who was 1/2 the price quoted by her vet.

As for my opinion my cats are my kids. I would do whatever it takes to make sure they are healthy. By not providing care for them its neglecting an animal. I dont want my fur babies to suffer.

 

[ancestry]

My vet (who I absolutely love) doesn't do blood tests for the heck of it. He only does them prior to surgery or if there are some symptoms/conditions that the pet is experiencing that he thinks the blood test will help to answer.

I don't allow random testing on myself or my children and wouldn't do it on my pets either. Testing for both humans and pets, in my house, only occurs when there is a reason to do the tests. For me, it has nothing to do with money but rather to do with my personal outlook on things.

 

[maxiesmom]

My vet offers two different types of blood panels. The basic one that we get for heartworm each year is $45. The more detailed one is another $50 on top of that, and I get that every other year.

I must say I am suprised by so many posters who do not get bloodwork at all! Maybe it is because where we live used to be open pasture not so long ago, but we still have a lot of wildlife in our yard. Deer, bunnies, squirrels, skunks, all sorts of things that can carry all sorts of illnesses. I at the minimum want to know my dogs are flea and heartworm free. Especially as many things can be transmitted to humans.

 

[marie1203]

If you did it last year then I think it would be fine if you skip it one year. I am just so surprised of people that say that because they are indoor cats they don't need to go to the vet. This is very inaccurate indoor cats can get parasites, heart worm and still need yearly vaccines.

 

[CandleontheWater]

So I ended up getting the blood work because my poor kitty had lost 1/2 a pound in the year since he was last seen. They are going to check and make sure that everything is OK, since he has always been a very small, skinny cat.

I'm betting there is nothing wrong and the only reason he lost weight is because he is spending so much time running away from DS! but, better safe than sorry.

The total for the visit, blood work, and rabies shot- and with a military discount- $340

 

[Parkers_girl]

I don't even bring mine into the vet unless there is something wrong. I know my dogs very well and I try to stick to a more holisitic approach when it comes to their health. For instance, I don't use that horrible poision on their backs for ticks and fleas. Instead I use a mixture of vinegar and skin so soft that gets sprayed on a bandana that they wear outside, and we've never had an issue. Vets are a business and unless you're close with one you can't really know for sure what your animal truly needs. My two dogs are under 4 so I don't worry about blood work at this point, but if they were acting out of character then I wouldn't hestitate to get it if I found necessary. We don't do annual shots either...just the rabies every 3 years.

From my experience with an older pet, we had bloodwork done on our old boy about every 6 months the last 2 years we had him. They detected high kidney values but there wasn't much they could do besides give this special food (which was total garbage btw) and we started subcutaneous fluids once his levels became extremely high. Those fluids gave us about 6 more months with our boy, but the last few months were extremely rough ( he was really really sick). So even a vet does detect something in a blood panel, it doesn't mean they could fix it...it just gives you a reason to worry. Now if an animal was on lifelong medication such as rimadyl, then I could see the reason for bloodwork.

 

[JoiseyMom]

If you're bad pet parents my family must be the worst! Our cats are all indoors so frankly they never go to the vet unless something is wrong. We don't do yearly check-ups or shots, because they never go anywhere and don't get sick.

That being said we know our cats well and will have them in the moment they are doing anything odd. Over my life we've had our oldest make it to 18 before she passed, and our current older one is 18 now and doing fantastically, so I don't think we're doing anything wrong.

But if you're in the DC area there are about a million vets. Our normal one started getting very pushy about lots of tests over the past year or two and we just moved. Like our new kitten had ears that were bright red and was ripping out his own fur. They did a bunch of bloodwork, barely looked at the cat and said they'd get back to us in a few weeks. We took him down to another vet we used that was further away (we left when the other opened as it was closer) and that vet actually gave him a proper examination and said it could be an allergic reaction, and to remove all food and start reintroducing it. He also gave him an antihistamine to make him feel a little more comfortable.

There are far too many vets in the area to waste your time with some office that tries to upsell you for every little thing.

I'm with you! My 2 cats will be 13 this year, and I can't remember the last time they went to the vet! They are indoor cars and are fine. If something seemed wrong we would bring them in. Our 2 dogs are 1 and 2. I will bring them in for their shots, and routine stuff. My town requires rabies every year (which I feel is too much), so I don't have them liscensed . I don't think my dogs should get shots just because a govt agency says so, it is crazy.

 

[MEM]

I'm with you! My 2 cats will be 13 this year, and I can't remember the last time they went to the vet! They are indoor cars and are fine. If something seemed wrong we would bring them in. Our 2 dogs are 1 and 2. I will bring them in for their shots, and routine stuff. My town requires rabies every year (which I feel is too much), so I don't have them liscensed . I don't think my dogs should get shots just because a govt agency says so, it is crazy.

If I understand you correctly, your two dogs are not vaccinated against rabies?

 

[njmomtoone]

I'm with you! My 2 cats will be 13 this year, and I can't remember the last time they went to the vet! They are indoor cars and are fine. If something seemed wrong we would bring them in. Our 2 dogs are 1 and 2. I will bring them in for their shots, and routine stuff. My town requires rabies every year (which I feel is too much), so I don't have them liscensed . I don't think my dogs should get shots just because a govt agency says so, it is crazy.

You don't do rabies vaccines?

 

[Swimalie]

So I ended up getting the blood work because my poor kitty had lost 1/2 a pound in the year since he was last seen. They are going to check and make sure that everything is OK, since he has always been a very small, skinny cat.

I'm betting there is nothing wrong and the only reason he lost weight is because he is spending so much time running away from DS! but, better safe than sorry.

The total for the visit, blood work, and rabies shot- and with a military discount- $340

I hope everything is okay with your kitty.

 

[marie1203]

I'm with you! My 2 cats will be 13 this year, and I can't remember the last time they went to the vet! They are indoor cars and are fine. If something seemed wrong we would bring them in. Our 2 dogs are 1 and 2. I will bring them in for their shots, and routine stuff. My town requires rabies every year (which I feel is too much), so I don't have them liscensed . I don't think my dogs should get shots just because a govt agency says so, it is crazy.

 

[LisaTC]

With regard to rabies vaccines, after the first/booster, the rabies vaccine should be a 3 year vaccine, so don't know what's up with your town's rules. Seems antiquated. Secondly, geriatric panels on animals can be useful and prevent more expense. That said, if other things seem well, they may forgo them yearly and do them every other. Sometimes a teaching school (Vet School) will offer a better price list than a private practitioner. Teeth cleaning is a good idea as it can prevent so many things, tooth loss, infected gums, urinary/kidney issues, etc. I don't vaccinate my pets yearly for the routine things because even the AVMA has come out and said in their own journal that routine DHLPP, etc levels can remain level for more than 1 year! Our vet panel runs about $90 as well for geriatrics. Sorry yours is so exhorbitant! If you're close to the country...find a country vet, many times cheaper and it's a relief after working with large animals.

 

[maxiesmom]

I'm with you! My 2 cats will be 13 this year, and I can't remember the last time they went to the vet! They are indoor cars and are fine. If something seemed wrong we would bring them in. Our 2 dogs are 1 and 2. I will bring them in for their shots, and routine stuff. My town requires rabies every year (which I feel is too much), so I don't have them liscensed . I don't think my dogs should get shots just because a govt agency says so, it is crazy.

Heaven help you if your dogs ever bite someone. They will be toast without a license or a rabies vaccine. Not to mention what the person they bite would have to go thru.

 

[Squirrel!!!]

OP--I read this last night and was going to post with the advice that if your kitty was drinking more water or had lost weight, you should do the lab work, but if was holding steady or gaining weight, skipping a year would be okay....and there you post that you did the bloodwork due to weight loss.

Hope your kitty is fine.

 

[kwelch10377]

Heaven help you if your dogs ever bite someone. They will be toast without a license or a rabies vaccine. Not to mention what the person they bite would have to go thru.

Yup! Even if the dogs were to accidently get out and it is found out that they are not registered and vaccinated that could be a nice little fine that has to be paid.

I have 2 dogs and the township that I live in requires a rabies vaccine and a few times a year they offer free vaccinations and I know there are other programs that you can get the vaccination for free.

 

[andymattmom]

I do the bloodwork only because that is what told me my kitty had diabetes. He was about 1 month from yearly check and started drinking lots. Took him in and they ran blood (which would have been done the next month) and found he was diabetic. We did a year of twice daily insulin shots and then symptoms increased. I had switched vets after diabetes diagnosis because I was not comfortable with old vet. Long story short one vet just wanted to increase dosage, knew that didn't seem right with no bloodwork. Had bloodwork done at a new vet and numbers way high (normal kitty 80-120..I believe for glucose) My kitty almost 500. We increased insulin...and found fantastic website for diabetic kitties. In the end found out that dry food can cause diabetes ---it is high in carbohydrates. Switched to low carb wet food (Fancy Feast makes one) and daily testing of glucose on human meter (through ear). He has been off insulin and diet controlled for 18 months. We did monthly blood tests at the vet (he had never heard of this diet for diabetics but is amazed at the results--didn't want me trying but I did it). Did these tests for 3 months...then every 6 months. Now we do yearly (the do want to do it more often BUT I check him monthly at home and his glucose is always in the 60's.

Guess what my long ramble is .....I would do it just cause it can catch health problems. If it is financial issue then I would really keep an eye out for symptoms of health problems and take in to vet right away. Our furry friends can't tell us when something hurts or they don't feel well. We need to watch out for them.

Hope things are o.k. with your kitty.