Let’s Chat! Edition #1
Symptoms: Vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss…
It’s not uncommon for people to ask me questions about their cats (and dogs). I make it clear that I love animals and that I am happy to talk about their pet’s well-being. This is the essence of why I wanted to start a website about cats, to help cat parents care for their best-friends with confidence.
A friend asked if I could call a friend of theirs that has a cat that looked like it wasn’t thriving. My friend said that the cat still had tons of energy, but was very skinny compared to how he was about a year ago. The conversation below has been modified to remove personal information. The cat’s name has been changed, but the general information is unchanged. If you choose to comment, please keep your comments kind. All unkind, rude, or unhelpful comments will not be published.
Here’s how a recent conversation went:
Me: What’s going on?
Cat-Daddy: Freddy, he’s not doing well. He vomits, he has diarrhea. He doesn’t keep food down.
Me: How long has he been having these symptoms?
Cat-Daddy: This has been going on since November (it’s the end of July now). I took him to the vet twice.
Me: When did you take him to the vet and did they give you a diagnosis?
Cat-Daddy: They said nothing was wrong with him, they some tests and nothing came up.
Me: Do you remember what kind of tests were done? Blood work? X-rays? Do you have the results on hand?
Cat-Daddy: I think they did blood work, but I don’t have the results.
Me: Did they give you any medicine?
Cat-Daddy: They gave me medicine to put on his food to clean out his system, but Freddy’s smarter than that, he wouldn’t touch it.
Me: Do you know what the medicine was?
Cat-Daddy: No, I don’t have it with me. I don’t remember.
Me: Did you tell the veterinarian that he wouldn’t take the medicine?
Cat-Daddy: No, I haven’t taken him back, my partner thinks that taking him back to the vet will kill him because it is so stressful. He doesn’t like going to the vet.
Me: I understand, taking cats to the vet can be very stressful for them and for you. Is this a veterinarian that you use on a regular basis for annual checkups, and health checks?
Cat-Daddy: We took one of our other cats there when it had a problem a few years ago.
The conversation went on for a few more minutes. I ultimately encouraged him to take Freddy to the vet as soon as possible. Not necessarily the same vet because he didn’t seem happy with the previous vet. I suggested that he could talk to neighbors that have a favorite veterinarian. I find that talking to pet loving neighbors is usually better than reading reviews online, they are local to you and quite often disgruntled people are louder than happy people, making online reviews sort of unbalanced. He said that he had found a cat-only veterinarian nearby. Cat-only veterinarians can be good for cats that get very easily stressed since there aren’t any loud dogs in the waiting room or in common treatment areas, but they aren’t necessarily better than a cat-loving vet at an all-companion animal hospital.
Some points I want to make about the conversation. This owner made several “mistakes” when dealing with their kitty’s health issue.
This one might not be obvious, but I think it is the most important to point out. He wasn’t taking his cats to the vet on a regular basis for physical checkups. Cats are inherently low-maintenance. Most will need very little medical attention on a regular basis, but that does not mean that you shouldn’t take them to the vet at least every two years (once a year is ideal) for a physical examination. Cats older than 10 years of age can benefit from a twice yearly examination. A lot can happen in 7-8 years, right? Well, that’s about how much “time” passes for your cat in a calendar year. Even if you choose to forgo some vaccines, regular check-ups mean your vet can track their weight over time, and check for early signs of something that might be awry. Not only that if you just so happened to be at the vet recently and if something simple goes wrong, like if you see a tapeworm or if there is a little boo-boo they may be willing to send home some medication without a visit.
He didn’t communicate with his veterinarian. If your cat refuses to take the medication they prescribe, or if it is very difficult to get them to take the medication sometimes there is an alternative. I don’t have to tell you that just taking the bottle home isn’t the solution. Your vet will assume that if they do not hear from you, you are giving your cat the medicine and that they are on the mend. Will a well-staffed hospital follow up with you? Maybe, if it seemed like they were in critical condition, but if your cat’s test results didn’t show anything obvious they would probably say something like, “call us if this medication doesn’t help”.
Ignoring the symptoms. Sometimes things do straighten out on their own, but quite often the longer you put off treating the problem the harder it is to fix. From the description of the cat’s condition he probably lost about half of his body weight. Cats are silent when it comes to their health. Displaying weakness or complaining like a human or dog would put them in danger in the wild. So it is in their nature to hide health problems. They may “act” fine through symptoms that they can not control, but it’s likely that they are at least uncomfortable.
Not understanding the test results and not asking for a copy of the test results. You should always request to get a copy of your pet’s test results. Whether they email them or photo-copy the results having them is important if you are going to go to get a second opinion. It’s likely that the second vet will want to redo some of the tests especially if it has been more than a few weeks since the last test, but if not it can save you a lot of money and save your cat the stress from needing to get another blood sample. Having previous test results also provides a benchmark to look for changes that can give clues to what is going on.
Everyone has a different perspective on how they should care for pets. I am not here to judge how anyone chooses to approach it. I hope that if you and your cat are facing a health challenge that this conversation gives you some insight into your cat’s experience and how you might handle it.
My best to you and your fuzzy friend.