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Old 12-26-2012, 08:41 AM
 
Location: Elsewhere
88,056 posts, read 83,895,248 times
Reputation: 114291

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Quote:
Originally Posted by HOF4256 View Post
Crossing fingers that the one in your area does as well. Any cost $ will go right back to them. The waiting time will take a lot more patience, but IMHO sooo worth it. We didn't get "spoiled" with the in & out convenience until dealing with the Mcvets, found the trade-off was costlier (in lives and $$) than we could have ever imagined. . Long waits were the norm prior with our "real" Vet. Reason was thoroughness (hindsight 20-20. )

{{HUGS}} to all affected. We got off easy here, just a few days without power.
I was the same--six days without power was a minor inconvenience next to the devastation a few miles away.

My bad-breath cat won't even eat any kibble/hard food. She is blind from birth, so she relies more on her senses of smell and hearing (I once watched her stalk, kill, and eat a moth by the sound of its wings-it was awesome to watch) and she's very picky about her food. I feed them a lot of ground turkey--buy the big package, cook it up, and keep it in a container in the fridge. Makes life easier and it fits into the budget. I've tried feeding them the expensive, "healthier" brands of cat food, but for the most part, none of them will touch it.

I am not even sure there are any independent vets around here. I moved to the area a little over two years ago, and I work long hours plus have a 3-hour RT commute, so I still haven't had a lot of free time to get to know many people around here or the area in general. LOL, after a 60-mile trip down the GSP in a thunderstorm with four howling, pooping cats in the car--and one who busted out of her travel box and started running around the inside of the car screeching--I was thrilled to see an animal hospital a two-minute drive from my new home and didn't think to look any further!
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Old 12-26-2012, 11:54 AM
 
Location: Ocean Shores, WA
5,092 posts, read 14,777,836 times
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Ask your vet about any discounts they might offer.
Many have senior discounts, or multiple pet discounts.

At our vet, February is Dental Health Month and there is a 20% discount.
She also sent us a Christmas card with a certificate for $40 off on Dental treatment.
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Old 12-26-2012, 12:07 PM
 
Location: Elsewhere
88,056 posts, read 83,895,248 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fat Freddy View Post
Ask your vet about any discounts they might offer.
Many have senior discounts, or multiple pet discounts.

At our vet, February is Dental Health Month and there is a 20% discount.
She also sent us a Christmas card with a certificate for $40 off on Dental treatment.
Wow, nice! I could ask, but I don't think that my regular place is likely to offer anything like that. When I last brought the cats in for their shots and exams, the vet went into the sales pitch about how two of them are now 8 years old so they have to get the $350 senior cat exam. He knew damn well I have four, because I brought all four in on the same day (in two trips). Then he pitched the teeth-cleaning/scraping thing, telling me it would be $500 to $700 and up depending upon the amount of work that would have to be done. I declined the $350 exam for the two 8-year-olds--they'd had the regular exam the year before. They want to do X-rays and this and that and the other thing. Instead, I just paid for the shots and the basic exam where they check urine, heart, feel the abdomen, etc and that alone added up to about $500 for the four of them. I do worry about the blind one's teeth, though, because her breath is bad.
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Old 12-26-2012, 12:47 PM
 
Location: Near Nashville TN
7,201 posts, read 14,894,644 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801 View Post
I feed them a lot of ground turkey--buy the big package, cook it up, and keep it in a container in the fridge. Makes life easier and it fits into the budget.
I hope you're adding a vitamin-mineral supplement as turkey alone isn't a complete and balanced diet. That is unless it's balanced with organ meat and bone.
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Old 12-26-2012, 12:49 PM
 
Location: Near Nashville TN
7,201 posts, read 14,894,644 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801 View Post
I do worry about the blind one's teeth, though, because her breath is bad.
Then take her to another vet with more realistic prices before she can't eat at all.
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Old 12-26-2012, 01:07 PM
 
Location: North of 60
1,452 posts, read 2,035,505 times
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My cat's breath smells like cat food.
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Old 12-26-2012, 01:17 PM
 
7,329 posts, read 16,348,474 times
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Mightyqueen, I'd definitely look around for another vet. I have heard many complaints about VCA vets. A big corporation just doesn't foster the same concern for pets and pet owners as a good independent vet. If you don't know people you can ask for recommendations, maybe you could try yelp, yahoo local, and dexknows for reviews as a starting point, and call around for prices.
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Old 12-26-2012, 03:44 PM
 
2,888 posts, read 6,509,196 times
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Bad breath can be indicative of other problems too: diabetes, kidney problems, etc.

Time for a senior blood panel and a teeth cleaning.
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Old 12-28-2012, 08:36 PM
 
Location: Elsewhere
88,056 posts, read 83,895,248 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MissNM View Post
Bad breath can be indicative of other problems too: diabetes, kidney problems, etc.

Time for a senior blood panel and a teeth cleaning.
At the last exam, the vet did say that I should watch for potential kidney problems. He said there were some indicators in the urine, but not enough to say that she had kidney issues at that time (this was about nine months ago). He felt that she was young to have kidney problems, but that they might be congenital, given that she is also blind from birth. (Her optic nerves do not connect her eyes to her brain.) Her sister, who I also have, has six toes on each front paw. They were the only two kittens, at least that survived/that the person I got them from knew of, and they were the kittens of a stray that was hit by a car. They were not weaned. A local boy knew where the kittens were and when he saw the mother in the road, he told the girls' original owner, who found them and bottlefed them.

I took them in temporarily to help this woman out--six years ago. She was never able to get back on her feet and has since had severe health problems...so they are my catters now.

A woman in my condo complex says she takes her cat to a small independent vet about 20 minutes away. She's been going there for years, and even though the original vet died, she said it's still more personal and they charge less. I am going to check that one out and start with a complete exam for the blind girl. It's time for the shots, and the township will be sending out their threatening notices in January, but they don't issue any summonses until after April, so if I can stretch out the four cats' appointments over the next four months, it might be more manageable, especially if they don't charge what the close-by place charges.

I thought all vet places in a given area would just charge more or less the same, but this woman where l live claims that her place is more reasonable. As I said in an earlier post, when I first got the cats my landlord was a vet so I just went to his hospital/office. Also expensive. My long-haired cat had gingivitis and an infection of the pancreas back then, and between X-rays and treatment it was $1200.
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