So, background... my kitten Bear has had intermittent diarrhea since I got him in July. First it was horrible, incessant and scalding his butt. He had roundworms and coccidia, though, so we figured that was the cause. My regular vet mentioned that there are protozoa that are hard to find in a fecal smear as well, but that we'd see how treatment went for the first two lovely parasites. Of course, even after Bear's stool tested negative for both the roundworms and coccidia, he continued to have diarrhea on and off, so my vet said that he thought Bear had tritrichomonas foetus and that it is not abnormal for them to not have seen it in Bear's stool tests. He said that if that was the case, Bear could continue having diarrhea on and off for 5-9 months or longer. As the diarrhea has continued sporadically, I believe his diagnosis.
However, Bear has now had diarrhea for four days straight, and it is currently squirting out at the consistency of thin broth. Worried that he might be dehydrated, I called the vet's office to get an opinion as to whether or not I needed to bring him in, or if the vet had something he would send home for Bear, etc. Unfortunately, as it figures, my vet is on vacation for the next week. The receptionist said she'd ask one of the other vets at the practice for her opinion. Of course, she ends up asking the one that I was already unsure about, as she'd seen Bear the day before he almost died and had not noticed much of anything wrong. Now I feel like she's completely incompetent.
She decided that since we didn't have an affirmative test for tritrichomonas that Bear must have a digestive issue instead, completely disregarding the opinion of the vet that has seen Bear almost every visit through his illness. She has only seen Bear twice, once that I mentioned earlier, and another time just to recheck him and his stool for parasites. She didn't want to see Bear, disregarded my concerns about dehydration, and tried to make me buy canned i/d food (prescription food for digestive issues) and Tylan powder (an antibiotic) for Bear.
I looked up the i/d food, and the ridiculous stuff is about 29% carbs dry weight... if cats have trouble digesting carbs, why on earth would I give him more of them when he's having digestive troubles?! The food I currently have him on is only 6% carbs and is grain free. Additionally, how is it a good idea to be killing off bacteria in Bear's gut? The antibiotic will kill both the bad AND the good bacteria and she did not give me any probiotics to replace the good bacteria. I flat out refused the i/d food and took the powder, as she was not offering anything else. I tried feeding the powder mixed into Bears food as directed and he hates it... it took him 2 hours to eat what was in the bowl.
So, now I'm sitting here ticked off, thinking that this vet is an idiot and that my poor cat still has no help. I'm planning on scheduling a visit with the third vet in the practice tomorrow if Bear still has diarrhea, and am going to tell the office that I no longer want any visits or advice from today's vet. Am I being self righteous and sticking my opinion where it does not belong, or am I being reasonable? I don't want to cause a big stink if she's being sensible, but it really feels to me like she is not. Opinions? Advice?
However, Bear has now had diarrhea for four days straight, and it is currently squirting out at the consistency of thin broth. Worried that he might be dehydrated, I called the vet's office to get an opinion as to whether or not I needed to bring him in, or if the vet had something he would send home for Bear, etc. Unfortunately, as it figures, my vet is on vacation for the next week. The receptionist said she'd ask one of the other vets at the practice for her opinion. Of course, she ends up asking the one that I was already unsure about, as she'd seen Bear the day before he almost died and had not noticed much of anything wrong. Now I feel like she's completely incompetent.
She decided that since we didn't have an affirmative test for tritrichomonas that Bear must have a digestive issue instead, completely disregarding the opinion of the vet that has seen Bear almost every visit through his illness. She has only seen Bear twice, once that I mentioned earlier, and another time just to recheck him and his stool for parasites. She didn't want to see Bear, disregarded my concerns about dehydration, and tried to make me buy canned i/d food (prescription food for digestive issues) and Tylan powder (an antibiotic) for Bear.
I looked up the i/d food, and the ridiculous stuff is about 29% carbs dry weight... if cats have trouble digesting carbs, why on earth would I give him more of them when he's having digestive troubles?! The food I currently have him on is only 6% carbs and is grain free. Additionally, how is it a good idea to be killing off bacteria in Bear's gut? The antibiotic will kill both the bad AND the good bacteria and she did not give me any probiotics to replace the good bacteria. I flat out refused the i/d food and took the powder, as she was not offering anything else. I tried feeding the powder mixed into Bears food as directed and he hates it... it took him 2 hours to eat what was in the bowl.
So, now I'm sitting here ticked off, thinking that this vet is an idiot and that my poor cat still has no help. I'm planning on scheduling a visit with the third vet in the practice tomorrow if Bear still has diarrhea, and am going to tell the office that I no longer want any visits or advice from today's vet. Am I being self righteous and sticking my opinion where it does not belong, or am I being reasonable? I don't want to cause a big stink if she's being sensible, but it really feels to me like she is not. Opinions? Advice?
The second he starts acting lethargic, I'd be taking him to an emergency vet.
