Every single time I say something to a vet about my cats I end up being right (rant)

[Joe_Danger]

You know how Milla had that upper respiratory infection since we got her? I kept telling vets to take care of it and that it would escalate to something worse, I got different responses ranging from how it would sort itself out to how it's just the way she breathes because she is a persian(as if I don't know what persians ar elike, plus she kept closing her right eye) My vet was the only one who provided us with antibiotics for her back then and only after Milla showed obvious signs of being sick, she recovered and a few months later the infection came back, didn't bother her or anything but her nose was stuffed up again and her eye would close up, this time the vet just gave us some nose/eye drops that would supposedly sort it out...except they only worked short term as I knew they would since it wasn't medicine just some liquid.

Before we bred her in October or so it came back and I alarmed my vet about it saying we should get rid of this before breeding her, but she kinda didn't think it was anything serious even though I told her it would escalate to a lower respiratory infection and could spread to the kittens too. So Milla went on like that with stuffed up nose and her right eye closing until she had to take antibiotics for that diarrhea she had during pregnancy, her infection cleared up with that, but obviously it wasn't fully treated because it came back soon after.

Now we were supposed to get her spayed this week, so the vet wanted to make sure she was 100% healthy before the surgery, so she started checking her up last week while she was still in heat to make sure all was well...lo and behold she had mild lower respiratory problems, my vet's son was listening and milla's IIRC right lung wasn't quite right, so they presribed antibiotics and she would take them for 5 days, yesterday the guy gave her a check up again and it was much better, or rather gone tho she did keep closing her right eye slightly. SO they booked her for spaying for today, but the vet decided to check again and sure enough she could now hear her breathing a bit raspy on the other lung, so now we have to keep giving her antibiotics until Saturday and see how things progress form there.

Here's the thing, I said this would happen from DAY ONE when I got her
NOBODY listened to me, nobody ever listenes to what I have to say about animals and I always end up being right. ...well nobody being vets, my family and friends listen to me of course.
I'm 100% that this could have been avoided if they LISTENED

Also I said Milla would be cycling every 7 or so days, the vet didn't listen, now she is cycling every 7 days and has been in heat for over a month straight.

Other than this both Milla and Kala are doing great, Milla is active and very playful and an amazing mom to Kala but I'll tell y'all about all that some other time

[bobbys girl]

Ooh, it is SO frustrating when things like that happen, when YOU can see a problem galloping towards you and some 'expert' tells you that you are wrong. On the few occasions it has happened to me, part of me wants to say, 'see, I TOLD you that would happen'. But if you do, it doesn't put the problem right.

I really hope you can get Milla sorted out soon, for all your sakes!

[Joe_Danger]

Thanks
I remember when I first came to a vet with this problem the answer was "well it's no big deal, it's just something she carried form her mom"
Now my question is

- Why was Milla not vaccinated at 4 months of age when we got her
- Why wasn't this sorted out before rehoming her?
- Why was she given to us with problems where when she'd play too much or just run around for too long she'd start panting with her tongue out and nobody cared to address this issue when we asked the people who sold her to us about it their response was "well she only does that when she is out on the balcony and it's too hot"
- Why did the girl who sold Milla to us lied about the mother's name and her mom gave us a different name, graned we saw the mom and she was a huge 12 year old persian...which leads me to my next point
- Why was a 12 year old persian not spayed? Even if you're a breeder why would you breed a 12 year old cat. Granted she was form a good line and all but dang

So Milla has been dealing with this for over a year and now when the time finally came to get her fixed she can't go through with it because of this thing, and she is about to cycle again.
I'm not bothered by her meowing, I'm worried it's negatively impacting her to go through this for over a moth with no rest.

I'm just so glad my vet is careful and doesn't want to just put Milla under the knife and makes sure everything is in perfect order before she does so, she genuinely does love this cat and well all other animals and does her best with what she has to provide the best care, it's just a shame she didn't listen to me about this issue on time so we could deal with it before it turned into a lower respiratory infection.
Given how awful most vets in my country are, I'm lucky to have found the one I'm with now

[Joe_Danger]

And here's why I love my vet so much even though I may disagree with her on some issues.
She is one of the kindest people I know and just now she showed her kindness once again.
A friend of mine cares for some stray cats and one of the kittens went blind overnight yet shows no signs of poisoning, illness or anything, my friend went to several vets and nobody really cared/knew what to do and one vet couldn't even tell she was blind.

So my friend calls me and asks me for a good vet, I recommended mine and she gave the kitten a full thorough checkup and everything for free.
What caused this sudden blindness has yet to be determined but she prescribed some vitamins and such for now. This just proves further my vet isn't in it for the money and I respect that a great deal.

[booktigger]

Thanks
I remember when I first came to a vet with this problem the answer was "well it's no big deal, it's just something she carried form her mom"
Now my question is

- Why was Milla not vaccinated at 4 months of age when we got her
- Why wasn't this sorted out before rehoming her?
- Why was she given to us with problems where when she'd play too much or just run around for too long she'd start panting with her tongue out and nobody cared to address this issue when we asked the people who sold her to us about it their response was "well she only does that when she is out on the balcony and it's too hot"
- Why did the girl who sold Milla to us lied about the mother's name and her mom gave us a different name, graned we saw the mom and she was a huge 12 year old persian...which leads me to my next point
- Why was a 12 year old persian not spayed? Even if you're a breeder why would you breed a 12 year old cat. Granted she was form a good line and all but dang

So Milla has been dealing with this for over a year and now when the time finally came to get her fixed she can't go through with it because of this thing, and she is about to cycle again.
I'm not bothered by her meowing, I'm worried it's negatively impacting her to go through this for over a moth with no rest.

I'm just so glad my vet is careful and doesn't want to just put Milla under the knife and makes sure everything is in perfect order before she does so, she genuinely does love this cat and well all other animals and does her best with what she has to provide the best care, it's just a shame she didn't listen to me about this issue on time so we could deal with it before it turned into a lower respiratory infection.
Given how awful most vets in my country are, I'm lucky to have found the one I'm with now

you probably won't like me for saying this, but why did you buy her if she hadn't been vaccinated, she had health issues, you were lied to and her mum was 12?

[Joe_Danger]

Because I knew I could provide her with the best possible home and she was adorable
plus the health issues didn't show up until I brought her home, but she was active, playful and overall just fine so other than the upper respiratory infection nobody would admit to she was fine.

Anyway, back from the vet, she is healing up nicely, my vet gave her an injection this time around and if all goes well she should be good for spaying on Monday.
She didn't even charge for the injection, her priority is to make sure Milla gets well

[Joe_Danger]

It's done!
Milla had her spaying surgery today and the vet said it went perfectly well. Her breathing was good enough for the surgery to be done.
Milla is recovering now, unlike Anastasia who was out and about in an hour Milla is alert but won't mvoe much and has been staying in her carrier since we brought her home immediately after the surger, that's how things are done here, my vet waited for her to wake up there, gave her IV fluids and all, I respect that a lot, she really cares unlike Anastasia's vet who insisted we took her even before she even woke up.

What really blows my mind is how attentive and caring Kala is, she won't leave her mom's side, she keeps grooming her, making sure she is well, she spent an hour sleeping curled up next to her mom which she rarely does anymore. She is either inside or infront of the carrier keeping guard. I tried to get Kala to play and leave her mom be but she wouldn't have none of that, she doesn't like anyone touching her mom either as she goes by her side the moment I do.
I did not expect this o_O I knew Kala was always the one caring for her brothers, cleaning them grooming them, she also cleans ME and even her mom all the time but this was unexpected.

I hope Milla recovers well, I'm worried as she makes a weird noise when breathing now, like her nose is stuffed up or her lungs but this wasn't there before, it cleared up. She is still unstable too and it's been 4 hours since the surgery.
We'll see, I hope it all goes well, they're all different so Milla might take longer to get back on her feet.

Either way Kala is absolutely incredible, I can't believe what I'm seeing.
Also bonus pic of Kala, I was sorting out some old video games and well Kala had to sit on top of the pile
http://i.imgur.com/VylEnGz.jpg

[alanc]

Glad to hear the spaying went well. I'm trying to remember how long it was before Tilly was back on her feet after being spayed, pretty sure it was more than 4 hours. Great photo of Kala.

[Crewella]

I'm so glad it went well, and I hope the great nursing attention she's getting helps her to bounce back and recover quickly.

[Joe_Danger]

Milla seems to be recovering well, her breathing is back to normal
she ate a bit today, not much but ate well enough, went to the bathroom for #1 and #2 once but other than that she spends her time resting, Kala stopped being as worried but she is still attentive to her mom.
When she walks Milla is rather slow, but her jumping skills seem just fine as she jumped on this one fairly tall stand we have earlier to sleep there as she normally does.
She is alert but not active at all compared to Anastasia who was very active the day after her surgery, but since she ate and drank water, went to the bathroom I feel all is well but we'll see tomorrow or the day after when we take her for a check up.

In other news the kitten my friend takes care of got its sight back, I don't know what happened there but the A-D Drops my vet prescribed seemed to have worked, chances are it was a vitamin issue, I am no vet by any means and I could be wrong on this but I believe since many people feed those cats maybe someone fed her something with lots of onions in it and that messed her up.

[Joe_Danger]

Know what? I'm just going to come out and say it, I don't think Milla is recovering the way she should
I was expecting her to be back on her feet today but she seems slower today, she isn't as interested in food, she licked a bit of wet food but yesterday she ate, she licked a bit of water too but it's not the way she should be doing it imo
When she went to the bathroom earlier she moved very very slowly, she seems more lost, kind of lethargic and not as alert where as yesterday she wasn't active but was very much alert.
At least she is grooming herself, so that's something but she was doing that yesterday too. I'm not very happy about this at all and I fear the worst as this is the exact situation many who lost their cats after this very surgery have described in the past year.

If something happens to Milla and I survive that, because I honestly don't know if I will I'm never getting a cat spayed again, getting a male neutered, sure, they seem to have it easier, but a female cat I'm never getting fixed again if something happens to this one.
This behavior she displays today, this lying down wherever and not having much energy, this isn't normal and I know normal cat behavior after a spaying surgery believe me.

She is going to the vet in a few hours since she is fully booked today but what can she do, if something ain't right inside her even she won't be able top do much

[Joe_Danger]

Sorry for posting so much but I do my best to keep it contained in one thread

I took Milla to the vet and we're back home now

She did have slightly increased temperature, 38.8C and apparently 38.5C is normal for cats, so after the IV she gave her two antibiotic shots.
When I was about to pay once again she did said there's no need to pay and that this cat is family to her, she rarely charges us for anything except the spaying and even that cost us less.

Milla perked up immediately after the IV but we'll see if that's just a temporary thing or if she is indeed better

I'm so worried
I have to hold an important class at college tomorrow, they often ask me to do this but I think I'm going to cancel on my professor I canceled on her yesterday and I might have to do it tomorrow too and it's a very important class I absolutely must hold for the students, but I can't leave Milla alone at home like this.

She is fine now, stable on her feet and all but it could just be a temporary boost, I've seen this before, they perked up right after the IV and antibiotics and then fade away

[Joe_Danger]

I'm literally going through hell right now and I can't think straight anymore

Milla is not doing well, she is completely unresponsive and there is nothing even the vet can do except wait

Why did I go through with this? I told you all that this would happen if I got her fixed, I told you.
This is exactly word to word what everybody whose cats died after this surgery described and this is happening to Milla now
how the heck am I supposed to live like this now? You don't know me, you have no idea how much this could make me snap and do something I won't be able to go back from.

Let me make one thing clear and I'll be brutally honest here because I got nowhere else to vent

I have an AMAZING life, if I lived forever I wouldn't get bored.
Wonderful people, a great job, fantastic hobbies, it's everything I ever wanted.
However, my cats are more important to me than anything and that I know is difficult to understand even for those who love animals.
I'm going through hell now and I'm unable to cope with this because the cat is NOT doing better, she is worsening and I have nobody but myself to blame for this.

I didn't have to get her spayed, I could have bred her, sure I had a hard time parting with the kittens but that was nothing compared to what I'm dealing with now, I'm potentially losing Milla, this isn't some cat we're talking about, this is Milla, she is my life, everything to me.
You guys have no idea what I'm seeing here right now, she won't move, won't drink, won't eat, she is in such a bad shape, Anastasia with her CRF was better than this in her last days.
This is insane

[Joe_Danger]

Please somebody help us with this
My mom took Milla to the vet now and her temperature is even higher now, 39C

she is going to die and there's nothing i can do to stop it
I can't live with this

[alanc]

Joe
I wish there was something I could do to assist. I have no knowledge of what is affecting Milla or advice to give.
I know only to well what you are going through as I also could do nothing when Badger died last year.
Alan

[Joe_Danger]

Thanks, dude I thought I was the only guy on this forum
Well, Milla is back from the vet now and they gave her another IV and Ketonal, it's for making the temperature go down so once again she is perked up but as was the case earlier today it's just a temporary boost.
She is really really not doing well though my vet says she is going to pull through but I strongly doubt it given past experience and experience from others with this very thing.

I suspect a bacterial infection, that is very common here in Macedonia for both people and animals.

In 2014 my grandma broke her hip, she is fine now
Her surgery went perfectly fine and she was to recover in no time at all, except she got some serious bacterial infection that would have killed her had my family, grandma included weren't all highly educated doctors. Ever so often we hear on the news about entire hospitals or hospital wings getting serious bacterial infections here.

My vet is exceptionally humane and nice about this whole thing and isn't charging a dime but only God knows if Milla will pull through.

[bobbys girl]

You are right, we are not there and we do not know what you are seeing.

I remember when we got Bobby back after his operation. He was so frail and did not want to move or eat. His wound took ages to heal and he picked up an infection in it. All this in a FIV+ cat. We really thought we would lose him. I do understand.

What has your vet said? Is the wound hot to the touch? If she has an infection and has had AB's, it might take a while for them to work.

If I remember rightly the girls all recovered differently, but they DID recover. Don't give up hope.

Thinking about you and hoping that Milla starts to recover soon.

Take care

[Joe_Danger]

Thanks, please don't take this as an offense, it's just a figure of speech when I say "you don't know what I'm going through" and such, I mean nothing by it.
I'm sorry if I came off as rude that wasn't my intention I just can't think clearly is all since this is all very very stressful, I know y'all understand what im going through hence why I posted here about it, sorry if I'm being annoying.

Thanks for the support and kindness, I've seen nothing but support and kindness from people on this forum and I greatly appreciate that.
I'm easily stressed when it comes to living beings what can I do lol

[bobbys girl]

No offence taken. If you feel the need to rant - as they say around here - 'work away' (they do have a good turn of phrase in Ireland. They describe torrential rain as 'a soft day', and my friend's 6' 4" son is 'wee Jamie' )

Hoping that Milla has a good night and is stronger in the morning.

[Joe_Danger]

She perked up a lot after the second IV and the temperature pill, apparently her temperature went as high as 39.5 at the vets which is no good.
She ate dry food on her own, drank some yogurt and water, played a bit with Kala as much as she could lying down and climbed up on her favorite chair and went to sleep with Kala right next to her.

Poor Kala is just as stressed as i am, probably even more so, I had no idea cats could be this way.
You see, Kala is one of those kittens who don't really meow at all and when she tries to do so it just comes out like chirping or a quiet "eep eep" sound, Anastasia was kind of like that even less vocal in her first year or so.
When my mom took Milla to the vet earlier Kala got sooo upset after some 10 minutes she started walking around the house screaming as loudly as she could looking for her mom, she ran into me, meowing, purring, then ran off looking for her mom again.
It was so sad.

I dunno I take this stuff too hard, here i am 32 and a grown ass man and I haven't changed in this regard since I was a kid, haven't changed one bit when it comes to not dealing well with these things. My pets make me exceptionally happy and I don't want to come off as a person who always stresses over them since I don't, but ever so often stuff like this happens and you can't help but worry. Milla isn't out of the woods yet, not by a long shot, clearly even Kala is feeling it since normally Kala never leaves my side but now she won't leave her mom's side for anything.

I didn't do any work today and yesterday but fortunately my bosses are very understanding so it should be fine, if Milla is well I'll go hold that class at college tomorrow though, it'll just be an hour, two tops, she usually sleeps around that time anyways.
I just need her to be well, both her and Kala must be well for many many more years.

[bobbys girl]

Pleased to hear that Miila is improving. Fingers crossed she continues to improve.

Age and gender has nothing to do with it. My husband is twice your age. He used to manage a shift of men in a tyre factory. He is no softy. But it is me that has had to act as undertaker for three dogs and four cats. He just can't bring himself to do it.

You are not alone .... in anything.

[Joe_Danger]

Things are looking up.

I must admit I have never seen a vet so devoted and genuinely concerned as Milla's vet here in my country, though most offer freebies and such, she worries about this cat as if it were her own.
She gave her two more antibiotic shots today, gave her Ketonal again to lower her temperature, today she had 38.9 which is not bad at all considering she had 39.5 yesterday.
Milla herself is much better though a long way from being her usual self, she eats on her own and drinks though she does very little of both but she is more active and a tad more stable on her feet.

I must admit I feel ashamed my vet isn't charging for any of this, it really wouldn't be a problem for me or my family to pay for this we're well off and vet care is very cheap and affordable here unless it's for complex surgeries.
Spaying a cat costs around $30-$35 here, maybe $40 in some places, we paid even less

The vet cares so much about Milla, she called today to make sure Milla is well and everything
Yesterday her daughter asked if she was doing well and she isn't even a vet, such amazing people, it's rare to find people this loving and devoted to animals

[alanc]

Glad Milla is getting better. Hope she continues to improve.
Us mad cat men on here may be outnumbered by the ladies, but there are several of us around!

[Mayday21]

Hi Joe TC, the boy cat I'm fostering, was very lethargic a week after he was neutered & not eating. I took his temp 40.15 text president of Little Paws letting her know & my plan of attack. Put him up on bed with me & checked 5am next morning 40:21. Rushed him first thing to the vet that did the op & left him there. He went to 42 & the had to damp TC down with a towel. He had blood tests, fluids & abs & had to stay overnight. He's fine now. I think he had an infection from the op so it can happen in countries where neutering is done frequently. Keep us posted on Milla. Thinking of you & we know what it's like to feel quite helpless when it comes to our fur babies. And Jezebel still under the bed & has serious gingivitis which is being treated with Vibravet. If no improvement teeth out! And she's young.Vivian

[Joe_Danger]

Sounds terrible, he absolutely must pull through! He has to and knowing you, you're providing the best possible care to your cats and the ones you foster.
See how long you've been battling with Jezebel's gingivitis and her behavior, but man you don't give up because you understand that they're living beings who need us All I can say is thank you for being the way you are.

Every time I talk to friends about these things their advice is always the same "don't get so attached to pets" and when I ask how they think I should not get attached to a living being their response is always "well find a way not to, I love cats/dogs too but I don't get so attached to them"

This is all very strange to me, I was raised to value the life of a pet the same as the life of any other family member, in fact we didn't tell my grandparents about Milla's complications because they wouldn't be able to take it at their age.
My friends know I get attached and stress over but it's not like I talk to them about this a lot or annoy them, we usually talk about video games, movies/tv shows or women or other people but every time I bring up the fact that I'm worried about my pets that's the response I get. They mean well but I don't think they understand or truly love animals.

This one time in college this one guy was openly describing how he hated cats and tortured stray cats with his friends as a teenager but apparently he doesn't do that anymore, me and my ex couldn't listen any further, I was going to get into a fight with the guy and my girlfriend at the time felt sick and I had to take her home....everybody else just thought it was messed up but nobody thought any less of the guy in the end, they were like "man yo crazy foo" basically and that was that.

I think it's rare to find people who genuinely care about animals the way we do.

[Joe_Danger]

Well I started a new topic in the health section since Milla is still in heat so we can figure this out there.
She is very very well tonight and is back to her tom seeking antics.

[Crewella]

I'm really glad to hear she's on the mend.

And I can'tunderstand how you're supposed to not get attached either. My cats are 'family'.

[Joe_Danger]

Thank god today Milla is back to her normal self, almost
This was very hard on her but she pulled through, the heat and hormones should settle down in 2-3 weeks at most.

I really wish all those supposedly vet sites said something about a cat spayed in estrus having the chance of still calling after the surgery despite no tissue being left, but no, they immediately jump to that. My vets both said this happens with cats spayed in estrus and it clears up in a few weeks, had I known that I wouldn't have panicked

[bobbys girl]

I don't know why I didn't think of it before, but when we found Bobby we had just given a home to another young cat, Lily, and had had her spayed. We didn't know when we had it done that she was pregnant - just. She came through it fine, but the hormones must have still been sloshing around her, because she FED Bobby! We could not believe it. I don't think he would have survived without her.

She disappeared a year later, maybe she thought she had done her job and moved on.....?

[booktigger]

I've accidentally had a cat neutered while in heat, and she didn't carry on calling, although she was more hyper for a couple of days