Hey Pet Parents & Pet Lovers,
As promised, here’s a little update on Beau’s UTI. Unfortunately, we’re not 100% sure where he’s at… Midway through taking his antibiotics, he seemed completely fine. The bleeding stopped and he was peeing only a few times a day (which is normal due to the amount of water we mix inside of his food.)
Yesterday at 4 in the morning I had the biggest scare when I woke up to Beau wailing. He wasn’t in the litter box, so it wasn’t him being blocked, he was just standing by my head wailing. I took a quick look at his incision site and everything looked fine. No blood (which is easy to see if he had been bleeding, and none of the litter boxes had blood… although I don’t know which cat the pee was from.)
I decided to stay up since Beau isn’t usually the most verbal cat and he usually only speaks when he’s lonely, needs to tell us he’s hungry or is in a lot of pain (usually when he’s at his absolute worst.)
Within the first 30-minutes of me being awake, Beau ended up peeing on our luggage bag. Uh-oh. Then a bit later he found his old bed and peed blood on it. I freaked out, called the emergency and asked if there was anything they could do for him or if we could get a refill of medications. They said that the doctor we went to wasn’t in and that she wouldn’t be in until Wednesday so they would have to charge us the $150 check-in fee again since a new doctor would have to look at him. (Mini-side note… how do you feel about that? Their policy is: we waive the fee if it’s the same problem, but only if you have the same doctor, yet their doctors only work about twice a week. $150 is VERY STEEP especially because it doesn’t include the medications or other exams they will probably have to do. I’m also very used to vets allowing me to reorder medications as long as they are a few days immediately after the prescription ends or months later if they know about Beau’s situation, which I know isn’t the case this time. The doctor also initially said: I don’t think this is going to be enough medication to make sure he’s alright, but we can try and if not you’re able to come back for free for a recheck. CLEARLY STATED.)
I had an odd conversation with the receptionist, who wasn’t the most friendly and actually gave me quite a bit of attitude. The conversation went a bit like this:
Me: Hey, I brought my cat Beau in last week because he was peeing blood. We saw doctor [x] and we’ve given Beau all the medications she recommended us to give him. He was fine for a few days, but today he’s spotting blood again. Is there any way we can bring him in again or refill his perscription?
Her: We can’t refill your perscription, you have to come back in for an exam. The recheck costs $150.
Me: Okay, well when we were there we were told rechecks for the same issue would be free.
Her: Only if you see the same doctor.
Me: Odd that we weren’t told that, but that’s fine.
Her: Well why wouldn’t you have to pay again if another doctor has to see your cat? They don’t know your cat’s history so they have to reasses him.
Me: No, I get that, I’m just not sure why we weren’t told that specifically.
Her: You probably were. I would suggest going to another vet if you don’t want to pay for the recheck fee. It is pretty high.
Me: Well, do you know of any other vets that open early so we can take them to them instead? It’s Sunday, so I know most vets are closed.
Her: Let me get you some numbers. (which I was very appreciative of.)
She then proceeded to give me the number of one vet who unfortunately was about an hour and a half away by walking or 45 minutes away by the metro (which Beau does not do well on at all.)
Me: Thank you. Another quick question. Beau doesn’t seem to be in any pain, he’s actually sleeping right now, so we still haven’t given him any prazozin —
Her: You should have given him everything the doctor gave you.
Me: Actually no, she said that she gave it to us as a precaution of if he’s stressed or is struggling to —
Her: The doctor gives you medication so you can use it not — actually, I see here that she left a note saying that you didn’t have to give it to him.
Me: Okay great. My question still stands as: how important are the antibiotics right now if we keep his stress levels down. I know you can’t fully say since you might not be a vet tech (a lot of our receptionists in Toronto are actually trained vet techs or pet care graduates who will happily answer all of your questions, especially because they are usually the first to provide triage), and you’d have to see him, but since he didn’t pee blood for about 5 out of the 7 days, I may want to wait until our regular vet is open, I just want to make sure he’s okay and make sure we can reorder medications if we need a longer dosage.
Her: If you’re worried bring him here.
Me: I know, that’s why I’m asking you from a professional’s perspective if this is something I should be worried about. Again, he’s not straining and he’s asleep. You can also say you’re not able to give me advice over the phone, that’s fine.
Her: Just go to your own vet tomorrow.
Me: Okay, great. Thank you.
Her: Have a good night.
I don’t know. I told my hubby about the conversation then wrote down all I could remember about it since I didn’t know if I was overreacting to feeling like that conversation wasn’t pleasant, or if I was being sensitive when I was actually in the wrong, and still don’t know how I feel. I understand that a lot of people who go to vets aren’t very well versed in how to take care of their pets, so they need to be more careful, so I’m not bothered by the “no dispensing refills”, but it did feel like a somewhat pointed conversation.
Either way. We ended up not taking Beau to the vet yesterday because we didn’t want to stress him out with an hour and a half long walk, or take him on the metro, and he seems to be doing fine. He’s peeing lots, no blood, it might have just been a fluke. We’re still going to be taking him to the vet today (I’m writing this on Monday), to make sure that everything is fine and he doesn’t need any more medications and I will keep you updated as always. We’ve also informed our old vet about the situation, and they agreed that the conversation/policy was a bit weird, as they feel like we should have been given at least a second dose of medications free of checkup charge.
The little guy is currently sleeping at my feet in bed, and Kalista is sleeping on my chest. We have an amazing family, and I’m so happy that I found them both. Here’s to making sure Beau gets better!
So Pet Parents, what do you think about this situation? Don’t be worried to say how you really feel, or if you think I was in the wrong/being sensitive. I know I’ve been pampered with vets I’ve known long-term who know my history of pet care education, know that I’m actually hoping to go to school for vet care (when I have the money) and know how obsessed with research I am, so there’s a bit more trust between them and me. So to me, this was a bit of a weird situation.
Is it the 24/7 emergency hospital in Scarborough? Bought my bunny their once (six years ago I believe). They are all about money. Charged me over $700, they did blood work, x-ray and everything, and ended up telling me they are not very familiar with rabbits….SO THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BUNBUN!!!
No, I’ve never been to the one in Scarborough. I have, however, been to one in North York, Etobicoke and Downtown. *sigh* We’ve apparently had too many emergencies over the years.
Yikes. That conversation had me wanting to say some naughty retorts to that peeps ion the other end of your phone call.
Urgent care clinics keep records, and she obviously had yours pulled up cause she knew about the meds that had been ordered. So the poor worried pet parents that need to have a recheck should for sure not need to be in there as new patients. Like someone else pointed out, what if your own practice had more than one vet. I used to go to one with three,a d another with 6. (now I go to one with one…MOL!)
I get the feeling that person thought you were an over anxious idiot, but um…that is just all wrong. If you were, you would not have called them in the first place. (idiots don’t care about their fur kids…) And moreover, isn’t it a fact that the customer is always right, or should be treated as such?
And in fact all pet parents be they idiots or not, are the basis of the need for the emergency office in the first place. How would they treat you if you had some other need, say an injury…(hopefully never.).
I fired a vet cause she thought and said as much, that I was stupid to force feed my cat (Minko), no kitty would starve him/herself…um…really!? Meet Minko. She wasn’t having it. And though there were two other vets there whom I loved, I never could get in with them. The office staff were the best though, I just was seemingly always clashing over stuff with this young snooty vet lady. Hisses, and MJF would have grrr’d. He didn’t like her either, MOL!
The next office was helpful to the max with all of our furry ones, but since there were so many vets there, you never knew who you were going to see, and requests for a particular one was met with resistance…
So I quietly left there for the vet I now see…(however that large practice does have good hours, even on weekends…and I have gone there for emergency situations.)
I pray not to ever need out of hours care, cause the nearest emergency vet to us is in the next town over. At least a 40minute drive in good conditions.
I hope Beau continues to heal up from this UTI, and doesn’t need to have any more emergency care…at least not at *that* clinic.
Can you report them to the Better Business Bureau?
POTP for Beau!
Love to all!
I didn’t actually think about reporting them to be honest, and don’t know if it’s a case that would be worth reporting. I’d have to look up to see what cases they accept and what would be something that they’d like reported.
We’ve had to fire two vets in the past, both with bad experiences, which lead us to our amazing vet who we’ve been in love with since!
Poor Beau. We hope he feels better soon. I guess at that practice, they charge extra for compassion!
I would be very angry. It is not your fault the vet doesn’t work often, you should not have to pay for a recheck. I am glad Beau is feeling better.
Absolutely agree! And I don’t find that it’s very common that emergency vets don’t work frequently. I found it odd that she works only once or twice a week.
I agree with everyone else. This was not the way you and Beau should have been treated. It’s the same clinic, same issue…no charge for a recheck. I would have had a hard time holding my tongue. I hope Beau is okay.
He seems to be doing better. He wasn’t prescribed any new meds. Let’s hope that he is better. If not we’re renting a car and taking him to our old vet about an hour away.
Personally, I would have gone off at “You probably were. I would suggest going to another vet if you don’t want to pay for the recheck fee. It is pretty high.” That is not an acceptable response under the best of circumstances. I find that I have less and less tolerance for anyone who treats me like they’re doing me a favor instead of providing a service.
Amen to that. Obviously, finances are important, but it’s not like I’m not going to take my cat to the vet AT ALL because your fees are too high. I took him there in the first place. I’m more than happy to pay for it IF YOU TAKE CARE OF MY CAT, but the problem that YOU were supposed to solve was not resolved and it is your duty to work to fix it… because I already paid for it.
I would have gone off. They have records if the animal has been a patient there before. That is ridiculousness.
Absolutely agree. I don’t know if I’d ever return to them, even in an emergency situation. It would obviously have to depend on what the circumstances are, but I’ve already been working on routing a map to another location.
J: when you write down what you hear immediately, there’s less chance of misunderstood
conversation and from what I read here you were definitely NOT in the wrong.
one; any time a cat pee’s blood it’s cause for concern, especially males.
two; the lack of “compassion” and the
abrupt tone of the person at the vet, is in my opinion, unprofessional. they are a “service” oriented
establishment and just like a restaurant for example; poor service is poor service. the offices around
here are the same; it’s all about the almighty dollar first, the pet second or third and the ability to
relay information and LISTEN to what the pet parent is SAYING is 10th…if.
twice it was brought up that you should go to another vet//office; if they don’t want to see pets, why in the hell are they even open
this particular reply:
Her: Well why wouldn’t you have to pay again if another doctor has to see your cat? They don’t know your cat’s history so they have to reasses him.
would be the one having me asking the most questions; if this is the same OFFICE; why can’t everyone in the same OFFICE pull up a pet’s record…..if you have a multi vet practice A B and C should all be able to inquire what D did; it only makes sense.
you handled this better than me…. that’s all sailor tongue sally can say !! 🙂 ♥♥
Haha! I could not have worded this comment any better. I try my very best to be as polite as I can so that they can’t turn against me and blame the negative reaction on me. There have definitely been times where I want to pull out my sailor tongue… :’)
Okay, my first impression is…isn’t everything on a chart, so it doesn’t matter which vet you see? This exclusivity seems odd. You are going to the veterinarian’s OFFICE. Sure, charging for a new urine sample, or some other procedure makes sense, but imho you should have been able to bring Beau in without that $150 recheck fee…that’s extortion! Why Beau continues to have bloody urine is a puzzlement, but with the addition of Gary and now Kalista, perhaps he’s feeling uncertain and stressed, even if you cannot see him acting that way. I hope he settles down and finds the situation more relaxing for him; cats just get uptight sometimes! I would suggest anxiety meds for him, for awhile. I know there are some holistic products available, but they never worked for our cats, but the meds did! Good luck, and purrs to Beau.
For sure. I debated giving him some anixety meds (since we have them in our cupboard) but his food is also meant to reduce anxiety. I’m actually going to try to call both RC and SD to see what about the food makes it “stress relief” and if it’s actually supposed to work or if it’s not for cases like Beau. Something I didn’t say when we went to the vet the first time. She said that we shouldn’t give him the anxiety meds unless there were big reasons for it (ie. him straining or fireworks/really loud noises.) Otherwise the Stress Relief food would do the trick. When I asked her what was in the food, she said: I don’t know, I just know it works, which made me insanely uncomfortable. While we were walking Beau home, I mentioned that to my partner, and his response was “she has too much she has to know, so it’s fine that she didn’t know one thing”… but why wouldn’t I be uncomfortable if you’re going to push a product on me and not know why it works? It’s like when the other emergency vet kept trying to sell me feliway, even though it has NEVER worked on Beau. She kept saying, “well try again, maybe it will work this time.” *Sigh* I think I have a bad relationship with emergencies haha!
I’ve fired veterinarians for less, I promise you that! At least Chuck’s heart vet clearly stated that she believed I knew more about cat food than she did, so she wasn’t fired…but I fired her office after Chuck passed. And Feliway has never worked for us either; I wish it did, but nope.
It’s so odd that Feliway is pushed so hard. I understand that it works for some cats, but studies are so here and there. I definitely wouldn’t knock trying it, but when I say it doesn’t work for us the response shouldn’t be “well maybe you should try it again.”
I was so distressed for you on reading through the conversation, and you are absolutely NOT in the wrong or overreacting, you were unfortunately speaking to someone who really shouldn’t be in that job, there was no empathy or consideration for Beau or yourself, and no concern for the very serious condition Beau is in. Please don’t let it prey on your mind, and Binkie and I send love and purrs and positive thoughts for Beau at this stressful time for all of you xxx
Thank you Justine, that really means a lot. I was actually pretty shocked that that is how the conversation happened. <3 Sending love back at you