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Mirthless posted:Is there something about the Vet profession that just attracts assholes? Most don't start out like that, but years of dealing with goony blowhards who treat them like poo poo just starts to wear on them after awhile I guess. v  v
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Oct 11, 2012 18:47
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Enelrahc posted:Yeah, you know, after getting kicked out of med school for not being able to pass orientation for the third time in a row, I was just like "gently caress it, I'm going to vet school so I can finally make some bank by ripping off God fearing Americans with unnecessary tests and I can be the sociopath rear end in a top hat I was meant to be." For the record, I've always been super positive to my vet, the last few experiences I had with a regular vet though was just pretty overwhelmingly negative. I switch to a new vet and it's another series of headaches. The vet that badgered me into a huge battery of tests (a couple of which I later found out weren't even applicable to an adult cat and they knew it) was strapped on to a big pet store and we found them by bargain hunting so that one was entirely my fault, but the other guy was a local, reputable vet but he just came off like a creep. He had a creepy smile on his face the entire time I was in his office to pick up my dead cat and offered me no sympathy at all. It's unfair to assume that I just go into a vet office expecting an rear end in a top hat and talking down to everybody - I don't go into a mechanic's shop expecting an rear end in a top hat either. But it's been my experience so far in the city of Tulsa that everybody I've worked with is either unprofessional or is more concerned with selling services than the health of my pets. Thanks for the advice HelloSailorSign, I appreciate it. I will keep this in mind.
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Oct 11, 2012 19:20
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Having had 3 different vets since getting my two kitties in February, I can say that if you live in an area with enough competition you can not only find affordable pet care but also find amazing vets who really love animals and care more about their health than nickel-and-diming each appointment. My experiences have been a combination of what others have said before me in regards to this issue. I could write a verrry long post on each vet. The first place was cheap, but incompetent. The second place was friendly, efficient, and more expensive. I would receive a "prolonged consultation fee" if the exam went over 25 minutes, and that wasn't even in my control when they whisked my cat off to the on-site lab to do his treatments there. The vet, an older fellow, was also convinced Science Diet was the end-all of cat foods and I was being very silly for feeding my cats wet food. Third time is the charm. This is a newer practice (as of two months ago) with a vet that has 15 years of experience and is very keen on keeping up-to-date on modern practices. She charges me exactly for the treatments and a basic exam, no nickel-and-diming for "waste fees" of throwing away a syringe. She found out I'm between jobs and gives me a 5% discount. She suggests I order a medicine, she doesn't go the stockroom and force me to buy it before leaving. We're working on a plan to try and control my kitty's food allergies by eliminating chicken from his diet, she didn't guilt-trip me about being unable to afford the food-trial thing for 12 weeks. She's explained the various options to me, from allergy testing to just "controlling" his condition with monthly shots to going back to the food trial. I can budget accordingly now, based on knowing what to possibly expect depending on how Val' reacts to the treatments and change in diet. She's doing everything she can to make Val' comfortable and give me a bit of a financial break, and I couldn't be happier. And she's not local-local, but I feel she's worth the extra bit of driving and traffic. So TLDR, HelloSailorSign's advice is really good. Shop around if there are options available, or keep an eye out for new places opening. Also, if you can, check outside the immediate area to see what's available. I really hope you find someone who works out for you, it makes (for me) an all ready stressful-enough process so much easier to deal with.
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Oct 11, 2012 20:28
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Mirthless posted:The vet that badgered me into a huge battery of tests (a couple of which I later found out weren't even applicable to an adult cat and they knew it) was strapped on to a big pet store and we found them by bargain hunting  sounds like a Banfailed... er... Banfield... to me...I don't like them. No fault of your own - they have great marketing.
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Oct 11, 2012 22:17
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I work in a clinic with 7 vets and while a lot of them are kind of assholes I'm not entirely sure you're aware of how much work has to be done before a dental. Why do you think your cat needs a dental in the first place? I know we get a lot of people who call up and ask for a dental for their pets, and while it is a great thing to do, it is an expense and isn't a minor procedure like for humans. I don't think a lot of people understand that. At our clinic we always do pre-anesthetic bloodwork, and that alone can be up in the $100 range. That's not including the office visit price. The dental itself can be stupidly easy or can turn into a nightmare - one tooth loose can turn into 3 teeth being pulled.
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Oct 12, 2012 01:42
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My cat came back! He looks pretty mopey but on the road to recovery.
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Oct 12, 2012 02:32
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I've been sick all day and Sadie has been an absolute dear. She just follows me from resting place to resting place purring. I'm not sure if she realizes something is wrong or just approves of serial napping all day.
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Oct 12, 2012 02:40
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I've been taking care of my brother's cat for two weeks now, and she's still hiding from me all day. (She usually comes out in the evening and starts wandering around, and twice has voluntarily jumped into my lap and purred while I pet her, although tonight she's stayed in hiding.) I'm concerned because while I leave fresh food out for her in the morning, she only eats during the middle of the night, and she's eating about half as much as usual. My brother said she goes through a 6 oz. can of cat food a day, and he usually fed her once in the morning and once at night, and now she eats about half a can at night (by her own choice -- I put more food out but she doesn't eat it all). She has always been a pretty timid cat, so I'm not too concerned that she's still hiding (especially since she's gone from living in a tiny apartment with the person who's raised her since she was 4 weeks, to living in a big house with two strangers -- that's a big change for her), but I am concerned that she's going to start losing weight. Luckily she's about 2 pounds overweight according to her vet, so she has a little buffer to keep her from getting unhealthily thin, but I'm still a little worried. Also, she's usually a pretty vocal cat, but I've only heard her make one little chirp in the last two weeks. What can I do to make this poor cat feel more comfortable? (I do have Feliway in her favorite room.)
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Oct 12, 2012 03:02
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Howdy. I've got two cats, one of which is a notorious Out-Of Box Pisser. Through a couple of different methods we've managed to get him pissing in the litterbox consistently, but it still doesn't really work, because he doesn't have a dick. The vets took it off when it got blocked up with crystals a couple years ago. So when he goes to use the litterbox, he gets inside and then pisses clear out of the box onto the floor or litterbox mat or whatever. He doesn't really ~get inside~ the box or turn around, he just kind of steps inside, which would probably be sufficient if he still had a dick that directed his urine in a productive direction. What can I do? We've mostly overcome the behavioural et al issues, but now he's doing everything right and still peeing outside the box. We put down puppy training pads now to catch it, and it more or less works, but it's a lovely long-term solution. Any suggestions? ('cause I realized it might matter- the litterbox has the hood on at the moment, but he typically behaves the same whether it's on or off)
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Oct 12, 2012 04:01
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Rabbit Hill posted:Also, she's usually a pretty vocal cat, but I've only heard her make one little chirp in the last two weeks. What can I do to make this poor cat feel more comfortable? (I do have Feliway in her favorite room.) Can you put the food in the room she likes to be in?
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Oct 12, 2012 04:04
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Ambrose Burnside posted:What can I do? We've mostly overcome the behavioural et al issues, but now he's doing everything right and still peeing outside the box. We put down puppy training pads now to catch it, and it more or less works, but it's a lovely long-term solution. Any suggestions? You could give a top entry box a try. http://www.amazon.com/Clevercat-77000-Top-Entry-Litterbox/dp/B0002ZS20I?tag=duckduckgo-d-20
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Oct 12, 2012 04:28
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Well after 5 or 6 days in the isolation room with casual contact between the new cat and our existing cat I let out the new cat for several hours this evening. He is terribly skittish and his isolation room needed to be vacuumed. I decided to let him out to clean it up and avoid traumatizing him with the vacuum. He immediately ran upstairs and hid under the bed giving me ample time to vacuum. Well eventually our existing cat found out and the cat greetings ensued. A lot of growling and some hissing by our existing cat followed by stalking and some swiping with some sniffing thrown in for good measure. Does this all sound normal ? What do I need to watch for? I've been reading up I just want some reassurance. That said I put a bell collar on the new guy to help out our existing cat but he managed to get out of it. Not only that, I can't find where he shed it! So I bought him a new one, and to be extra annoying threw on some extra bells. I put him back in isolation for the rest of the night to avoid cat fights I won't be witness to.
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Oct 12, 2012 05:03
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Quick question for ya'll: This is Brimley, he owns and loves warm socks . He's about 4 and we got him from a no-kill about 2 years ago. My lady and I will be moving soon but we've been itching to get another cat to make the Brim-Brimma a little more sociable. We'll be moving North to South in about 5 months, should we: Wait, adopt a cat after we move and do all the change at once Adopt a cat now to minimize the potentially stressful move Wait 6 months and let Brim adjust to his new surroundings then get the cat. I'm hoping to get a cat around 1-2 so Brim can still be the ol' grumpy gus.
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Oct 12, 2012 05:38
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So, we have two female cats in the household currently. They're semi-outside cats, and they don't get along with eachother (like, at all - a cat face surgery was involved the last time we tried to re-introduce them to eachother). One is a super aggressive adoption that we took on when a friend of ours died, the other we've had for years. This is fine actually, due to our house having been split into two apartments before we started renting the place; we can keep them segregated just fine. The problem we're facing at the moment is that there are a few neighborhood cats that have found themselves homeless when the neighbors across the street went to prison and their house was condemned this year. The metro animal shelter came and rounded up all the kittens and cats that they could, but they left no fewer than three cats behind from what I can tell (all spayed females they told us), unable to catch the others, and/or unable to house them at this time. They feed out of a big outdoor dish that we fill daily for our own two cats (the food cost is seriously not a problem), but I live at 5200 ft in the mountains and winter is here already. The one that isn't shy (extremely affectionate, in fact) is clearly accustomed to having access to the indoors, but we simply cannot accommodate her. She's very friendly, and has been hanging out around the house for the last week or so. Our cats hate her, and the aggressive one has started covering the food dish with leaves and, uh, hunting the stray I'm pretty sure. The Humane Society was willing to come by and make sure than she wasn't chipped without actually taking her, but it's time she goes somewhere. If my mother, whose cat died a few years ago isn't willing to take her this weekend, she's probably going to the metro shelter or the HS to take a chance on adoption. She doesn't look bad at all aside from some matted hair that we cut out, but being an older cat I fear for her shelter adoption chances. When we approached the local cat rescue they just asked us if we'd house or find a home for her ourselves - not to be a dick but they were far less helpful than I expected. I guess what I'm looking for is some advice. I'll be taking her to the vet Monday for whatever she needs, but after that I don't know what to do. I haven't done this before. Take her to a shelter and hope for the best, I guess? penis bandana fucked around with this message at 10:24 on Oct 12, 2012 |
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Oct 12, 2012 10:18
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Shnooks posted:I work in a clinic with 7 vets and while a lot of them are kind of assholes I'm not entirely sure you're aware of how much work has to be done before a dental. Our big orange Eunuch had a couple of his super tiny front teeth fall out and one of them looks a bit sore and my wife is afraid it's abscessing. There may be a fragment of the tooth still in the gum. He hasn't had any change in energy/temperment and is still eating at the same pace he always has but we don't want him to get sick or be in pain. We are at least taking his personal dental care more seriously now, brushing, etc. I can understand doing bloodwork, esp. before giving an anesthetic. My particular anecdote however was a case where (HelloSailorSign guessed it) Banfield upsold me 300 dollars in tests to check for a bunch of viruses and conditions my pet was not really at risk for and then put her under heavy anesthetic (she was sedated for 3 days afterwards and I had to carry her to her food and water) when she bit the vet. They then charged me for the anesthetic. Mirthless fucked around with this message at 13:43 on Oct 12, 2012 |
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Oct 12, 2012 13:40
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Shifty Pony posted:I've been sick all day and Sadie has been an absolute dear. She just follows me from resting place to resting place purring. I'm not sure if she realizes something is wrong or just approves of serial napping all day. Ugh I'm jealous. My cat went nose-to-nose with the next door neighbor's dog through the screen door and spent all night crying about it, even after the door was shut and the dog went home. MOOOOOOM THERE'S A DOG OUTSIDE. DOG. DOG. dude loves meowing
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Oct 12, 2012 15:39
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Rabbit Hill posted:I've been taking care of my brother's cat for two weeks now, and she's still hiding from me all day. (She usually comes out in the evening and starts wandering around, and twice has voluntarily jumped into my lap and purred while I pet her, although tonight she's stayed in hiding.) If she is timid, it just may take time. My cat is also easily frightened and timid and when friends come over that have been over a MILLION times before, he still runs and hides for the whole night unless I come and kinda coax him out and tell him it's ok. I would also maybe try getting a Da Bird and flicking it around where she is hiding, that may draw her out and get her playing and her mind on the toy and not how scared she is. Also, you mention feeding fresh food in the morning, but she doesn't eat at night. If it's wet food, put it back up after like 30 mins because leaving wet out all day will make it go bad. If you are concerned about her eating, leaving out dry food all day in her favorite room really isn't a bad option imo.
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Oct 12, 2012 16:20
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Mirthless posted:I can understand doing bloodwork, esp. before giving an anesthetic. My particular anecdote however was a case where (HelloSailorSign guessed it) Banfield upsold me 300 dollars in tests to check for a bunch of viruses and conditions my pet was not really at risk for and then put her under heavy anesthetic (she was sedated for 3 days afterwards and I had to carry her to her food and water) when she bit the vet. They then charged me for the anesthetic. That's less on the veterinarian and more on the nature of Banfield (FeLV/FIV testing in sick cats can be quite valuable - though they also do things like corona and poo poo that are completely worthless - and Giardia vaccine. I cannot stop making fun of them about that). Vets that work there have to march by corporate's orders - it's who pays their check and let's them have a job. More vets have to work there because they're the ones hiring non-stop - particularly new grads. Last I heard they run things by "cookie cutter medicine" where all similar patients are treated equal. Less time for the doctor to be looking things up or thinking, more time for them to be examining a new patient to bring in yet another case. Vets there see far more cases in a day than I do, and the records they write in general show how time-strapped they are in a day. Whereas with a case that has a problem I may write up a page or so in the record detailing client discussion and education, rule-outs and diagnostics, Banfield records are a list of check boxes (Testicles: absent/normal or abnormal) with maybe a short paragraph on extra findings and then legalese CYA stuff. I always loved/hated getting Banfield records on referral back in veterinary school because I'd mock them relentlessly for how inadequate they were while trying to find the tiny nuggets of useful information in the 8 pages of computer generated check boxes and 1 sentence vet explanations. Cookie cutter medicine also leads to things like overuse of certain drugs and a long lag time before corporate even considers changing things - in your cat's case, that sounds pretty close to a wake-up from a drug called Telazol given at a significantly higher dose than is needed. Lots of older vets use that kind of dosing as it's what the bottle recommends (and as it's what the bottle recommends, corporate follows it because that's what the label says) - but in my experience (and what was taught at my vet school) you can get away with far less (about 1/2-1/4 the amount). It's the way vet med is threatening to go because smaller individual clinics simply can't compete with Banfield's pricing and volume. In addition, the recession hit vet clinics hard and they're going out of business, and the clinics are being snatched up by the corporate vet chains. Enough of the general pet owning population values pricing over all else that clinics that charge appropriately for services and provide quality care are being beat out by clinics that cut corners.
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Oct 12, 2012 16:34
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Mirthless posted:
Please do not make any assumptions or conclusions about veterinary medicine or veterinarians and their motives based on your experience at Banfield. That's just silly.
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Oct 12, 2012 16:36
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Mirthless posted:Banfield upsold me 300 dollars in tests to check for a bunch of viruses and conditions my pet was not really at risk for and then put her under heavy anesthetic (she was sedated for 3 days afterwards and I had to carry her to her food and water) when she bit the vet. They then charged me for the anesthetic. I'm not sure why you're surprised that they charged you for the anaesthetic...? Of course they did. Your pet was bitey so they had to sedate it - why shouldn't you have to pay for that?
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Oct 12, 2012 16:43
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marshmallard posted:I'm not sure why you're surprised that they charged you for the anaesthetic...? Of course they did. Your pet was bitey so they had to sedate it - why shouldn't you have to pay for that? My cat had never been bitey with anyone and was very approachable and docile with everybody, including vets. She had never had a problem before and never had a problem after. I'm not even convinced she bit the vet. They did this all without my consent when I wasn't present, so I don't know what to say. Dr. Chaco posted:Please do not make any assumptions or conclusions about veterinary medicine or veterinarians and their motives based on your experience at Banfield. That's just silly. I only went to Banfield the one time and the other bad experiences I've had have been private practice, but I see your point, yeah. Mirthless fucked around with this message at 16:50 on Oct 12, 2012 |
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Oct 12, 2012 16:47
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Mirthless posted:My cat had never been bitey with anyone and was very approachable and docile with everybody, including vets. She had never had a problem before and never had a problem after. I'm not even convinced she bit the vet. They did this all without my consent when I wasn't present, so I don't know what to say. Ah OK, I'd have been suspicious in that case too. It sounded like you were annoyed they'd charged you for it rather than doubting it happened at all. My flatmate tells me things my cats apparently do when I'm out, like pooing under her bed. I'm pretty sure she's making it up.
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Oct 12, 2012 16:50
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I called Bill Z. Bubba's old vet for clarifcation this morning, because our interaction was still stuck in my craw a wee bit. He flat-out explained that, as far as he was concerned, Bill's quality of life was as good as it was going to get for a 21-year-old cat, and since he had nowhere to go but down, we might as well put him to sleep before he declined. The good news is that I found a really lovely vet, highly recommended by friends, who makes housecalls.
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Oct 12, 2012 18:12
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Kerfuffle posted:You could give a top entry box a try. Dang, that's a good idea. I'm a little leery because the Problem Pee Cat is old and fat and not so good at jumping, but the pictures seem to suggest that it just takes a little hop to get up, so it shouldnt be too bad. Maybe I'll try putting something together myself, like a giant idiot.
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Oct 12, 2012 18:45
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zxqv8 posted:I'd like to make clear before I post this that I'm not seeking Veterinary advice. I've read all the rules, and gone through the opening posts just to make sure I didn't miss anything too. I just lost my dear, dear Kitty to kidney failure a week ago. She had an ultrasound a couple months ago that showed her kidneys to be Pretty hosed Up, so I knew the prognosis was bad. But I guess I just wanted to tell you that through my research and personal experience, the disease progressing isn't uncomfortable for them beyond a bit of dehydration and vomiting. Kitty's quality of life was REALLY, REALLY HIGH right up until the hour where she was literally dying, and I wasn't doing any treatment beyond feeding her the special prescription renal food and making sure she had plenty of water. Anyway, I'm not sure if my experience was usual or not but Kitty had a really good last few months and I'm very grateful for that. I hope Kyle can too, if that is indeed what's happening. I know how it feels, and I'm so sorry  I also found this website to be pretty helpful: http://www.felinecrf.org/ This is Kitty. She was only about 8 years old  
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Oct 12, 2012 18:48
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Ambrose Burnside posted:Dang, that's a good idea. I'm a little leery because the Problem Pee Cat is old and fat and not so good at jumping, but the pictures seem to suggest that it just takes a little hop to get up, so it shouldnt be too bad. Maybe I'll try putting something together myself, like a giant idiot.
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Oct 12, 2012 18:48
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spatula posted:I just lost my dear, dear Kitty to kidney failure a week ago. She had an ultrasound a couple months ago that showed her kidneys to be Pretty hosed Up, so I knew the prognosis was bad. But I guess I just wanted to tell you that through my research and personal experience, the disease progressing isn't uncomfortable for them beyond a bit of dehydration and vomiting. Kitty's quality of life was REALLY, REALLY HIGH right up until the hour where she was literally dying, and I wasn't doing any treatment beyond feeding her the special prescription renal food and making sure she had plenty of water. I'm sorry to hear that. 8 years feels far too short to spend with a great companion. I just took Kyle to the vet today, and they were quite optimistic. The doc himself didn't seem worried about a coming crash, so while we know it could just up and happen we feel good about his time left with us. We got him some painkillers and some antibiotics, as well as this crazy drug that's some kind of bacterial culture which has dialytic effects within the intestines. Whatever toxins are built up from his low kidney function will hopefully be reduced by that. This'll hopefully keep him more comfortable, but if he lives too much longer I'm going to start thinking he's immortal or something. It is good to hear that they don't spend days and weeks being entirely miserable, though. I lost another somewhat old (about 16) cat around May/June to renal failure after a surprising recovery around Christmas, and I was never quite sure just how things were for her at the end. I appreciate the kind words, and I'll keep that website in mind for the (hopefully distant) future. zxqv8 fucked around with this message at 19:28 on Oct 12, 2012 |
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Oct 12, 2012 19:26
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My cat passed away today. Two days ago, we noticed she'd disappeared (because her bowl was untouched), but honestly I just thought she was sleeping somewhere. Took her to the vet yesterday, and the blood test revealed high creatine levels. Honestly, thanks spatula, for the reassuring words.
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Oct 12, 2012 23:58
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toplitzin posted:I got An to some out from under the couch by giving her a new place to hide: CatteBox How did you make it? 
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Oct 13, 2012 00:03
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Ambrose Burnside posted:Dang, that's a good idea. I'm a little leery because the Problem Pee Cat is old and fat and not so good at jumping, but the pictures seem to suggest that it just takes a little hop to get up, so it shouldnt be too bad. Maybe I'll try putting something together myself, like a giant idiot.
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Oct 13, 2012 04:12
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Hurray! My sick as poo poo kitten, Tarski, has been really improving. She's not puking, she's got a lot more energy (she's still not at 100% but she's been through a lot), and she's eating full meals. I also am transitioning her to Wellness kitten food and she loves the stuff. I was mixing it 50/50 Iams until I came home and the dish was 100% Iams. Also a positive vet story. The bill amounted to about $700 and I only have to pay $150!
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Oct 13, 2012 05:43
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HelloSailorSign posted:the records they write in general show how time-strapped they are in a day. Whereas with a case that has a problem I may write up a page or so in the record detailing client discussion and education, rule-outs and diagnostics, Banfield records are a list of check boxes (Testicles: absent/normal or abnormal) with maybe a short paragraph on extra findings and then legalese CYA stuff. When I worked as a PetNurse at Banfield for a short time (I lasted less than 2 months) we actually wrote the records. The vet would sort of look them over. Ridiculous.
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Oct 13, 2012 06:40
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Ugh pee problems We adopted our kitties from friends about 3 months ago and took their advice about what worked for them litter-box wise. One covered box between the two, scooped every day (their old owners said they scooped every other day with no problems, but ew). We kept using the same litter and didn't seem to have any problems - until this week when I notice that one of the cats has been using a couple of my bags and a bunch of paperwork as an impromptu litter tray! I've no idea how long for, I can't imagine more than a week. I can't believe we didn't notice though! It's directly under the dining room table, but we hadn't noticed any additional smells to the almighty poops one of our kitty does in the actual litter tray (in the same room). I only caught a whiff of ammonia when I bent down right underneath the table to get my bag and brought it up sopping wet. Gah. I've cleaned it all up, thrown everything the pee touched away and scrubbed it with some antibacterial cleaner - it's a tile floor so no carpet for the pee to soak into fortunately. We're planning on getting another litter box this weekend and keeping an eye on our cats. Is there anything else we should do??
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Oct 13, 2012 11:45
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Bina posted:How did you make it? cut the flaps off a box, cut an arch, spray adhesive on the box then started wrapping it with a yard of fabric i got a jo-anne's. I folded the edges over so it'd look neater. Pretty low  if you ask me.
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Oct 13, 2012 14:56
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Duckie posted:If she is timid, it just may take time. My cat is also easily frightened and timid and when friends come over that have been over a MILLION times before, he still runs and hides for the whole night unless I come and kinda coax him out and tell him it's ok. I would also maybe try getting a Da Bird and flicking it around where she is hiding, that may draw her out and get her playing and her mind on the toy and not how scared she is. Also, you mention feeding fresh food in the morning, but she doesn't eat at night. If it's wet food, put it back up after like 30 mins because leaving wet out all day will make it go bad. If you are concerned about her eating, leaving out dry food all day in her favorite room really isn't a bad option imo. Oh Lord, I don't know how long the wet food has been out by the time she eats! I put it out right before I go to bed (10:00), and then she eats some time after that when the house is quiet -- it could be at 10:30 or 5:30, for all I know.  She hasn't been vomiting and her stool is solid and doesn't smell foul, if those are good signs, at least?I've been feeding her wet food as per my brother's instructions because her vet put her on a wet food diet after she had urinary crystals. (She had been eating Friskies dry food before, btw, so that couldn't have been good for her.) Since I know she readily eats dry food, I could switch her to a good quality dry food so I can leave it out all night without bacteria danger, and water bowls in multiple locations. Then once she settles into a normal morning/night feeding schedule and will eat with me nearby, I can switch her back to the wet food. (She apparently is not a picky eater and doesn't mind what she eats...it's just the time and context and if she feels safe or not that makes her eat or not eat.) She was doing so well up till a few nights ago, slowly becoming more and more confident in this house and coming out of hiding if I sat in the room quietly for a few minutes. Then a few nights ago, she got spooked after I tried carrying her into an unfamiliar part of the house and now is back to hiding from me 100% of the time. I know this cat is super timid and this is probably not unusual behavior for her, but it breaks my heart to know she's spent so much time feeling afraid and uncomfortable. I'll try playing with her toys and see if that works. Thanks for the advice!
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Oct 13, 2012 21:03
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Hello cat thread! Seeing as I find Goons more trustworthy than the rest of the internet - how long is too long to wait to spay a kitten? Dovahkiin just turned six months old and while I can spay her now if absolutely necessary, it'd be better for me (financially) to wait a bit. She's strictly indoors, has no contact with other animals, and despite these things seems pretty drat content with ridiculous amounts of human attention and interaction. Will it be okay to wait and spay her later in the year? What's the significance of the six months old mark? All I can glean from my searches is that spaying an indoor female cat decreases her chance of getting certain cancers. Can anyone give me some more info? Thanks!  (bonus Dragon-born kitten picture)
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Oct 13, 2012 22:13
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1. Cats in heat are super annoying and will yell and scream until you masturbate them with a q-tip. 2. Cats in heat will try to get out of the house and go get hosed. They often succeed. Many people have thought, "Well, she's indoor, so it's fine" and then woop out she goes. 3. Spaying a cat in heat is, I believe (vets, confirm?), a more difficult surgery. 4. Yeah cancer. 6 months is fine. 3 months is fine, if they're over like 5 lbs (iirc). Are you in the US? Spend some time googling about low cost spay & neuter clinics.
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Oct 13, 2012 22:19
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Eggplant Wizard posted:1. Cats in heat are super annoying and will yell and scream until you masturbate them with a q-tip. She's a tortoiseshell, she's already annoying. We're in a third floor apartment with several doors on any exit point, I worry very little about her escaping. You mean waiting three months (she'd be nine months) is okay? She's six months old now, for clarification, I posted to ask if it'd be okay to wait on spaying for a time. I realize cats can be spayed at all ages, but if getting her fixed later is going to be more complicated or potentially harmful to her, I'll get her spayed now.
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Oct 13, 2012 22:30
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No I meant you could spay her as early as three months. It's up to you; the first two on my list are the biggest risks.
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Oct 13, 2012 22:35
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| # ? May 15, 2024 18:46 |
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GenericMook posted:My cat passed away today. Two days ago, we noticed she'd disappeared (because her bowl was untouched), but honestly I just thought she was sleeping somewhere. Took her to the vet yesterday, and the blood test revealed high creatine levels. Honestly, thanks spatula, for the reassuring words. You're welcome, and I'm so sorry for your loss.
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Oct 13, 2012 22:59
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