My docile, laid back and passive 12 yr old kitty, who sleeps most of the time, has started shaking her front paw and holding up that front leg when she sits down. She walks on that leg just fine as if nothing hurts. I can't figure out, and neither can the vet, what the problem is. Vet wants me to bring her in for an all day stay to sedate her then xray her front leg and environs. Thi$ will co$t me $ome real money. I feel that (1) it's not a bone problem if she walks on it , (2) it's not necessary to sedate a cat who is asleep 20 hours out of every 24 anyway, (3) why does she have to stay all day in a charge-per-hour cage --I will be charged for 6 hours--waiting for sedation and an xray instead of me just making an appt, bringing her in, and me waiting for her, then learning the results of the xray and discussing a plan of action? Do all or most vets demand that they keep her all day, and sedate a cat who is elderly and passive? Seems to me that the vet is doing this to pay off his car sooner. I welcome all opinions on this. Thanks in advance,
I don't like the plan. For starters, I don't like sedating (pardon me) an elderly kitty. About an hour's drive from here, there is a group of new vets that were wonderful at diagnosing and treating our precious kitty's Addison's disease. The condition baffled the local good old boy vets. You might save yourself some $s and save the kitty unnecessary trauma, by seeking out a more recently educated vet. I expect, though, that the younger vets would have car payments plus student loans to pay off. And, I'm wondering if it could be something as simple as a kitty claw gone goofy. Rub the whiskers for Aunt Polly
Observation: they want to look at the behaviour, and they want to monitor her fitness generally, and specifically her fitness for sedation.
Sedation: this is necessary so they can pose the cat for the x-rays - there's no way to say 'hold still with your paws just like this for 2 minutes' and expect it to happen with a cat! Even the doziest cat will be curious and move somewhere interesting like an ray clinic! They use fairly light sedation and reverse it asap.
Also, the vet place stresses the animal, and they want it to have a chance to get used to the place and relax before they have to do things to it.
She may simply have something like pins and needles from resting on the leg in her sleep: like us, cats get lazier and their circulation less efficient as they get older, and the vet cannot tell this without observation and x-rays. She may be developing something like arthritis, and again, the vet can't tell without x-rays.
I have talked this ray thing through with my vets at some length: last year Cornflake broke his keg in his sleep and ended up having lots of x-rays and treatment. Even though he's as docile as a cushion, they took him in early in the morning, and sedated him for his x-rays.
Cornflake divested himself of several plaster casts and ended up spending 12 weeks in a cage! You can see him with his blue cast on if you hit the URL below and go cat hunting! He's now perfectly OK, but just before Christmas he dislocated his xiphoid process, necessitating another day at the vets for obs and x-rays, and another £80 bill! With the leg we stopped counting at £500, but I reckon it was closer to £800! This is the most expensive 'free to good home: buyer collects' cat we have ever had! Still, he OUR cat, so we pay to get him fixed.
I would be real cautious about sedating a 12-year old kitty just to check things out. Older dogs and cats don't do as well with anesthesia as the younger ones do. I'm with you in thinking that the vet is looking at the $$$ and not the best interest of kitty.
I have a 14 year old dog that I have had since she was a pup. One day, several months ago, she started to lick her front paws. In the past, she only did this once in a while as most dogs do when grooming themselves. Lately she seems to do it every time she lays down. Its almost a compulsive behavior. My vet said it could be one of two things. Could be she has some arthritis in her 'wrist' joints and it is sometimes painful. Or it could just be a behavioral thing. Some animals develop 'unusual' behaviors in their senior years just as people do. He's prescription - keep an eye on it, if she limps when she walks, or she appears to be in pain, then we will worry about it. Since she never seems to be in pain from it, she still walks around on it just fine, I'm not really worried about it.
I would keep a close eye on kitty. If the problem doesn't seem to bother her or doesn't impact her day to day quality of life, let it be. Just watch her close to see if it gets worse. If she seems to be getting worse, I would take her to another vet. It never hurts to get a second opinion.
Vets are like human docs, there are good ones and bad ones.
Would you like the compensation bill when your normally passive cat leaps up and attacks the vet? Also, what if she had a problem with the chemicals used - would you like her at home where she would proberbly die instead of in a vets where she can be looked after?
My goodness! You need my Dr. Joe. When I used to take my cat, or my friend's dog, we would just leave them there and go do our shopping in the next town, then pick up the animal on our way home. It was a free, nearly-all-day, animal-sitting service. Were we being spoiled?
Any animal who's having a pain response won't hold still for an x-ray, no matter how docile it is. My vet will let me leave the animal, and get the animal after the tests, without charging me appointment time for "waiting" on results...
Lots of times animals will use a paw/leg just fine to ambulate, but then have a neuro problem or pain response at other times, so you can't assume that there is no "bone problem"...
Maybe another vet has a different policy on the charge-per-hour cage...none of the vets here do that...call around for a second opinion.
I don't believe that vets run up the charges to pay for a new car, but then, I'm not skeptical by nature. I believe that most "helper" professions are just that..and have the best interest of the patient/client at heart. YMMV.
The Blessed Fiddy, Patroness Saint of the Disorganized LC in Sunny So Cal Personality Development Specialist (Full-Time Mom!)
I have a neighbor who takes the dog to the groomer every time they have a family get-together just to get rid of the dog! Guess you can leave them there a good while. Taria
Vets come in as many varieties as anybody else. Possible reasons to keep her: ...fit xrays into a day that doesn't always neatly follow a schedule (ie, most any vet's day) ...have her available for further views if the 1st ones prove inconclusive or indicate more study.
Possible reasons to sedate her: ...lots of cats get a whole lot less passive when scared, and sedation can be safer & less stressful for them (& those around them ) ...positioning for the optimum view isn't always what the cat had in mind (& may even be a bit uncomfortable).
That said, where I worked we seldom sedated critters unless they showed they needed it. We also didn't charge cage space by the hour---we charged for the procedure(s) done---& I suspect this is true of most vets.
I love this newsgroup! I got more responses and quicker responses from you all than from the cat newsgroups. I really truly appreciate all your opinions and advice. A warm hug to all of you!
Cyndi, who is watching Goldie-cat closely and giving her extra love and tuna.
Recently my sister had to take her dog to the vet. The first vet we talked to wanted, in the neighborhood of $600. We did some shopping around and found one that would do the same thing for $138. And we both liked him better than the old vet and thought he was a better vet. So, do some shopping.
You asked for opinions. Here's mine. Your pet is your responsibility. It is not a sometime thing, for when you feel like it, or can afford it. To own a pet be they feathered, furred or hooved, you alone are the ticket to their good health via food and care. That care includes medical needs that may arise.
While it is perfectly fine to seek a second opinion for care on your cat, please do not forego it. They depends on us, yes, even the finicky and seemingly independent cats. Would you treat a member of your family any different?
I have worked in the veterinary field both large and small animals. Not once did I run into someone who was charging fees to help pay off loans or buy bigger/better "toys".
Ginger in CA duckin', runnin', asbestos jumpsuit at the ready
I know this may sound a little harsh, but could she be faking it to get attention? I know our dog does this and her sister and mum do too. Just a thought, if she's fine to walk on it.
Cornflake is my adorable Big (ex)Male Kitty - and as thick as three bog seats! There is no getting away from it: this is a cat in which everything has to be hard wired as there is NO processing power!
He went to sleep in the sun, in the BBQ table, which is roughly put together out of concrete blocks, uncemented but carefully balanced. James came along and tickled his tummy, and the silly cat rolled over, tipped up the concrete block he was lying on, and fell off! The block landed on his leg and broke two metatarsals. It was at this point that he woke up! This was Wednesday afternoon, and he scooted off until about 7:30 pm, when the vet's is shut!
We carted him off to the vet as an emergency patient on Thursday morning, and they put a big soft plaster on it, warning us that when the swelling went down, he 'might' lose the plaster... DH picked him up that evening on his way home from work.
Well, he hadn't been in the house five minutes when he parted company with that plaster, so he went straight back to the vet and had a hard plaster fitted. He came home again on Friday night.
On the Saturday we somehow managed to leave the cat flap unlocked when we went out to visit the Sweeps Festival (it was the May Bank Holiday weekend, and we had our usual guests). Cornflake managed to drag his pot leg out through TWO cat flaps, and headed for the hills...
We came home about 5:30, and no cat! AKK! DH and visitors scour garden, paddock (behind our garden) and neighbourhood for cat, but there is no sign of him. I stay home in case he turns up, and to cook the dinner. About 8:00pm, when we are SERIOUSLY worried, a new neighbour turns up with this pathetic object in his arms! Cornflake! He heard a noise outside his back door and gone out to find a cat with a plaster from hip to toes falling off the TOP of a 6 foot high larchlap fence! Cornflake had had very little to eat for the past 3 days, having suffered the injury before his evening meal, and not been interested in food, and having had anaesthetics 2 days in a row, so he was now not only exhausted, but also basically hypo as well! He acted like DH does with a hypo! Poor kitty! He had also dislodged his plaster again!
Kitty spent most of the evening sitting on a visitor, being fed cat biscuits until he recovered, and then on Sunday it was off to the animal hospital for another set of x-rays and yet another plaster!
Unfortunately all these adventures lead to an infection in the skin of the broken leg, and he had to have the plaster removed so it would heal. They tried various different plasters, but in the end, to allow the skin to heal, he had none at all, which didn't help the fractures. He was on big (for a cat) dozes of antibiotics, and ended up being confined to a cage for a large part of the summer, to stop him walking on the injured leg. He lost a lot of weight and condition, and got spoiled rotten as the only thing that tempted him to eat was tuna canned in spring water! He was also on weekly visits to the vet.
He is, to us, a very beautiful ginger and white moggy of uncertain ancestry, but he is very sweet natured loves being cuddled, and takes his duties as a QI very seriously. If you hit the URL below, you will find a page with lots of pix of him and his sister. There are more pix of the pair of them at work elsewhere on the site. He has fully recovered (this was LAST summer), and is now his usual bouncy self. The only sign that any of this happened is a small bald patch on one leg, where the deepest ulcer formed.
Oh, Kate! I wish poor Cornflake could talk. I bet he could tell stories all night about his ordeal. Oh, give him a cheek rub and a kiss for me. I sure hope that vet gave you many months to pay off the bill, or maybe a discount for being a frequent flyer.
Don't don your asbestos suit yet, Ginger, I understand exactly what you are saying; the only thing I really dont like about the internet is that you can't see my face or my intonations, nor can we discuss anything in real time on a newsgroup. I know what you are saying and I agree that when a person commits to pets or children, they should be willing to commit to the whole ball of wax, including medical costs, and every other expense that comes with the responsibility of being a parent or human companion. I personally know of human parents who did not give proper care to a child because she was too expensive. Makes me sad. I just need to be educated by you or someone who has been there in the trenches and seen it and knows whether or not sedation is necessary or simply a padding of the bill; and to be educated as to why a cat needs to be at the vets all day long for an xray that takes ten minutes; and to be educated as to why the vet wants an xray when the kitty is walking on it.
I know, I should have asked the vet all these questions before she ran out the door, but there had been several emergencies that day, it was already suppertime when the vet finally got to my kitty, an hour late, and she looked tired and worried about another patient she had in the other room, and we all wanted to just go home, have a drink and lie down, so I didn't want to make her answer too many questions that would take too long to answer. That's why I have you here. I can ask you all anything under the sun and I get 25 opinions from people not afraid to tell me when I am wrong, thank you Ginger, and all of you answer so darn quickly. I love the internet.
I am in no way saying that I would withold care and treatment because of the cost. No. I am just concerned that a vet might be asking me to pay for things that are not necessary to complete the mission. I now understand that sedation is really required, that the day-long cage stay is required to make certain that kitty has no bad reaction to the sedative, and that pets hide pain and walk on broken legs without crying, unlike me, who is a pain wimp. Vets don't become vets for the money, they do it for love.
Oh, for MONTHS after his leg healed, Cornflake would suddenly start limping again if he thought it would gain him a treat or extra attention. Trouble is, after a while, he'd forgotten which leg had been the hurt one, and you got a random limp in any one of the four!
We also babysat a dog that ran a torn into it's foot that did the same! After a few weeks, you could say, 'How's your sore paw. Henry?', and he'd hoik one up at random.
I was thinking a bit more about the limping kitty/foot shaking thing, and remembered who told me about the circulation. My friend Diane has a Cornish Rex who does this. Babbage (she is a 'difference cat'!) is now
14, and fat as butter, and she does this. She gets regular checks, and her vet said there was nothing really wrong, it was probably just pins and needles due to elderly circulation.
Hi Cindy Looks like you have the questions answered. Yep, sedation may be the way to get the cat to relax enough to take the X-rays. [I have very nasty scars to show where an ill cat latched onto my hand and wouldn't let go, she was in pain and simply reached out to let her pain/displeasure known to all.] At her age, they will do a short-acting drug, and watch her close. She will be in la-la land. If the films do not come out right they may have to take additional views. You want the staff to be gentle and not rushing around with her that day.
Good luck with her, let us know what they say. Remember, cats and horses usually do not let us humans know when they are sick/not feeling good until they really are. Dogs aren't like that many times - terrible patients, and always the first to say "I don't feel good/my tummy hurts/I think I have a fever" ;))
Have a peace-filled/piece-filled day, Ginger in CA
Well, I was in the garden yesterday and she didn't know I was there and she was walking fine. When she saw me the limp when on! She does have quite nasty arthritus but she's puts it on to get attention from my grandparents. Her mum used to do exactly the same thing and at least two of her sisters do it too! Maybe it's a labrodor thing.
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