Kentwood Cat Clinic

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Our sympathy to Gootched for the loss of their cat. It is so hard to lose a much loved member of the family. A cat that has not eaten in a week is seriously ill. They may have swallowed a foreign object or poisonous plant, developed a life threatening disorder as kidney failure or pancreatitis, or have a host of other illnesses. To help them we need to put together the history, physical exam findings, lab test results, and x-ray results to determine the cause and the best treatment for that particular cat’s illness. The sicker the pet, the more involved and costly testing and treatment usually are to help the pet. Although veterinary costs are much less expensive than human medical costs, they are still an unanticipated and significant expense. Often, especially in these difficult times, our clients need us to prioritize tests and do the best we can within our client’s limited economic resources. We then treat their pet supportively given the limited information we are able to obtain. This may be less effective than treatment targeted to the specific illness. Even after stabilization, very sick patients may still need to be transferred to a 24 hour critical care facility to deliver the necessary care and treatment. Animal emergency hospitals provide this care and we will recommend the patient be transferred for this level of constant care when needed. 24 hour critical care is always significantly more expensive due to increased staff, facility, and equipment costs. Most routine referral lab results are typically available in 1-2 days. Some in house lab tests may be available the same day, but these tests usually provide less information at greater cost. Many times a frustrating game of “telephone tag” occurs with clients when trying to communicate test results. We leave a message to call for results and the pet owner calls back when we are seeing other patients or after we are closed. Sometimes another household member listens to the message and forgets to relay this to the pet’s primary care giver. Sometimes lab results do take longer due to laboratory courier transport problems due to weather or equipment issues. If we see a patient who is rapidly worsening and has a very poor prognosis, significant pain or discomfort that is worsening, we have to recommend humane euthanasia to relieve the cat’s suffering. Difficult as it is, as pet lovers our final gift to our pets is to not have them suffer at the end of their lives. Respectfully, Tammy Sadek DVM Diplomate, ABVP Feline Practice