Time To Change Vets?

The vet that I'm using is a little, um, "old school." The first time we took Tasha to the clinic, it looked like it hadn't been remodeled since 1983 and Mr. Vet either had really bad hair or wears a really bad toupee. I still haven't figured that one out yet. That being said, I don't care what the hell my vet or my vet's office looks like as long as I feel like he's competent and caring.

Mr. Vet's Pros: Has been in business a LONG time in this area and all the reviews I've read of him online have been very good. Mike actually used this vet back a few years ago when he used to have cats and always felt like he did a good job.

Mr. Vet is EXTREMELY affordable. I'm almost shocked at how much lower his prices are compared to other vets around town. That does make me wonder, though, what he's cutting out to make his clinic so inexpensive.

Mr. Vet's office is 5 minutes from our house. Oh, the convenience!

Mr. Vet has the same breed of cat as us and he was pretty good with Tasha.

Okay, now on to Mr. Vet's Cons: He doesn't have the greatest bedside manner. For instance, when I went to pick Tasha up on Monday after her faux spay appointment (she still got microchipped, therefore was put under anesthesia), he walked up to me and said, "Are you the one with the cat?" Um, yes, I am. And my "cat" has been to see you three times in a month, so LEARN HER FUCKING NAME!!! But the real kicker for me was when he said he's assuming the scar Tasha has on her belly is from a past spay and not a C-section. "Guess we'll find out this Spring if she goes into heat." WHAT??!!! I'm not putting Tasha through this again, Motherfucker, so you better know for sure that she's been spayed! Aughhh!!!!

Secondly, I feel like I'm not getting told what the hell is going on/he doesn't really ask us any questions about her. I had no clue what vaccines he was giving her the first time we took her in. I had no clue how often I was supposed to bring her back in. Does she get a check up every six months? Once a year? TELL ME WHAT I'M SUPPOSED TO BE DOING HERE, DOC!

Third, when I woke up on Tuesday, Tasha had an eye infection. Which means one of two things, it may have been bacterial, in which case that makes me nervous that the vet's clinic was not clean or, more likely, the infection is viral. Okay, going to go off on a total sidenote here... This is now the second eye infection Tasha's had in a month, but in the opposite eye. Through doing my own research, I discovered all cats have the herpes virus in them (just like humans), but it may lay dormant in some cats, while other get flare-ups (hence, reoccuring eye infections.) It's just like how some humans never get a cold sore, but others get them all the time.

Once the virus flares up, they will always be more susceptible getting eye infections. And stressful situations can bring on the eye infections. Tasha had also been sneezing a lot the past few days, so she probably had a slight Upper Respiratory Infection (URI), then the stress of going to the vet brought out the virus, resulting in an eye infection. And, since we got her as a stray, we don't know her past medical history or how long she'd been living outside, which probably compromised her immune system even more. Living on the streets is hard, yo!

I discovered MANY, MANY cat owners deal with this problem on a regular basis and give their kitties Lysine supplements (the same ones that humans take and are found in the vitamin aisle at Walgreens). So I drug my happy ass to Walgreens, got her the Lysine, a pill crusher and a weekly pill box, crushed that bitch up and fed it to her with her Fancy Feast. And guess what? Her eye is all cleared up. Boo-Ya!

Tasha's Meds...Looks like an 80 yr old lives here:)

Okay, back to the vet. I'm pissed because even though Mr. Vet knew that Tasha was a stray, he mentioned NOTHING about her possibly having a compromised immune system or that we should be giving her Lysine supplements for her eye the first time we took her in to be treated for this. I read article after article online written by vets recommending this treatment, but maybe this is a little too "new school of thought" for Mr. Vet Toupee.

Oh, and apparently computers are too "new school" as well because his office does not have them. At all. None. They make their appointments using a ledger book thing and their files are actual files. In a cabinet.

So, Miss Tasha will be switching to a vet who can actually remember her name, ask questions about how I'm caring for her and educate me if I am not doing something properly. Thank goodness I discovered Catster as it has been a TREMENDOUSLY reputable source of information, far more than my vet has been.