I had to take my cat to the vet today, which oh yeah, I really wanted to do on the hottest day of the year! However, yesterday he started crying when he went to the litterbox and actually before..started running around meowing, which is not like him at all, he is a very quiet cat, so I was concerned he was blocked which is extremely serious with cats. Anyway. it turns out he was not blocked, but has crystals in his urine, and I had to buy prescription pet food at 40 bucks a bag! So, the total bill was over 200 bucks. I just hope he doesn't have to stay on this food permanently..but it is a big bag..so that is good..and a got a few cans of wet for variety. Pets are like kids, they pick the most inconvenient times to get sick At least he should be OK now.
Having pets can be expensive. So far I've been lucky with my dog and he hasn't had any issues aside from the normal shots, etc. He's 8.
@K E Gordon, do you mean to say crystals in urine connected to kidney stones? Renal failure was the cause of death of our first 2 dogs. The second dog was found to have traces of blood in his urine. He was prescribed a particular canned dog food with the KD label that the vet said was for the kidneys. Our second dog lived for more than a year after that discovery of blood in his urine but he did not fully recover. That means the prescribed dog food was not that effective. I'm sorry if this is a discouragement, just being honest for we were like given false hope during that time.
@K E Gordon My male cat experienced similar symptoms, obviously having pain and difficulty urinating. This was when he was quite young, but full-grown. I was new then to Vegas, knew of no one with experience to recommend a Vet, so picked one with an unusual name: Dr. H. Theodore Trimmer. Kindly young guy, he explained that crystals blocking the urinary tract are pretty common; the best long-term outlook came with surgery which basically left the male cat's urinary tract short, and just like a female's. "Of course, He won't like it", the Doc said. The surgery was done, old Oxie was then about 6 months old. He lived happily to just a bit over 18 years. I suppose today there are new medicines as you mention, which were not available then 1974. Frank
Well we will see what happens with the food. He has had some issues like this. @ Corrie Henson, he has had UTI's in the past..and they have gotten better. Honestly, I am not too worried about it, at this point. His urine was clear with no blood. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens. The Vet said he can probably go back on normal food at some point, he expects these crystals to clear up so we will see, @Frank Sanoica, geez, I hope surgery won't be necessary, but I had a male cat who died at age 10, who I think may have had the same thing, but I blame the other vet for that. He failed to make a correct diagnosis.
How sad that this is happening and wish K E's cat get well soon! Brings back ma collar and a memories when I brought my cat to the vet. She did not like car rides and when at the vet she is nervous, so I bought her a little collar and a dog walking chain. She wold be patient with getting her shots and her yrly visits. Now we live in an apt that is no pets allowed.
Well, I will do what is necessary to get this cat healthy again. He is very precious to me. However, I can't be running back and forth to the vet all the time, if he does need something like surgery I just want to get it over and done with, but I am hoping something radical like that won't be necessary. I guess a wait and see attitude is best. Thanks for your support!
@K E Gordon My two little cats, brother and sister, born in Las Vegas, survived my divorce along with me, rode with me in my pickup to a new job in Colorado, then to Indiana, where I remarried, then to Phoenix, then up in the woods in a cabin for a year, then back to Phoenix again, where they finished their lives beside me, never complaining, always accepting, always appreciating. I know of no words strong enough to explain it. Frank
This is not to promote herbal cure but I also have kidney stones. In fact, I still have now since 2006, the 3rd formation of stones after the removal of the first 2 occurrences. I have been taking an herbal concoction of lemon grass, banana leaves and sambong leaves. All those plants are in our garden so our only expense is in boiling the leaves into tea. When our second dog, Epoy, had traces of blood, we gave him the same concoction that I am taking - 10 ml a day via syringe. That somehow derailed the growth of the kidney stone in our dog. But then something happened unexpectedly, our housemaid left. She's the one who was administering the concoction to Epoy. Worse, we forgot all about it. And after a few months, the stone manifested again in traces of blood in the urine. But that second time proved fatal.
What a sweet looking and beautiful kitty Frank! K E Gordon, sorry to hear about your kitty but it sounds like he will be OK. I know prescription cat foods from the vet are expensive. (just going to the vet is expensive) Mine are on low allergen due to my tabby's fish allergy. I think they are worth it though.
Yes, pets can be expensive! While living in Colorado, we had a 3 year old Husky that was half Siberian and half Malamute. Gorgeous dog, but she have a couple of medical problems while we had her and to see the local Vet sure wasn't cheap. We both had descent paying jobs, so we had the money. Where we are now, bought an aquarium, supplies and have had two Beta's. Kept the water and tank very clean, but both of them ended up croaking. We put money into buying live plants and medical treatment stuff. We really didn't know that taking care of a freshwater aquarium would take up so much time and cost that much money.........but it did! Have been trying to sell the tank (5-gallon), aquarium stand and supplies with very little luck. Our next dog, after we move, will be a Shih Tzu puppy. I have read that Pet Health Insurance is the thing to have to help with any Vet bills.
I've heard both pros and cons to vet insurance, don't know what the actual truth is. I've heard it's not cheap but then neither is a vet bill. My sister in Colorado spent $5,000 on one of her cats and this was at least 10 years ago. Now she has 2 cats and an old rescue dog but don't know if she has insurance.
Well, there are those pet owners that take care of their pets better than they take care of themselves. There are also those that don't have much, or want much, because they like spending money they have on their pets. You are right, @Chrissy, good and bad about Pet Insurance. After doing some calling to Vet's and research, found out that not all Vet places even accept Pet Insurance and those that do, the pet owner has to pay the entire Vet bill and then get reimbursed from their Pet Insurance.
Ok, I knew there were some catches but couldn't remember what they were, otherwise I'm sure my sister would rather have the pet ins than pay $5,000. I think the cat died a year later.