Mew-Mew's Urinary Issue: Vet Visit in the Morning

[~christina~]

I don't know. It must be a susceptibility to the condition in orange toms, which is then triggered by the neutering (maybe hormone imbalance) plus exposure to cold and damp conditions. That's just my best guess, though; Moonbear is a specialist in this sort of stuff, so I'll leave an answer up to her.

hm..when i looked up this online, (tract infection) it says that neutered males are more suseptable to this condition.
Mine wasn't neutered but if he didn't get a tract infection, he would have definitely gotten something else. He doesn't drink water that much. His breath smells bad, but is now okay after eating the wet food which has water in it already.

I am so glad it was an infection, but $878 for an infection? And no cone?

That price was WITH a 10% discount. No cone.
I bet they want me to come back when he gives himself an infection from licking himself.

Poor Mew Mew, give him hugs and kisses from me. I can't believe they handled him so badly.

He's a bit grumpy today. Doesn't like the medicine.
I don't know if it's alright though, whenever I give him the medicine, he starts to foam at his mouth, until it drips down his fur.
Have to check that out.

 

[Borek]

Let's hope for the best.

$878

Didn't know vets are that expensive in US.

 

[~christina~]

Let's hope for the best.

There is no other way to put this.
He has diarrhea now.

I spent all night cleaning up his fur. Then his fur was trimmed up.
And now there's wheezing in me chest. lovely.

$878

Didn't know vets are that expensive in US.

They take advantage of people who they feel, will do anything and spend anything for their pets.

 

[Tsu]

Wheezing in WHOSE chest? YOURS??

 

[~christina~]

Wheezing in WHOSE chest? YOURS??

Mine

 

[Math Is Hard]

That's an obscene amount of money! Do you have an itemized bill? This just doesn't make sense. I've never been charged over $100 for taking a cat in with a UTI. That included the medicine.

 

[Tsu]

Mine

OH NO!

Zicam and orange juice! QUICK!

 

[binzing]

I'm happy to hear that the cat was OK.

(I wonder if cranberry juice helps prevent and treat UTIs in animals as it does in humans...I wonder if you could get a cat to drink cranberry juice...Ah NVM, I'm rambling...)

 

[Math Is Hard]

I'm happy to hear that the cat was OK.

(I wonder if cranberry juice helps prevent and treat UTIs in animals as it does in humans...I wonder if you could get a cat to drink cranberry juice...Ah NVM, I'm rambling...)

Actually, I think the special treats I give my cat have cranberry extract in them. It's supposed to have a prophylactic effect of keeping harmful stuff from sticking to the urethra.

 

[Borek]

That's an obscene amount of money! Do you have an itemized bill? This just doesn't make sense. I've never been charged over $100 for taking a cat in with a UTI. That included the medicine.

Now we are talking money I understand, that's about the amount I would expect to pay here.

 

[Andre]

Hope that Mew mew and you are recovering a bit, Christine, from all that hardship, Could it be a reaction to the medicine?

But that bill is nothing short of robbery, I'd say, I think whenever possible you should make a case of it. Perhaps that publicity could deter and they may settle. I don't know. Something like that would be quite impossible here.

 

[Moonbear]

He smelled of urine..the box smelled of urine. Then the WORST part was that BOTH his arms were injured. They covered his arms with bandages and I thought that it was just because they had an IV in him before, but then I saw bruises and razor burns from where they shaved him! He also had a cut in his private area where they shaved down there too!
I have volunteered at a animal hospital and they are supposed to put them to sleep before they shave anything. They must have thought that he was a nice calm kitty since they stuck the thermometer up his behind and he didn't budge at all. Well I have to say when it comes to anything that makes noise, he starts acting wild. OR they were just cheap and didn't want to waste their solution.

...

I would sue them but they state in the contract, that if anything happens to your animal during their care, they are NOT responsible, and thus not liable.

That contract ONLY protects them from liability if they provide a standard level of care, NOT if they screw up. Don't be mistaken. No contract can take away your rights if they don't provide proper treatment in the first place...that's part of the agreement, that they'll do the best they can and in return, you won't sue them if your pet dies anyway because it's not something that can be treated...but they have to do the best they can, not some half-assed job that leaves him all bruised.

Oh and he had no crystals/stones/etc. He actually had a urinary tract infection.

I've paid the bill in full but I couldn't let him stay another day like they wanted. Hell, they would have kept him for 2 weeks if they could, just to milk the situation for all it's worth.
It came out to $878. (faints)

That's an obscene amount of money! Do you have an itemized bill? This just doesn't make sense. I've never been charged over $100 for taking a cat in with a UTI. That included the medicine.

But that bill is nothing short of robbery, I'd say, I think whenever possible you should make a case of it. Perhaps that publicity could deter and they may settle. I don't know. Something like that would be quite impossible here.

I agree with MIH and Andre and others...that bill is ridiculous for treating a UTI, especially when it seems they were letting some brand new vet tech in training learn to clip fur on your cat (it would be appalling if that much razor burn and cuts from the clipping came from someone supposedly experienced). It didn't cost that much for my cat to be anesthetized, spayed and microchipped all in one visit (I had them microchip her while she was anesthetized...why stick her while she's awake if they had her under anyway), and that WAS an expensive vet.

Diarrhea could be a side effect of the antibiotic, but not a good one. If it was just softer than usual stools, I wouldn't be concerned, but if it's diarrhea, he should get a different antibiotic. I'd suggest calling a different vet that's not so expensive, have his records transferred and let the new vet prescribe the new antibiotic. Did they do a fecal test on him when you brought him in? If not, the new vet can do that too before changing antibiotics, because the other than a side effect of antibiotics, it's also possible that struggling with an infection and the mild disruption of gut bacteria from the antibiotic has given parasites a chance to flourish...he should be checked for worms and amoebae unless that was already done before his treatment started and they know he was cleared of parasites.

 

[~christina~]

Hope that Mew mew and you are recovering a bit, Christine, from all that hardship, Could it be a reaction to the medicine?

I think it's a combination of the wet food that he's eating (extra moist from what I can see), the antibiotic, and the phenoxybenzamine. (I think the phenoxybenzamine is mixed with fish oil)

But that bill is nothing short of robbery, I'd say, I think whenever possible you should make a case of it. Perhaps that publicity could deter and they may settle. I don't know. Something like that would be quite impossible here.

They made a big deal about giving us a 10% discount. That was with the discount.
They could sue me for defamation. I'd rather not sue, because I'm sort of broke at the moment. Broke= I still need money to pay for my tuition and basic expenses and thus not enough to throw around suing people, when they can sue me back for double that.

Actually, I think the special treats I give my cat have cranberry extract in them. It's supposed to have a prophylactic effect of keeping harmful stuff from sticking to the urethra.

I'll have to check that out. Interesting.

That's an obscene amount of money! Do you have an itemized bill? This just doesn't make sense. I've never been charged over $100 for taking a cat in with a UTI. That included the medicine.

Itemized bill below:

Office examination: 45
X-ray-First view: 95
Urinalysis: 40
Pre-Anesthetic Profile: 65
IV Catheterization: 45
Fluid Therapy(IV): 35
Sedation-Feline: 50
Urethral Catheter: 175
Injections(Hosp.): (2) 50-150
Hospitalization (per day): (2) 130-195
Write-in Medications: 40-60

Actual total may vary between 770-955
Total after 10% discount: 693-859.50

And I've just noticed that they charged me the maximum for everything, not to mention, also adding cost of medication when they were supposed to be included in the cost.
I was robbed.

That contract ONLY protects them from liability if they provide a standard level of care, NOT if they screw up. Don't be mistaken. No contract can take away your rights if they don't provide proper treatment in the first place...that's part of the agreement, that they'll do the best they can and in return, you won't sue them if your pet dies anyway because it's not something that can be treated...but they have to do the best they can, not some half-assed job that leaves him all bruised.

Great, now if I actually had anything left after that vet bill, I'd probably bring them to court.

I agree with MIH and Andre and others...that bill is ridiculous for treating a UTI, especially when it seems they were letting some brand new vet tech in training learn to clip fur on your cat (it would be appalling if that much razor burn and cuts from the clipping came from someone supposedly experienced). It didn't cost that much for my cat to be anesthetized, spayed and microchipped all in one visit (I had them microchip her while she was anesthetized...why stick her while she's awake if they had her under anyway), and that WAS an expensive vet.

They even told me that they would give me a discount on neutering if we did that the same day! The doctor cut him with the scissors when removing his bandages.... I said something and then, the just did it later when I wasn't there.

Diarrhea could be a side effect of the antibiotic, but not a good one. If it was just softer than usual stools, I wouldn't be concerned, but if it's diarrhea, he should get a different antibiotic. I'd suggest calling a different vet that's not so expensive, have his records transferred and let the new vet prescribe the new antibiotic. Did they do a fecal test on him when you brought him in? If not, the new vet can do that too before changing antibiotics, because the other than a side effect of antibiotics, it's also possible that struggling with an infection and the mild disruption of gut bacteria from the antibiotic has given parasites a chance to flourish...he should be checked for worms and amoebae unless that was already done before his treatment started and they know he was cleared of parasites.

It was just softer than normal. Enough to smear and get on his fur.
He's not used to the wet food either, but according to the vet he can't eat anything else for a week. There was no fecal test done.

 

[Evo]

At the emergency vet, which is always more expensive, they had to remove a stone form my cat's urether, flush him out, catheterize him and put him on antibiotics and it was $475.

My other cat I took to the vet since I noticed his symptoms during the day and the same procedure plus a 2 day stay was around $300.

My first cat that cost over $2,500 was due to gross negligence on the part of the vet I took him to after the emergency clinic. He failed to remove the catheter until it was too late then actually ripped his penis apart which required emergency surgery, and the unbelievable following chain of events.

Sorry, it just still gets me worked up when I think about what that butcher did to my cat.

 

[Moonbear]

My first cat that cost over $2,500 was due to gross negligence on the part of the vet I took him to after the emergency clinic. He failed to remove the catheter until it was too late then actually ripped his penis apart which required emergency surgery, and the unbelievable following chain of events.

I can't quite figure out how a catheter left in place too long would cause that much damage, but if it really was an error the vet made, and not some weird complication of an Evo Cat, why on Earth would you pay $2500 to fix the vet's mistake? I'd be insisting they fix it free of charge if they didn't want me to sue them and report them to their licensing board.

What bugs me most about vet bills is that I know how much the supplies cost, and I know how much they are overcharging. It's a good thing that some stuff I can do myself. For example, I didn't need to waste money on another office visit just to remove stitches from a spay. I can't remember what they wanted to charge for the office visit, but I just looked at them and told them they were nuts if they thought I was going to pay that much for 1 minute's worth of work and that I'd do it myself.