Cat is in the emergency clinic after vomiting 7 times

[gabicards]

Raw & Home-Cooked Cat Food
I don't know if interacting with the members here who feed raw or home cooked would help, but we do have a forum for that subject.

That is pretty shocking about the vet, almost careless in what he told you and what he did, especially with the shot. Did he give you a bunch of random herbs and supplements? Calling other vets "morons" says a lot and, like you, I am surprised that he had no concern with balancing a home made diet with the necessary supplements.

The website seems incredibly informative and addresses variations in a home prepared or raw diet.

I would be angry, too.

I am livid with the shot, because, if he had cared at all to have a look at his files or even let me talk about his medical history, he'd know I have spent almost 3 months taking care of a constipated cat!!! What the hell is this about "drying his intestines"? I've been adding extra moisture to his food for months. I'm genuinely appalled.

Thanks for the link, I'll definitely have a look at the forum!

And the website is indeed informative. The vet goes into the materials you'd need, ways to properly cook the food, how to weight it, how to prepare it in detail, what to watch out for... what I'm a bit nervous about is that I'm a life-long vegetarian, so the learning curve will be huge to me because I don't even know how to handle meat, or how to store it... etc. My flatmate has offered to help me, so we'll see how it goes. I'll let him have a taste of vapor cooked rabbit meat, just to see if he'd be interested in it, once his bowels go back to normal. God knows if the diarrhea is gone, or if we'll go through a constipation phase again. Thanks to this big con of today!

I'm not a person who advocates against holistic medicine. But I've heard more stories like this (including human holistic medicine) than positive experiences.

Obviously, it all comes down to the individual vet and the level of care they are willing to put in. I've also been to conventional-medicine vets that were terrible at their jobs. So it all depends.

I personally have an overall skeptical view of holistic medicine, though.

I had one of my best experiences with a human doctor when I visited a holistic haematologist a couple of years ago. He asked me for a million blood exams, and then spent almost 4 hours (literally) going through each of the results with me and putting them in context. I finally learned that tiny annoying things that would pop up every once in a while were all related and part of a big health "concern" I should take care of. It was brilliant and informed me of which specialists I needed to see then, what I should be careful of in my diet, the type of exercises I should do, and more.

It's highly dependant on the professional. In theory, holistic medicine should be good simply because it values looking at the individual as a whole instead of just medicating a symptom - which I've been tired of. I visited 3 doctors last year due to a skin condition that I was told had no cure and they all just threw a cream at me that I'd need to use forever (and couldn't use on my eyes, which was exactly where the main problem was), only to buy a book and read literally on the first page that it was related to my allergy of aspirin and the fruits I was eating. None of the doctors had ever so much as asked about my diet, they all said it was chronic. I stopped eating them and a week later my skin cleared, the problem never came back. I have since started eating them again, in less quantity and less often, as the book recommended, and still nothing. There are too many doctors that don't care at all about their patient - both in human and in veterinary medicine.

 

[fionasmom]

I would be very upset about that shot, but try to calm yourself and keep it in perspective. It might not do anything bad to Topaz. You don't know what it was? Nothing listed on a statement?

I was a vegan for years but it did not bother me at all to feed my pets animal products. You will get used to preparing what you need to for Topaz and it will not be a big deal. Even today I don't eat beef, lamb, veal, or pork and almost never eat chicken. I eat fish now a few times a week and yogurt/kefir. Once a week, my cats get a treat of lightly cooked beef, and no one has ever sent it back.

 

[gabicards]

I would be very upset about that shot, but try to calm yourself and keep it in perspective. It might not do anything bad to Topaz. You don't know what it was? Nothing listed on a statement?

I was a vegan for years but it did not bother me at all to feed my pets animal products. You will get used to preparing what you need to for Topaz and it will not be a big deal. Even today I don't eat beef, lamb, veal, or pork and almost never eat chicken. I eat fish now a few times a week and yogurt/kefir. Once a week, my cats get a treat of lightly cooked beef, and no one has ever sent it back.

Would you believe me if I told you the itemized bill lists it as an "injection"? Its price was 41,67€, which is wildly unhelpful.

He hasn't pooped today - not unusual for him following a few days of diarrhea. But... ugh. I am not a happy person today thanks to this vet.

Yeah in theory I won't mind, it's not like I don't eat meat out of choice, or for any moral reasons, I've just never cared for the texture, taste, smell... my parents used to force me to eat it as a child, until a doctor took pity on me and explained to them that leaving me be wasn't a death sentence. It makes total sense to me that a carnivore would do better with real meat than the super processed stuff we generally feed our pets, it can't be too different from how the human gut works. Unpleasant for me, but I love him and would do it without a doubt, I just need to figure it out.

 

[cmshap]

I've been worried he's sliding and falling too much, since we have wooden floors and he hits everything during his zoomies, and he still can't comfortably jump onto our couch and my bed. But she explained to me that, beyond the legs being weaker for now post-op, he's also a young cat, so he didn't have a lot of muscle to begin with - it will take time for him to gain more strength.

I wouldn't worry about this too much. I'm sure being post-op has a lot to do with it like you said, but my cat fell all the time when he was young, and actually was learning what he could and could not get away with in my apartment (he came in from outside, and I have hardwood floors and lots of smooth surfaces to slip on).

That stopped pretty quickly, and I noticed how he learned what to hesitate zooming onto (like my glass-top coffee table) vs. what has more traction, like the couch or his cat tree.

Would you believe me if I told you the itemized bill lists it as an "injection"? Its price was 41,67€, which is wildly unhelpful.

I'd honestly be calling and demanding to know what it was, and if they don't know, I'd ask for a refund. But that's just me, personally...

 

[fionasmom]

This is up to you as you were the one who had to deal with that vet, but I would wonder what the injection was as well. It is expensive for a mystery shot. There is a cat hospital here where the owner makes decisions for clients of that nature. I had one experience with him and that was enough.

I wonder if it were just some useless "immune booster" or some such thing that he slaps a high price on.

Not pooping is not a problem after diarrhea. He will go if he eats normally for a couple of days.

 

[gabicards]

This is up to you as you were the one who had to deal with that vet, but I would wonder what the injection was as well. It is expensive for a mystery shot. There is a cat hospital here where the owner makes decisions for clients of that nature. I had one experience with him and that was enough.

I wonder if it were just some useless "immune booster" or some such thing that he slaps a high price on.

Not pooping is not a problem after diarrhea. He will go if he eats normally for a couple of days.

I’ve already argued with the vet, so I’m not so inclined to call him now tbh.

Topaz pooped yesterday and it was very healthy looking. His appetite is excellent, too. I’m going to start to procure the items needed to make his food, and test whether rabbit meat would be appealing to him at all starting in May, probably. Lots of holidays then, so that + my hybrid work schedule means I will be home with him to keep an eye on any resulting diarrhea (bound to happen when it comes to him, always).