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Hi everyone. Since I'm a fairly new cat owner (less than a year), and since many of you have had cats and other animals for many years, I wanted to pick your brains about something. Hopefully it's not too vague. I just feel quite lost in this and wanted some general advice and support to help me see things more clearly.
I've always had pets, but not cats since I was very young. Mostly I've had dogs who, in my experience, are much more clear and obvious about when they're sick or hurt than cats are. I'm currently in a situation where--in addition to being a very conscientious, occasionally obsessive person who already has a history of anxiety and depression--I recently lost my heart-kitty Chai very traumatically to FIP. Right now more than ever, I find myself constantly weighing the decision of vet or no vet, for EVERY LITTLE THING. For example I was debating taking my 4 year old Chilli to the vet very early this morning because she just didn't seem herself and I was having a very strong emotional reaction, convincing myself that her belly was swollen and she was lethargic and she was going to die of FIP too... Then after calming myself down, I realized that I was looking at a bright-eyed, fluffy cat who is currently knocking things off my desk for fun, who is eating and grooming and using the litter box normally, who played with her toy just fine last night, and who is just acting slightly odd or less active for whatever reason. I also realized that it's Christmas Eve morning here, and I haven't even been able to enjoy the holidays because of my worry. It kind of hit me that I am spending so much time worrying and stressing over likely minor things that I am not really able to enjoy my cats as much as I should.
Obviously I'm still grieving, and I need to work on my own anxiety issues, including my instinctive reactions to things and trying to help myself think reasonably about my cats' health. But even then I feel quite out of my depth when trying to gauge WHEN I should take my babies to the vet. Especially since I'm still dealing with a lot of guilt and what-ifs about losing Chai. And especially right now since I have nearly exhausted my emergency vet allowance! I grew up in a household where we rarely went to the doctor for non-serious issues like a cold or stomach bug--just kind of "toughed it out" or "got over it" instead. I've lived most of my adult life so far in a similar way regarding my own health. But my attitude towards my cats has been the exact opposite, I suppose because my inexperience with cats (and their inability to tell me when something's wrong) makes me paranoid about the slightest issue. Still, that means that when I ask advice from my family members, who also have always had pets, their reaction is usually "just give her a few days and keep an eye on her! I'm sure she'll be all right!" which I'm not sure is always helpful advice.
Of course, I also worry about whether the stress of the vet visit in the first place will exacerbate issues more than help them. In Chilli's case, this past spring she had some sickness with some vomiting and diarrhea. She made a full recovery but we never found out for sure what had happened. I took her to the vet at least 4-5 times within a few weeks and subjected her to all kinds of tests that found nothing. While I don't regret taking her, at this point I'm pretty sure that the stress and trauma of the visits delayed her recovery a lot. She is extremely anxious when traveling and at the vet, and it was only once she was at home for a few days (during which time I was freaking out and agonizing over whether to take her again) that she finally started to feel better.
So... I wanted to ask about how you all keep your babies healthy, and how you balance the "vet or no vet" question, especially when money/time is an issue. I'm sure there are probably some differing opinions but I'm curious to hear all of them. Google has many mixed results and I think hearing from real experiences is going to be a lot more helpful!
For example, some of the things I've been thinking about are... Are there certain minor issues that you just keep an eye on? What symptoms are okay to give more time to watch, and what symptoms require an immediate emergency vet? How much of it is just knowing your own cat? How do you balance "gut feeling" versus objective facts? What kind of things do cats just need time and rest to heal from, rather than medical treatment? Do you use tend to use home remedies, drugs from the vet, or both? Do you trust your vet and their knowledge or do you feel the need to do lots of research on your own? How resilient and healthy are cats, even?? Is it better to be overly obsessive and stress our cats out, or slightly lax and risk missing something? Overall: When do you reasonably worry?
I've always had pets, but not cats since I was very young. Mostly I've had dogs who, in my experience, are much more clear and obvious about when they're sick or hurt than cats are. I'm currently in a situation where--in addition to being a very conscientious, occasionally obsessive person who already has a history of anxiety and depression--I recently lost my heart-kitty Chai very traumatically to FIP. Right now more than ever, I find myself constantly weighing the decision of vet or no vet, for EVERY LITTLE THING. For example I was debating taking my 4 year old Chilli to the vet very early this morning because she just didn't seem herself and I was having a very strong emotional reaction, convincing myself that her belly was swollen and she was lethargic and she was going to die of FIP too... Then after calming myself down, I realized that I was looking at a bright-eyed, fluffy cat who is currently knocking things off my desk for fun, who is eating and grooming and using the litter box normally, who played with her toy just fine last night, and who is just acting slightly odd or less active for whatever reason. I also realized that it's Christmas Eve morning here, and I haven't even been able to enjoy the holidays because of my worry. It kind of hit me that I am spending so much time worrying and stressing over likely minor things that I am not really able to enjoy my cats as much as I should.
Obviously I'm still grieving, and I need to work on my own anxiety issues, including my instinctive reactions to things and trying to help myself think reasonably about my cats' health. But even then I feel quite out of my depth when trying to gauge WHEN I should take my babies to the vet. Especially since I'm still dealing with a lot of guilt and what-ifs about losing Chai. And especially right now since I have nearly exhausted my emergency vet allowance! I grew up in a household where we rarely went to the doctor for non-serious issues like a cold or stomach bug--just kind of "toughed it out" or "got over it" instead. I've lived most of my adult life so far in a similar way regarding my own health. But my attitude towards my cats has been the exact opposite, I suppose because my inexperience with cats (and their inability to tell me when something's wrong) makes me paranoid about the slightest issue. Still, that means that when I ask advice from my family members, who also have always had pets, their reaction is usually "just give her a few days and keep an eye on her! I'm sure she'll be all right!" which I'm not sure is always helpful advice.
Of course, I also worry about whether the stress of the vet visit in the first place will exacerbate issues more than help them. In Chilli's case, this past spring she had some sickness with some vomiting and diarrhea. She made a full recovery but we never found out for sure what had happened. I took her to the vet at least 4-5 times within a few weeks and subjected her to all kinds of tests that found nothing. While I don't regret taking her, at this point I'm pretty sure that the stress and trauma of the visits delayed her recovery a lot. She is extremely anxious when traveling and at the vet, and it was only once she was at home for a few days (during which time I was freaking out and agonizing over whether to take her again) that she finally started to feel better.
So... I wanted to ask about how you all keep your babies healthy, and how you balance the "vet or no vet" question, especially when money/time is an issue. I'm sure there are probably some differing opinions but I'm curious to hear all of them. Google has many mixed results and I think hearing from real experiences is going to be a lot more helpful!
For example, some of the things I've been thinking about are... Are there certain minor issues that you just keep an eye on? What symptoms are okay to give more time to watch, and what symptoms require an immediate emergency vet? How much of it is just knowing your own cat? How do you balance "gut feeling" versus objective facts? What kind of things do cats just need time and rest to heal from, rather than medical treatment? Do you use tend to use home remedies, drugs from the vet, or both? Do you trust your vet and their knowledge or do you feel the need to do lots of research on your own? How resilient and healthy are cats, even?? Is it better to be overly obsessive and stress our cats out, or slightly lax and risk missing something? Overall: When do you reasonably worry?