How to tell someone they need a new vet...

[celloyogi]

For the last five years, I've pet-sitted for a family friend. All the pets are just fantastic personality-wise; they are their owner's kids. I got to the house Mon afternoon before the owners left for San Diego. Older cat (16y) had a mild cough/congestion. Owners said he'd been sick since Fri and hadn't improved. By Tues, the cough was gone and congestion nearly so. But by Tues PM, he stopped eating, stopped using his litterbox, and developed clear diarrhea. He rarely moved.

I called vet Thurs AM (closed Wed). I have a lot of respect for the owners and given how much they love their vet, I was expecting to be impressed. I was anything but. Instead of taking off crate lid (which my vet does) or "pouring" out cat, the vet reached in and grabbed cat by the ruff and dragged him out. To take temp, he threw a towel on cat's head and told me to hold cat's head against the table. Vet does one of the most cursory exams I've ever seen, just palpated a little bit and spent maybe 10s listening to heart/lungs. He gave cat a shot of cyclosol (I didn't think that was even supposed to be used in cats?) and Rx for metronidazole. Total about $95.

I've worked with cat rescues for years and have never seen a vet handle a cat like that. I'm ticked off because the vet completely blew off the fact that the cat hadn't eaten anything in two days. He said he wouldn't worry about it until the four-day mark. And when I asked about sub-q fluids, vet said he only does that when the situation is serious. How is this not serious?! I have never taken such a sick animal as this cat and not had any discussion about doing bloodwork/further work-up or at least symptomatic trtmnt.

I put baby food on his nose - he has to lick it off. I'm doing a 50/50 water/Pedialyte. Still hasn't eaten since Tues PM, nearly 5 days. Cat has that vacant, senile stare. It's bad. The owners changed their flight to come home a day early to be with their cat. But they're still going to the same vet. I can't tell my friend my opinion of her vet. It's not my place, not really; she loves the vet and has been going there for years. I can only hope at some point there will be an opening in a conversation where I can say something to her about getting a second opinion.

I love my own pets' vet office. All the vets are fantastic and I recommend them to everyone. They love what they do: the science, medicine, patients and owners. And they are really good at all of it. And I love the emergency vet we use, for the same reasons.

In the meantime, thanks for letting me vent here.

[Justicemom]

Originally Posted by celloyogi

He gave cat a shot of cyclosol.

He said he wouldn't worry about it until the four-day mark. .

NOt a great choice of drug in any old potentially dehydrated animal let alone a cat.

and seriously 4 days not eating for a cat! I worry when they don't eat for a day. Fatty liver syndrome, anyone.

[ElleKayCee]

I hate being in those kinds of situations Maybe slip in something about how your vet treats your pets? I switched vets after hearing about my aunt's experience with her vet in comparison to mine. To be honest, I wouldn't be offended if you told me about your concerns because you only have the best intentions. There's no harm in trying and if the conversation gets tense or awkward you can always change it or apologize.

Hope everything works out!

[mellie]

I agree with previous posters,you mean no harm to your friend and she might need to see another vet before she realizes that her vet might not be up to date with feline care. And no fluids is amazing to me...

[Sheltiemama]

I would tell them exactly what you just said here. They need a second opinion about their baby. I would explain that I know how much their kitty means to them and I want them to get another opinion. I really would.

[celloyogi]

Originally Posted by Justicemom

NOt a great choice of drug in any old potentially dehydrated animal let alone a cat.

and seriously 4 days not eating for a cat! I worry when they don't eat for a day. Fatty liver syndrome, anyone.

One of angel kitties, Tut, suffered multiple bouts of pancreatitis over the last years of his life. His refusal of food was always the tip-off that things were heating up again. Fatty liver syndrome became, literally, a household term. Our entire family learned pretty quickly how to force feed a cat - not pleasant for anyone but definitely a necessity! We were instructed to force feed anytime Tut went more than 24hr without eating. Honestly, between that and my administering sub-q fluids at home whenever he looked like he needed them, I don't think Tut would have lived more than a few months after his first bout with pancreatitis.

It was all I could do to keep my mouth shut at the appt last week for this other cat. I had the owner on my cell's speakerphone so she could get the vet's direct comments, and I soooooo wanted to say something about shouldn't we try force feeding, or fluids? Wish I had now.

[celloyogi]

Originally Posted by mellie

I agree with previous posters,you mean no harm to your friend and she might need to see another vet before she realizes that her vet might not be up to date with feline care. And no fluids is amazing to me...

Ditto about the fluids. My own vets give fluids for any animal appearing even mildly dehydrated, or who is sick. Can't hurt, almost always is beneficial, causes next-to-no trauma to the animal. It's a no-brainer. They usually don't bother to ask me anymore; they just bring my pet back with camel humps. Fine by me! I just want my furbabies to feel better.

I'm going to find a way to bring up the idea of a second opinion, without mentioning what I think of the current vet (unless she asks). I think it will be hard to argue with the logic, and they can afford the cost of additional vet consults/testing. I don't think I could forgive myself if, in the future, I heard of anything happening to any of their other pets and then having this vet blow things off until too late.

[BarbV]

Originally Posted by Sheltiemama

I would tell them exactly what you just said here. They need a second opinion about their baby. I would explain that I know how much their kitty means to them and I want them to get another opinion. I really would.

I agree. Tell them exactly like you told us here. Then step back and let them decide what to do. Also share any experience you have with other vets.

[celloyogi]

So I heard from the owner today and got an update about her cat's condition. And now I am really ticked off. The brother of this particular cat passed away a few months ago, having suffered from several bouts of pancreatitis, which the vet had evaluated and supposedly treated. And what happened with current cat when owners took him in on Saturday? Diagnosed with pancreatitis!! Shock and awe!

The reasons behind my anger are many. Besides what I already mentioned in my previous posts, owner told me today that the vet mentioned pancreatitis is hereditary so he wasn't surprised that current cat has it. (You'd think he would have considered the dx sooner with this information, right?) Then, and here's the kicker, he tells owner to hold all food for 24 hours to "let the pancreas calm down". I'm sorry, what?! Cat at this point has been without food, except for maybe a tablespoon of baby food I wiped on his nose, for nearly five days, and vet is telling owner to hold food for another day? This is cruel for any cat - starvation, anyone? - and in pancreatitis, holy crap. Cat's pancreas isn't calming down, and cat's liver is probably all wonko now, too.

Oh, and still no fluids, even though cat is by now very dehydrated. Apparently still not serious enough to warrant the couple minutes to install a few camel humps.

Day one I said "pancreatitis." Sucks that I was right. Sucks even more that cat received such bass-ackward treatment. I'm so mad. I am definitely going to talk to the owner now (was still trying to figure out how) as this is the last straw.

Totally makes me appreciate my own vets that much more. They are so awesome.