The above picture is of Mz. Picky in better health days. It is from 2016. She is thinner now and we are working on that. We saw a new vet yesterday and it was an eye opening experience.
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Monday Crimson Quillfeather
Tuesday ejoanna
Wednesday Pam from Calif
Thursday art ah zen
Friday FloridaSNMOM
Saturday Gwennedd
Sunday loggersbrat
I have been seeing the same vet for some years now. She is good with dogs, cutting edge on her medical training, but she doesn’t explain things to me well and I have often come away misunderstanding the problem that brought me and Razzle in. I just took it as the way it was.
But Lil Zen had done a lot of research about the vets in our local area late last year when her ancient kitteh was loosing her electricity. She took KiKi to different vets and finally settled on a teaching vet hospital. I took KiKi for a few of her appointments and was always impressed with the staff and office. When I decided to have a base line blood test to see where Mz. Picky is with her past sketchy medical history I took her to them.
The head vet, Dr. Ash, saw us. He spent ½ an hour or longer discussing her history, telling me that there a really only 4 diseases cat usually get. In order they are 1) Kidney disease 2) Thyroid problems 3) Diabetes and 4) IBD. The tests he ordered will test for the first 3 and if they are excluded, then we would talk about IBD, although he doubted she had that or diabetes. He gave her a good feel all over, let me feel how her thyroid is enlarged, asked me about who spayed her because he felt a small lump her her uterus would have been and upon being told SEACCA, our local pound did it 18 years ago, said “Ok, that lump is a staple they used on the incision. We see that.” He told me she was in amazing shape for 18 years old, very responsive and still quite agile. He drew pictures on the board of what happens when cats vomit a lot, how her liver works, how you can tell diabetes by a cat walking on the flat ankle part of her back legs instead of on her toes, he was full of cat info.
I liked him a lot, feel much better informed, and am waiting for test results. He will email the results along with his interpretation of the info and his recommendations for treatment. I will not have to go in and pay for an office visit to get all of the details. He will share her case with his students and the other vets to get opinions about our path forward.
On top of all the good service from him and all the staff, (I feel like my current vet is not really a cat person) the bill was about ½ of what I pay at the vet I have been seeing. He did not press me for extra services like teeth cleaning or xrays until we have a better idea of her general health because she is a very skinny little old kitteh, although spry for her age and not ready to have anyone throw dirt on her face. He was very upbeat and I feel we are in a good place. I will let you know what comes of the tests.