I don’t know if I mentioned before but I have a cat that is 13 years old. I had her since she was 3 weeks, and little munchkin was so small that she could fit into our shoes. Anyways, when we went for our vacation, I told my parents to feed her daily and check up on her. When we came home, she was meowing really loud and strong, it seemed like she was yelling at us purposely. We found four vomits in total and Dad noticed that she had been drinking alot of water, and she pood three times in the attic (outside her litter box), even though she is a well behaved cat.
When we fed her the next day, we realized her tummy was swollen which freaked us out but it didn’t seem to hurt her when we touched it. I booked an appointment with the Doctor and took her the next day. They checked her out; literally feeling her organs since she is very skinny so it’s easier, and then took her blood from the neck (couldn’t see that for sure).
The Doctor seemed to know his stuff and said there can be four reasons: diabetes, thyroid, tumor or kidney disease (that freaked us out even more). They said, they will need to check her urine and stool so it ended costing us $365, which is fine since she is way more important to us than anything else, she is like our daughter, I am sure the pet owners know what I mean.
They were supposed to call me with results the next morning but they didn’t, I called three times and then they finally called at 5:45pm to give me an update. The technician said, everything looks fine except we think the enzymes in her pancreas are elevated. I am sorry what does that mean? She repeats, the enzymes are elevated in the pancreas, I am sorry do I look like a doctor to you? So we went in the next day to understand and to give her urine and stool. My cat hates going outside and she was pissed at us lol.
When I was leaving (after giving her urine) they said I am suppose to pay $35 more since they had to take the pee out. I eventually paid but the technician knew I was pissed, if I had paid already then why would I pay again? She said, three people had to hold her for pee, but on the other hand, she says, she was so good and she didn’t even make a fuss. The point here is that she is well and nothing is wrong with her but sometimes they take an advantage of worried owners.
According to her blood test, above four conditions are impossible since everything was normal (knock on wood) but as she is aging there is a possibility that she can have kidney disease, its like old people with arthritis; also, we have to change her diet, the Doctor believes Whiskas and Fancy Feast brand is like eating McDonalds everyday, mmm I dont know how much of that is true? Then they said, they want another blood test to see if she has anything serious in her pancreas, but why didnt they do it then? and that will cost $200 more, doesnt it sound fishy?
Anyways, lesson learnt are as follows:
1. Do your research on your pets food?
2. Do your research before going to a vet? (i.e., asks for costs on the phone.)
3. ASK MORE QUESTIONS — Sometimes it can be hard but you need to do it or else they will take advantage of you.
Ciao!
HonestLady 