Let’s Chat! Edition #2
Symptoms: Not eating…
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.
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 All unkind, rude, or unhelpful comments will not be published.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:
Cat-Daddy: Are you busy?
Me: What’s going on?
Cat-Daddy: Penny went to the vet yesterday, I want to get your opinion on something. I spent almost $1,000 on tests and they gave me some medicine, but they want me to go back for a recheck tomorrow? Can’t we wait for a few days to let the medicine work?
Me: Why did you take him to the vet? What tests did they do?
Cat-Daddy: Do you remember when I said Penny wasn’t eating very well? She got worse, she was barely eating anything so took her in. They did blood work and everything was good there, but the x-ray showed a blockage in the small intestine. Why would they have me go back so soon, why not let the medicine work, why did they bother giving me so much medicine if they wanted me to go back?
Me: They probably could have given you less medicine, but I bet it costs about the same whether they gave you two days or two weeks worth (of lactulose). Depending on the hospital there is usually a base charge that covers the time it takes to make up the medicine, the label, the bottle, etc. then they charge by the amount they give you. The medicine probably costs very little. As far as going back so soon goes, if there is a blockage, you do want to go back and get another x-ray fairly soon especially if she doesn’t start to eat and have a bowel movement. Blockages in the intestines can go bad very quickly.
Cat-Daddy: But is two days enough time to let the medicine work? It just cost so much and I don’t want to have to spend another $1,000 if I could just wait until Monday.
Me: It probably won’t cost another $1,000. Have you called the vet to ask how much the recheck will cost? The x-ray, the exam? It shouldn’t cost the same because they don’t have to the same stuff again, and usually recheck examinations are charged differently.
Cat-Daddy: Okay, I will ask them about that.
Me: About the waiting for the medicine to work, maybe it’s enough time, maybe not. The problem with waiting longer than a couple of days to have Penny rechecked is that a hard blockage could cause pressure on the tissues of the small intestine. Imagine if you tried to push a pebble through a small rubber tube. If it was too large and it got stuck it would be putting pressure on the walls of the tube from the inside. That can stop blood flow. That can be very bad. If left for too long the area could start to die, and if a hole develops in her small intestine the acids inside his digestive tract will leak into her abdomen.
Cat-Daddy: Huh, okay. Yeah, I called them earlier today and they didn’t really want me to wait.
Me: I would go. How is she feeling? Is she eating? Pooping?
Cat-Daddy: No she hasn’t eaten today and she’s just sleeping. No poop either.
Me: If she miraculously started eating and passed a nice poop, I might feel comfortable waiting until Monday to visit the vet. But to be safe, I would go in tomorrow. Let them know that you just want to do what’s necessary, like the x-ray and a physical exam. They shouldn’t have to do any blood work, unless they see something new that they didn’t check for. Even then it would be a limited blood work panel.
We chatted for a while longer, but it was mostly just talking through worst-case and best-case scenarios. I get these sort of questions pretty frequently. It’s likely that a couple things happened while at the veterinary visit that made this call necessary.
My friend was probably a little stressed out. Going to the vet even for a routine visit is stressful. During stressful events it can be hard to concentrate and retain information.
The staff probably did not give him the details about why they wanted to recheck his cat in 48hrs. They may have said something like “we need to make sure that the blockage is moving”, but not the repercussions of the blockage not moving. It’s not uncommon for staff to be busy, and assume that simply giving orders is enough. It’s not that they don’t care, but rather that they are going through the motions.
During my time working as a veterinary technician about once a week a client would tell me that they thought I was the doctor. I always just laughed and shrugged it off, until one day one client told me it was because of the time I spent talking to them about their pet. That I was so thorough about gathering their history and then going over the diagnosis and treatment. It did take a long time. I was especially sensitive to people that seemed confused about their options. It was normal for me to make up two or three different estimates prior to treating a sick animal. In no way and I saying I was a perfect tech/nurse, I was far from it. In fact, I was known to “sell water to a camel”, as many clients would already be bought into doing blood work, x-rays, and other tests even before talking to a doctor. Although, I only ever gave people choices and my opinion of what might be the best option. So to some I may have been trying to push more tests, which I wasn’t, but I can see how it would be taken that way.
You aren’t always going to find a doctor or a technician that is going to sense that you might need a deeper explanation to feel comfortable with what you are being asked to do with your fur-baby. You are going to have to be curious and advocate for yourself and your kitty.
Have you ever gone to the vet and wondered why they did what they did? If it ever happens again, be mindful that not everyone has all the answers and considerate of their time, but ask. Ask your questions. Ask if they can recommend an article to read that covers your question. Tell them that they can have one of the staff text a link to you later. You don’t have to take up a ton of time having the discussion, but you shouldn’t leave wondering what’s going on with your cat. That is if you want to know. I have been told that I am too curious about pretty much everything, so maybe I am in the minority.
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.