Decisions, decisions... advice please.

[Rat girl]

Okay you guys... I seriously need help.  This may get long, a little backstory is needed here.

As some of you may know, i work at a vet clinic.  I make it my policy to leave work at work, if i didn't, i'd be a basket case.  I have done very well, i've wanted to scoop up countless animals and bring them into my home.  I've avoided that "curse" so far, unless you count Otis (one of my dogs) which wasn't really because of work.  Just because of a coworker.

On Monday we had a woman come in for an evening appointment.  She made the appointment because her cat, Casey, was lethargic and his gums were white.  Casey had been "blocked" in 2004, so after reading the chart we all kind of knew most likely this was the problem.  We were all very concerned - the woman was supposed to have him on his special diet and it had been years since his first block.  I didn't work there at that time, so i wasn't familiar with Casey or his mom, but from what the other girls were saying, she seemed a little 'off'.

My suspicions were confirmed when the woman came in.  She seemed upset from the onset, very agitated, very 'flighty' and strange.  As luck would have it, I of course, ended up being the assistant for this case.  I didn't get a good look at Casey, he was in his carrier for awhile.  The woman ranted on and on about how she's spent far too much money on this cat, he's not worth it, her husbands allergic, etc etc.  "I don't even know why i'm here, i must be losing my mind!" I'm thinking... wow. 

So anyway, when Casey comes out of the carrier i was quite shocked.  Your typical "Pricey" cat, a huge (20.2 lbs) pure white Persian.  Now, nine times out of a 10 when i see a 'purebred' cat, i dread it.  I've learned to be more cautious around them, they aren't the sweet cuddly looking things you think they are! But not Casey.  He was so sick, he could barely move, his whole butt was stained from urine.  He curled up on the table against my side and started purring.  His squishy "mean" looking face kept looking at me, and i melted!  How could this woman not love her cat?  He didn't seem to be mean or anything.

So then comes the diagnoses.  He is blocked.  The woman throws a FIT!!!! "A second time!?" rant rant rant.

Come to find out, she took him off of his prescription diet.   

"I guess i just made a *bleep bleep* $800 lesson! *bleep*"

So then, the money issues started.  She can't pay for the treatment, she doesn't want to deal with it, he's not worth it, her husband is going to kill her, doesn't anybody want him?  At first i thought she was joking through her griping, but the more she pressed the issue the more i realized she was serious.  She applied for Care Credit, was approved, and we took Casey to the back to place his urinary catheter.  As i'm assisting the doctor, one of my coworkers came back to tell me that as Casey's mom was walking out the door, she (the coworker) had said "Feel free to call and check up on Casey at anytime!" and the woman had replied "Why the hell would i want to check on him for?  I just spent a thousand dollars to have you take care of him."

*sigh*.

So, fast forward to today.  Three days with this cat.  Three days to realize he is the sweetest soul.  He is so much better now, and he's still just as sweet.  Each day we've called the woman to update her, she has pressed the issue about one of us taking him.  She does. not. want. him.  We told her to bring in a sign to put on our "board", because more than likely somebody will snatch him up.

Come to find out later, this woman actually has mental health problems (one of the DR's is familiar with her family) and is not very 'stable'.   I feel that, if she despises the cat this much, she shouldn't have him.  They have two other cats, and she is fine with them.  I'm guessing its the medical issues, and having to buy the prescription diet for him.

So, okay, let him find a good home right?  Wrong.  I can't stop thinking about him.  My dear sweet other half is not too thrilled with me even entertaining this idea.  He says flat out "No." but, i can sway him if i really wanted.

My biggest issue is my budget.  I've finally gotten Snookie's medical issues under control, do i really want to take on another "sickly" one?  He's 6 years old, the woman has not kept him up to date on vaccines (unless she's done it at another clinic), and i'm just worried.  She has made it clear that she WILL pay the balance of her bill, regardless on if she keeps the cat or not, does that make much sense?

So what do you guys think?  Getting the food through my clinic would cost me roughly $20 for 12 cans.  Does anybody else know of any cheaper products of quality for this condition?

I asked my boss (a vet) if it would be feasible to feed the prescription diet as a majority, but supplement with something else to make it last longer.  He told me it wouldn't be a good idea.  Anybody disagree?  I mean like - i would never feed him a dry food.  Ever.  I mean another high quality canned food, but (if its even possible) something cheaper.  I've been wanting to switch both of my males to a similar formula to prevent this dreaded problem, so any help is appreciated.

I haven't had a long haired cat since i was a kid.  Is maintenance that much different?  Is professional grooming beneficial?

Is 5 really different than 4?   The only thing i like is that he's 6 - my oldest cat is 3, so there is a decent age difference there.

Basically...   

[KellyNZoo]

A blocked cat doesn't need to be on prescription food as far as I'm aware, vets will tell you that, but it's not entirely true.

A wetfood ONLY diet, or RAW diet will ehlp blocked kitties! My Zaq was having blocking issues, a switch to (GRAIN FREE!!!) wet only fixed him better than pricey "prescription" diets. We're now doing raw, and he's a 14 year old kitten again! Getting everyone on raw wasn't easy as pie, but so worth it in the end. We feed 4 cats on $60/mth. Also, we only change our litter boxes (SpecialKitty mixed with a clumping pine [no name]) totally ever 2mths. Seriously.

Our cats poo once a day each, MAYBE. They pee a lot more, shed a TON less (used to be able to pet a cat and get a HANDFULL of hair, now you're lucky if there's 20).

[Rat girl]

Interesting KellyNZoo.  I have considered switching my animals over to raw diets, but have yet to do so.  If i do, it won't be right now.  Too big of a change, too little time to do it properly.  My boss is really honest with us about everything, he's a "been there done that" kind of guy.  He's semi-retired now and from what i talked to him about, through his experience the prescription diet is more effective than any other diet change for this particular condition.

I left a note yesterday, on his cage, saying "If she really really really (the really's being underlined two times each) needs to find Casey a home, CALL ME!"

I feel horrible that he might go back home with that woman.  But at the same time, i have a feeling my phone will be ringing this afternoon.

[KellyNZoo]

While I appreciate you respect your vets opinion, they aren't schooled in pet nutrition to the extent a nutritionist is. He may have seen the diet work because he hasn't seen anyone switch fully to wet only yet. I would do more research than just one persons opinion (as wonderful, intelligent, and trustworthy that person is). Keep things in perspective. He is a vet, not a nutritionist.

Goodluck.

[Pumpkinseed]

Im curious about this raw diet  thing.. I dont know what i would do to even start it.
I think it would be benefitial to me and my cats.. <.< I'm having issues with one of my cats. not with blockage. But the opposite.

[Heather]

I have a kitty, Trevor, that used to block as well until we got him the surgery to invert his penis and essentially make him a girl. He was getting constant infections from the prescription crap they put him on so we went to grain free food. No more infections. Now I'm in the process of switching him to raw. It really is the best thing for a "special needs" cat that blocks or gets infections. What they need is moisture, and no grains to alkalize their urine. It's not the magnesium content like the vet says it is that causes urinary problems. It the chronic dehydration from eating a carbohydrate laden dry food.

[NutKitty]

Im curious about this raw diet  thing.. I dont know what i would do to even start it.
I think it would be benefitial to me and my cats.. <.< I'm having issues with one of my cats. not with blockage. But the opposite.

A word of advice on that - do you feed high quality food?  You can feed less of that, and it will result in less poo.  (and less smelly, at that.) 

I wish I could get my cats on a raw diet...  I've tried!  They're just too damned picky, and even if I try putting the smallest amount of the raw food in with their normal food (since Iknow you're supposed to do it slowly), they'll eat only their normal food and leave the raw untouched.

Two of my cats also won't touch things like cooked turkey, sandwich meat, cheese, etc...  although one will go crazy over that sort of thing, but still won't touch raw.

Too old and set in their ways, I guess...

[Heather]

Are you on the rawcat list, Dawn? If not and you really do want to switch your cats, those are the professionals on there. Many people it took them a YEAR to switch their kitties. I think the biggest thing is not that they eat it, but that you introduce it into their bowls so they understand it's food. It's also recommended to switch from kibble to canned as the consistancy isn't that drastic as it is with raw and dry.

If you want it here it is.
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawcat/

[Pumpkinseed]

Im curious about this raw diet  thing.. I dont know what i would do to even start it.
I think it would be benefitial to me and my cats.. <.< I'm having issues with one of my cats. not with blockage. But the opposite.

A word of advice on that - do you feed high quality food?  You can feed less of that, and it will result in less poo.  (and less smelly, at that.) 

I wish I could get my cats on a raw diet...  I've tried!  They're just too damned picky, and even if I try putting the smallest amount of the raw food in with their normal food (since Iknow you're supposed to do it slowly), they'll eat only their normal food and leave the raw untouched.

Two of my cats also won't touch things like cooked turkey, sandwich meat, cheese, etc...  although one will go crazy over that sort of thing, but still won't touch raw.

Too old and set in their ways, I guess...

these two will eat ANYTHING. <.<
theyve jumped on ramen.. licked egg shells behind my back when I was cooking.. they like lunch meat. they arent very picky. I just have no clue where I would start on this raw diet thing.. or where I would get the food. It would be worht a try

[Heather]

Pumpkinseed- join the raw cat list and visit rawfedcats.org You get food where you get any other food- the grocery store. If you want to buy whole prey then rodent pro is a very good option. It's really not as difficult as it seems.

[Pumpkinseed]

Pumpkinseed- join the raw cat list and visit rawfedcats.org You get food where you get any other food- the grocery store. If you want to buy whole prey then rodent pro is a very good option. It's really not as difficult as it seems.

thank you lol

[Pumpkinseed]

i read the whole thing
.. and tried it.
Im SO proud of my boys. they took to it right away. Boo is picky about what peice he eats though. thats about it. .. but they're both relatively young. They like chicken <.<

[Heather]

Introduce as much variety as possible to combat the picky cat syndrome. My one boy doesn't keep beef down but my girl will. I do not feed beef anyway as it's really not a natural food source of cats. I try and stick with smaller critters.

[NutKitty]

Are you on the rawcat list, Dawn? If not and you really do want to switch your cats, those are the professionals on there. Many people it took them a YEAR to switch their kitties. I think the biggest thing is not that they eat it, but that you introduce it into their bowls so they understand it's food. It's also recommended to switch from kibble to canned as the consistancy isn't that drastic as it is with raw and dry.

If you want it here it is.
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawcat/

Trust me, I've read up on the raw issue for years now...  and I can't go all canned because two of my cats really don't care for canned food.  They love their EVO! 

I put out a small can of wet food out every night as mostly a treat, and only one cat even touches it.  The other two are just too picky. 

All three have beautiful coats and are in amazing shape, so I'm just going to stick with what they like for now.   

[Pumpkinseed]

so
is there anyway to do raw but still free feed dry? and what dry would be good? I'm still easing them onto it so they still have dry but they dont really eat it anymore... it seems they actually get full lol

[werecatrising]

Some cats are more sensitive than others. I have a male, Ebony< who blocks if he strays the slightest bit from a prescription diet. I don't like having him on it, but I am not going to jeopardize his health. The prescription diets alter the ph of their urine. This is something a raw diet won't do. There are additives you can add to the food (raw, whatever) that can help lower the ph if that is a route you are more comfortable with. I treid that for awhile since I pretty much despise the prescription diets. It was too hard to get it in to him though, so I eventually gave in.

[Rat girl]

Sorry its taken me so long to update!

We ended up sending the cat home, i wasn't there when she picked him up.  My coworkers were pretty much bummed, because the lady was not pleasant and still insisted on asking everyone if they'd take him home.

I thought about him a lot for the first few days, then it kinda eased away.  The woman kept calling the clinic because he was leaking urine, and she was ticked off that she paid all that money and he wasn't completely back to normal.  "Last time, he was right as rain the very next day!"

I hadn't really thought about him for a few days, when lo and behold.. a number i do not recognize shows up on my caller ID.  It was her.  (This was last night)

She jumped right to the chase on the phone, complaining that it was 'impossible' to keep 'her' (the cat is a male) out of her dogs' food dish.  And, she either has to lock him up in their walk in closet or let him eat the dog food.  I tried giving her ideas of things to try to make it less painless to keep each animal to their own food, but she wasn't having none of it.

Then i tell her i have 4 dogs, and 4 cats.  And she drops a bomb... "Well, he's never been around other cats, just dogs.  So maybe he'll be better off here." Like she was actually concerned for the cat...

How?

She then went on to tell me she bought the cat out of spite because the breeder didn't think she could afford him.  The breeder sold the cat to somebody right in front of her, and before the buyer left, she stopped her and nearly doubled the offer just to prove to the breeder she could.  That's how she got him.  She also told me how she kept him in a "cage" in her yard at her old house, and wishes she had the same set up available to her where she moved to... 

So anyway, after talking for awhile, i told her that 1) i don't really need another cat.  2) I probably won't be able to do a much better job of keeping him out of other foods, and if i am able to, it'll be a lot more difficult to do then it is at her house.  and 3) Do not give the cat away to just anybody.  4) I will get back to her in a few days after i have time to think about it.

So...  I have no idea, i'm really leaning towards taking him.  But the whole lifestyle of all of my animals would have to change drastically.  The cats right now we pretty much feed seperate already.  Milo and Mia eat in the laundry room, with the door shut.  Screech eats in the bedroom, so the dogs don't get it.  However, right now we do not have a door on the room, so another cat could easily get to his food.  Only a baby gate closes off the room, which other cats can jump.  Puss N Boots is usually in the garage, so she eats there.  The dogs, we feed three times a day, usually in groups of two.  It's just "easier" that way, they don't squabble as much.

 

These are the only pics i have of him, from my camera phone.  They were taken the first night he stayed at the clinic.






What do you think? 

[Pumpkinseed]

my grandmother would LOVE him.
its all she wants.
He really is handsome ... but im bias.. I grew up around them
But the lady seriously seems crazy. Too bad you dont know nayone esle.