Hi All. Everyone always has such great ideas here, I was hoping you all could help me out.
I have a 15 year old orange fatty who is still really active. He hunts, runs up and down the stairs, and generally drives us crazy with the running around in the middle of the night (all probably due to his fantastic diet thanks to all the info found in this tribe). Anyway, when I take him to the vet for the occasional illness or just for his yearly checkup, I tend to get the same sort of treatment from the vet. The general vibe I get is that he is fairly old for a cat and why bother with the wellness aspect of his care. One vet even refused to vaccinate him because he felt he wasn't going to be exposed to anything...this was after I explained that he goes outside. It is such a pain and stressfull for me and the little man to drive to the vet, sit in the room and find out that this vet thinks he should be on geriatric Hill's food.
My question is this...how do I screen vets for their opinions on older cat care without having to stress the child out by driving him there? Is there a tactful way to call and say "do you think cats over 10 are living on borrowed time or will you be involved in maintaining the wellness of my active, healthy, older gentleman?"
Many, many thanks for any ideas that you all may have!
I have a 15 year old orange fatty who is still really active. He hunts, runs up and down the stairs, and generally drives us crazy with the running around in the middle of the night (all probably due to his fantastic diet thanks to all the info found in this tribe). Anyway, when I take him to the vet for the occasional illness or just for his yearly checkup, I tend to get the same sort of treatment from the vet. The general vibe I get is that he is fairly old for a cat and why bother with the wellness aspect of his care. One vet even refused to vaccinate him because he felt he wasn't going to be exposed to anything...this was after I explained that he goes outside. It is such a pain and stressfull for me and the little man to drive to the vet, sit in the room and find out that this vet thinks he should be on geriatric Hill's food.
My question is this...how do I screen vets for their opinions on older cat care without having to stress the child out by driving him there? Is there a tactful way to call and say "do you think cats over 10 are living on borrowed time or will you be involved in maintaining the wellness of my active, healthy, older gentleman?"
Many, many thanks for any ideas that you all may have!
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Re: Vets and old cats
Sun, April 29, 2007 - 11:27 PMtotally depends on the vet.
I think that any decent vet should care for your friend no matter what stage of life s/he's in. Cats can live to be 20 yrs old. I am painfully aware, though, that many (if not most) vets assume it's all over for a cat after ten yrs. My own vet has said Kaya's pretty much at the end of her rope. Try telling Kaya that! she loves rope...
I knew one vet who appreciated life-style and the individual cat, but he went to Michigan.
I recently had to give up on his office because they treated my friend abominably even though she's a couple years younger than yours.
This is totally unacceptable. I guess lots of people think of their pets like furniture or something. For those of us who care for our friends as living conscious beings, it is VERY hard to find a decent vet.
Kaya needs her teeth cleaned and I do not know where to take her.
I wish SO MUCH that I could offer something helpful, rather than commiserate. Please post here if you find someone wonderful.
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Re: Vets and old cats
Mon, April 30, 2007 - 6:53 AMI can kind of understand not wanting to vaccinate your cat. That's actually a positive. It's a little known fact that cats really only need to be vaccinated once in their lifetime. Also vaccinations have a high incidence of causing a type of skin cancer that always leads to death because even after operating it will come back more invasive.
www.holisticat.com/vaccinations.html -
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Re: Vets and old cats
Mon, April 30, 2007 - 7:46 AMUnfortunately, if you rent, most landlords require proof of vaccination to let you keep your animals in the apartment/house. -
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Re: Vets and old cats
Mon, April 30, 2007 - 8:16 AMneither of Kaya's two landlords required that she be vaccinated. Maybe we were lucky. -
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Re: Vets and old cats
Mon, April 30, 2007 - 8:22 AM...but I've encountered vets who wouldn't spay Kaya unless she was vaccinated. It took some hunting to find one who'd do the job without vaccinating her first. But that's the vet who left town.
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Re: Vets and old cats
Mon, April 30, 2007 - 9:56 AMHmmm, I've never been asked for that proof and I've always rented. If you have to, and they've been vaccinated before have your vet do a titer test to check for antibodies. If the antibodies are still present (which they should be) that should be sufficient proof. -
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Re: Vets and old cats
Mon, April 30, 2007 - 10:48 AMWow, maybe it varies city to city or something. I always have to present rabies certificates when I move in with my cats.
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Re: Vets and old cats
Mon, April 30, 2007 - 11:10 AMReally? I have never heard of this? Very interesting...do they ask for them for you and your kids too...we humans have a tendency to bite and scratch as well and we're pretty damn germy mouths ~ : } -
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Re: Vets and old cats
Mon, April 30, 2007 - 11:25 AMHm, I dunno. I have no kids. The hoops you have to jump through to rent with a pet is crazy. Extra fees & monthly payments. They're cats! How much damage can they really do? I can see the extra "pet deposit" but I've never understood why I have to pay an extra $25 a month per cat in rent! If they DID destroy the place, use the deposit to fix it. So weird.
I also don't get the places which don't allow pets. Sure, pets are going to cause a little more wear & tear on a place, particularly big dogs, but just charge a pet deposit. That seems like it would take care of things. I can't imagine living without an animal companion!
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Re: Vets and old cats
Mon, April 30, 2007 - 12:18 PMI rent and I've never been asked for proof. Just so long as I fork over the insanley high pet deposit.
But, really, I'd be more comfortable knowing the DOGS in my apt complex were vaccinated. But that's just me.
:)
Feiruz -
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Re: Vets and old cats
Mon, April 30, 2007 - 8:31 PMok, coming from a property manager...
i allow pets on a case by case basis. some breeds are not allowed due to the commercial policy on the building.
1.) i ask for a REFUNDABLE deposit
2.) i ask for a veterinarian contact (in case the owner is not home and something happens to a pet)
3.) i ask if the pet has had their rabies vacc.
4.) i strongly encourage licensing (since its city law)
5.) the owner and i sign a pet contract that allows me to enter the apartment and remove the pet if the pet is not being taken care of. (this is with notice and within all city laws etc) i have never had to remove a pet, but if i did, the animal in question would be taken to the vet the tenant named.
I have had tenants with cats and dogs that have destroyed carpets, blinds etc from claws and waste. some tenants have been responsible pet owners (one even volunteered to have the flooring completely replaced because they knew their dogs had destroyed it) but many have not. something to think about to is some times landlords dont allow pets because of flea infestations. i also know of several that dont allow pets because they are allergic and live on site.
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Re: Vets and old cats
Mon, April 30, 2007 - 9:48 AMI think its awful that the vet operates that way. Our vet treats the 17 year old with even more respect than they do the younger ones. Her annual exam, I believe, is even geared towards the geriatric cat. (And she too is very healthy and active, and the vet said that if he didnt know better, that they would not believe she was as old as she is.)
I would just call several vets and ask to speak to them, you should be able to tell in a phone call whether they care or not about older animals.
Good luck to yoU! -
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Re: Vets and old cats
Mon, April 30, 2007 - 10:27 AM>"Do you think cats over 10 are living on borrowed time or will you be involved in maintaining the wellness of my active, healthy, older gentleman?"
As long as your approach isn't confrontational, I don't see why you couldn't just ask your question in exactly that way. It's simply a request for information, and you have that right as a consumer.
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Re: Vets and old cats
Mon, April 30, 2007 - 11:59 PMBasina, I'm so glad to hear that you have an understanding vet! Did you just get lucky or did you interview first? It does make me feel better that I'm not the only one who has experienced this (thanks Madeline). Alas, picking a vet is tricky business. -
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Re: Vets and old cats
Fri, May 4, 2007 - 4:15 PMWow! We have a great vet here in S.B. who is also an expert on feline diabeties. Our cat was diagnosed two years ago at the age of 13 and she was fantastic about teaching us how to care for her, give shots, etc... we were pretty freaked out because it was all so new and scary to us but she handled it like a pro. I doubt if she gave it another moment's thought as to what we were going to do next once we figured out what was wrong with our elderly cat... YOU KEEP ON TAKING CARE OF HER!
I couldn't imagine a vet being so blase about a pet who just happens to be over 10 years old. -
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Re: Vets and old cats
Sat, May 5, 2007 - 2:09 PMI'm so frustrated by my vets who seem to use Mina's age as an excuse for anything wrong with her (she's 13.) They'll marvel at how active and healthy and youthful she is, how it's hard to believe she's 13. Then in the next breath they'll chalk up her sudden illness to age and be done with it. Boo. -
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Unsu...
Re: Vets and old cats
Sun, May 6, 2007 - 11:40 AMfinding a good vet isn't easy...i should know, just recently saying good bye to our almost 20 yr old miss toe, and even more recently adopting a 'senior' and having more horrible vet experiences...
miss toe foo lived a long and healthy life even tho she was a stray and back then i didn't even know of such a thing as a raw diet...
when she got sick and i brought her to a vet he had the nerve to call my love for her and the process of dying as 'baggage'.
fucker, i challenged him on that one you can just imagine!
he turned out to be 'technically' a good vet in the end, just very jaded.
SO...what i suggest to all of you is:
do some reasearch on cat health yourself. i'm not saying medicate your kitty or use it like a guinea pig, of course you won't do that...but for the simpler things holistic care and a good diet is all they need.
i think the western medical system for pets is similarly designed to the human kind, which is only a bandaid solution and a huge corporate money maker!
good luck to us all!
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