Why are people so unsupportive

I love my cat but since he was a teen kitty he has been impossible to take to the vet. He reacts so badly. So badly he hurts himself.

The last vet visit he ripped out his nail.. and the imho selfish vet just put him back in the carrier and didn't tell me... forcing me to deal with it when I got home. Because there was no way to get him back in the carrier after that.

Every time I ask for a sedative they refuse and give me this pill called Nerontin. This is not a sedative. It is for seizures. Thus it can make him wobbly on this feet but not sleepy. But mostly it doesn't work.

So basically I am NOT taking him to the vet unless there is a dire need.

So when my cat has something wrong with him I need to insure that I have to take him to the vet. I can't just up and do it. And 99% of the time that I have taken him to the vet it has been utterly useless. I.e. they don't examine him at all (because he is so fractious) and say well, if he isn't better in a few days lets us know and bring him back.

So when I ask about the slightest thing on pet message boards I get... take him to the vet. No matter how many times I explain the situation no one provides any information and just tells me to take him to the vet or tells scary stories about what it could be. It is soo frustrating.

Today he woke up limping. I am about 99% sure that it is arthritis. He is 13 years old. He actually has had this issue before when he was younger. Just jumped on it the wrong way and hurt himself.

So I asked people. I got a lot of take him to the vet and it could be xx disease which is fatal. Ugh. SHUT UP... geese. I swear people just respond this way because they know something about xx disease and want to be the one in the room who knows the most. They never ask what is actually going on or try to find the least intrusive thing. Always always, go throw your money away.

I will give him supplements for arthritis and see how he responds. If he doesn't respond or it gets worse I will take him to the vet or have them come out to my house geeze.

I don't understand why people have to be so unsupportive about pets.

I hope your cat gets better.

sorry about the unhelpfull people. have you tried finding a diffrent pet message board (one that seems friendlier), or even a board exclusively for cat lovers/ cat issues.

even though you get these types of people everywhere (one or two) it seems you are getting them all the time. it's not fair

Emily, you already plan what I was going to suggest. Try some arthritis supplements and see if they help.

If you have to take him to the vet again, have tried dosing him with melatonin? It acts like a sedative. Maybe it would help.

Thanks all.

For some reason they don't want to give me a sedative. Every time I tell them the neurontin doesn't work they prescribe a larger amount. But that isn't helpful because it is hard to get my cat to eat its food when it is more crushed up pill than food. So he doesn't eat it and I don't get the dose.

My kitty does seem better today. His tail is up. That is always a sign he is feeling better.

I am glad that your kitty is feeling better today. Maybe things will mend on their own. When I had a cat she would go mental when I took her to the vets. She was one very timid tabby. Is there another vet where you live that might have a better approach? Not all vets are created equal.

I have tried everything. Frankly it is the vets that stubbornly refuse to help. I called out a vet who makes house calls. I warned them that my cat knows they are vets from the smell. Not to come in their vet clothing.

The vet lady said, sure no problem. NOT only did they show up in their scrubs... but, the showed up at the wrong time so my cat ran upstairs and hid under the bed.

My cat doesn't do that when normal people come over. He is very interested in them. So you have to presume that it is a vet smell that puts him off.

Perviously I had vets come to my house and I had the bedrooms shut and the got the cat. I so I left my 3rd floor condo and went to the first floor AND I COULD HEAR MY CAT SCREAMING. They couldn't get blood out of him.

When I ask them for what their suggestion are.. they don't have any? When I take him to the emergency ER I believe they are able to put the carrier in a glass box and send gas in there.. but no other vets have that. I can't go to the ER all the time.

Emily, melatonin does not require a script. You can buy it at the pet store. It even comes in a chewable form so you don't have to try to get kitty to eat it.

I'm glad your kitty seems better today.

I grew up on a farm and we never took our cat to the vet unless he was sick or hurt. He lived a good while. So I understand from that angle.

That said, I do take my pets to the vet. I'm sorry your vets are unhelpful. Shame on them. You are doing the best you can with your kitty. I like liz's ideas.

Doesn't work. Nor does any of the soft things for fear such as hemp, CBD, Turkey amino acids foods formulated specifically for that.

I am sorry that this is so hard. Why can't you take kitty to the ER if they have the facilities to help her and she has less stress there? It's like humans going to the dentist and having happy gas. Do you think that the ER might understand if you explained it? I wish I could make it better for you. How is your cat doing today? Still on the mend?

They won't take him unless it is an emergency. Also it is very far away (20 miles) so it does have to be an absolute emergency.

To me, it would seem reasonable that all vets who treat cats have a reasonable way to examine ones that need to be put out. Such as.. a large glass structure they can put the cat in -- in the carrier --- so it just gets knocked out for about 15 minutes to get blood and get nails clipped and look at teeth, but NOOOOO. It is very hard to find that.

Hi Emily,

A couple of ideas I've found that work when I've dealt with tame enough to feed, but not handle ferals: Feliway diffusers in your home for a few days before a vet arrives. They put out a pheromone of nursing momcats and are very calming. Vets sell them, but Amazon is cheaper. And the vet I used to take my ferals to in Japan used a large net laundry wash bag--the kind you use for delicate items--they'd put the cat inside and because they're so open mesh, the cats aren't spooked by them. Also because the mesh is so open, they can treat the cat through the mesh. You want a very open one, not the fine ones that are opaque. Since your cat isn't feral, I would guess you could put her in the bag before the vet arrives at your house. There's also something about the confinement, yet they can see, that seems to trigger that state cats can get into where they go into themselves and become still. Might be worth a try.

No the feliway doesn't work with my cat. Some cats it just doesn't. There is something about the smell of the vet techs that sends my cat into fear mode. I can have anyone else in the USA come into my home and my cat will come right out to see who they are and get a pet. But when a vet tech walks in he runs. It has to be a smell.

The plan at the moment is
a. home visit (2 hours after drug is given)
b. gate to keep the kitty from going upstairs
c. Gabapentin in baby food

Someone else gave me another drug to try if the Gabapentin doesn't work. They said try Propranolol. Apparently this drug can short circuit the "fear" response. If you look it up on drugs.com in humans it gets amazing reviews for that. So if the Gabapentin doesn't work I will ask for that. That seems the most promising as it is simply a beta blocker. The way it seems to work is weirdly to stop memories for like a day. I figure I could try it on a weekend or something and give a lower dose and see if I could get the cat in the carrier and drive him around without objection.

Well, the smell is of whatever animals the vet has handled. To a cat, I would imagine the smell of strange animals seems like an invasion of territory and would trigger a flight response.

I would be uncomfortable trying propanolol, esp outside of a clinic setting. It treats chronic heart arrhythmia--or in a person subject to panic attack, it artificially prevents the heart rhythm from escalating-- and could easily depress heart function. Beta blockers have actually fallen out of favor in human treatment, both for hypertension and heart arrhythmia because of the potential for poorly controlled side effects, except in situations where the benefit outweighs the risk. They used to be very widely prescribed, but that has changed.

I am starting to feel this thread is becoming unsupportive. Did you ever see that scene in "Enchanted" where Gisele loses it on Patrick Dempsey. All he ever says to her is that things won't work and never looks on the bright side or has any answers. That is how i feel here.

Where are the answers? Everyone can tell me a problem with my plan, typically problem that anyone would have considered, but has nothing useful to offer.

ALL drugs can cause problems in animals. Gabapentin (which I said I would try first) can be very dangerous for cats with kidney issues, which I don't know if my cat has that because I can't get him to the vet. Same with any sedative. And as I noted in my response, the plan is to use propranolol in lower doses to see if it does anything on the anxiety front FIRST, so I am not going to just drop it down his throat and go. If I don't medicate him they will at the vet since they can't examine him and that too can be dangerous for animals with health problems that you don't know about. Not to mention that the last time I did that my cat ripped out his claw causing bleeding all over my house and two days of recovery. Not sedating him causes him to hurt himself out of fear.

But what exactly am I supposed to do here? Not take him to vet? And face worry every time he acts strange or we get a blizzard or I have to be away from the house for a while? What if he gets sick on a day I have to be at work?

At a certain point it is him or me. He is 13 years old. At this point I am starting to actively hope for his death. Because NO ONE can be supportive. Vets refuse to give me medication that isn't spotty at best. They give me my cat back bleeding and tell me it is my job to stop the bleeding with a severely upset cat. No one can come up with an actual solution that doesn't have major drawbacks for me.

Maybe propranolol will work wonders for him OR maybe it will kill him and at least I will be done with it. But I doubt it.

If you go to the reviews of the drug in humans on drugs.com I see zero people complaining of lowering heart rate. It is some of the best reviews I have ever seen of a drug. I have taken many drugs that have had people reporting terrible side effects.

I will say my vets have always been supportive but at the same time they are very coopetative patients. Vets should be trained to handle all kinds.

I hate putting chemical meds into my animals unless necessary. I have older dogs with serious arthritis problems. A couple of years ago when I was volunteering at the Ky horse park I came across this vendor who sold suppliments for horse, dogs, & cats. I started out with their natural joint supplement I gave to my 2 older dogs. I ran out of it just at the time Leo died last Christmas. I thought....will get around to buying more since I really didn't see the help at the time.

Right after that my almost 18 year old started to not even be able to stand up. I had yo physically lifylt her up. Then my youngest eskie dog (12) was diagnosed with major hip problems & needed major oral surgery. Vet was trying to find a med that helped without bad side effects. Ended up giving him gabapentin. I decided to order the supplement & that company had another supplement called "comfort" i ordered both & JoGI was able to stop the gabapentin but the even greater miracle was that My 18 year old could startbgetting up by herself & was much more mobile. She is now 18 & 4 months & still doing well for her age.

So in June my horse trainer shipped me my horse. She had severe reactions to bug bites. Her equine vet prescribes antihistamines. They helped some BUT the same company with the wonderful dog supplements had one for horses called skin & allergy. Ordered that & within a week her welts & open sores from bites started to totally clear up. Both of my vets have been so impressed with these products. I use both the antihistamine & supplement on my horse during this horrible bug season but now have both dogs are now just on the supplements. It was kinda a miraculous change or I would have probably not noticed. If you would like the company name I would gladly share it with you. They are located in Calif just north/east of Santa Barbara. Their customer service is so knowledgable about their products also. I have been impressed because I have seen them really work.

Eskie, what's the name of the company? I'm interested in the allergy stuff for my boarder

I used to have a cat that was an angel at home and a demon at the vets. He needed cleaning up a wound he got outside. I strongly emphasized this cat will slay you. The vet laughed and said he looks so nice. So she took him out of the carrier and he put a claw down her arm and you could see for real a fountain of blood. I said "I told you so!"

After that he got a note in his charts and they always after that put him in some kind of box with sedating gas (no idea what it was), and then fixed what was wrong.

They learned the hard way!!!

One of the cats I have these days, I found a wonderful vet that knows cats and respects them and has been bitten and scratched. So her policy is if we have cats that don't deal with vets well and they don't need surgery or things like that, she prescribes medication based on symptoms over the phone. My "evil" cat is a patient but never met the vet! There are indeed some really good vets!

But there are bad ones too. So bad that I can't think of some events that happened to my friends' animals, would just make me so sad and mad all over again.

My good vet is past 70 so eventually she will quit. Ugh.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lizardlady Eskie, what's the name of the company? I'm interested in the allergy stuff for my boarder

The Company is Platinum Performance located in Buellton Calif. They carry natural products for horses, dogs & cats. (Not sure about for people though I sure could use the allergy one myself)

Thanks for this. The last time they put my cat in the box they imho threw him in, and I heard banging and meowing and he came back to me missing a nail... which he had ripped out. Then they handed him back to me and now I was supposed to take care of the claw. I was lucky but can you imagine if he had been hurt more seriously? They emergency vet seems to have a large enough box to put the carrier in so, I am considering faking an emergency and going there to get blood etc. Last night I worried I might have to go not faking it.. my cat is acting strangely and I couldn't get him to sleep, but I made it known to him he had BETTER go to sleep and he finally did. He is begging for food insanely... at the moment.

I also realized last night I am very good at getting urine out of my cat -- I just put a plastic bag over his litter -- so I asked the vet for a urine container that I will get tested before the visit.