Saturday, July 2, 2011

Better to feel silly then feel sorry...



So apparently I was feeling paranoid. We got Fleurp to the vet and put them on the vet scale and her weight was exactly the same as the last visit. (When I got her home my scale said the same thing) so I figured she was fine, but we ran the standard tests to be sure, and sure enough she's fine. Her stool is fine, her check up checked out fine, and her blood work was fine.
So all that fuss for nothing??
 I always feel a little silly when things come out OK in the end, but then I remind myself that I prefer to feel silly then to ignore things and risk feeling sorry in the end.   It was nice to see Dr. B today and we had a nice talk about life and work.  I also asked him about his new vets.  Apparently he is so busy now that he has been able to add new vets to his practice (I remember him saying he didn't want to do that when he first started a few years ago)   He also invested quite a bit (well he's leasing it anyway) in medical equipment and is able to do a lot more diagnostic tests in house.  It means faster results and cheaper for the clients, which is great.

I have been debating about what to do about the crew and vaccines.  Since Ollie's passing and having to deal with VAS, and a growing trend eschewing all vaccines because it is believed that A) they have much longer immunity then originally though - possibly life time or B) they aren't effective enough to outweigh the risks.  Since we (Dr. B. and I) believe vaccines originally caused Fleurp's anemia and Ollie's cancer, I'm quite sensitive to the risks.  I want to believe they are effective, and I'm going to continue to believe that all cats should be vaccinated.  I am tending towards believing that they should have their kitten series then a booster a year later. (depending on the cat's risks.  My idea is for indoor kitties with no contact with other cats.. for free roaming cats I might think differently, and I'll continue to read what others are doing and how that works for them and the newest research etc).  I know my vet likes vaccines, and so I was prepared for him to tell me that he believed they should get them regularly.  I was a little surprised when he said "for you, for your kitties, because of your vigilance and how aware you are of things, I'd say you are safe not doing them again"  (OK not an exact quote...) I was a little surprised.  He went on to say that he still believes that annual visits are important, which I also believe.  I know my crew is due to go in for a look see, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the vaccines, so I was holding off.   He then went on to say he's giving a discount of $30 off blood work for cats five years and older during routine visits..  

I like my vet, but I haven't always felt appreciated as a client in the past.  (mostly because he didn't hire me when he opened his clinic.. but c'est la vie) but after today I'm back to liking my vet quite a bit.  Then when I saw the tiny bill I was quite pleased.. especially considering I was the last client before the holiday and how much time he spent talking to me.

So we got home, let Fleurp out and minutes later we saw this.  What is it about carriers that come home from the vet that says *BEST PLACE TO TAKE A BATH* in neon flashing letters?
What?  it's comfy!  (Skippy)

Glad to be home.

1 comment:

  1. If I were you, I wouldn't even feel silly for taking Fleurp in for a checkup! You noticed some weight loss in a cat who had previous issues -- of course you're going to be concerned.

    It's nice to like your vet, too. It's all good.

    As for vaccines, my vet goes with the new recommendations of rabies yearly (just because it's the law), FCP every three years and NO FeLV for my two indoor kitties. She also warns against the 3-year rabies vaccine since it contains the aluminum which is implicated in VAS. Just her $0.02, which I respect since I like her.

    Happy Fourth!!

    ReplyDelete

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