Seems fair to me. I’ve read that going into veterinary care is a tough way to make a living - vet school is extremely expensive and leaves doctors with big student loans to pay off.
Meanwhile, a lot of pet owners don’t understand that vets need to make a living too; they seems to think that it’s okay to miss appointments without penalty; no charges should be assessed if a sick pet dies while undergoing expensive treatments; and discounts/free services should be given for any feral animals brought in.
Overall, that’s just not fair. (Well, I do think that vets should provide cheap/free neutering services for strays through the Humane Society or something similar if they can - but in my experience, a lot of them do.)
My current veterinary service cracks me up. I’m quite certain there is a trade publication called “Vet Business Today” or something like that, devoted to helping veterinary practices become profitable through careful management as well as a few less savory means like upselling, and that the practice I go to avidly follows everything they advise (although they are pretty low-pressure on the upselling stuff).
One piece of advice I am positive they’ve taken to heart is, “always find some characteristic about the pet that you compliment to the owner.” I’ve been told my various cats have luxurious whiskers; are amazingly beautiful given that they came from a shelter; have a good temperament; and have a magnificent coat.
If they ever stop saying nice things, I’ll be very disappointed.
My vet is cool. I’m sad that we’re not getting another dog after losing Max partly because we won’t get to chat with him anymore. He was a roadie for years before finally deciding he was too old for that and went to vet school.
Seems like a nice practice to me. I say, go for it!
If I’m reading correctly, the deposit (upon your successful arrival with kitteh) is then converted into the charges for the initial exam, which IMHO is quite reasonable.
The fact that they specialize in behavioral consult is especially doubleplusgood since, really, that’s why you’re going.
Also concur that, given the timing of the attacks & your trips, your cat may simply be acting out like a pissed off teenager - literally, lashing out - through sheer anger (“My people left me!”) and/or frustration (“Why do they DOOOO THIS to MEEEE?!?1!”)
Mentioning that to the vet might help.
Joining the chorus of “pay the initial exam deposit and take them up on taking kitty there.” Cat specialized practices aren’t easy to find, grab that expert care while you can (yes, vets are in short supply)
They sound like a nice group of people and their policies seem reasonable, customary around me. My vets are cats only also, although they sneak in some bunnies.
Seriously, that’s okay if it is indeed needed. On the other hand, part of being a responsible vet is understanding that - gasp! - animals brought in will poop, scratch, bite, have bad breath, etc.
I brought my boy Finn to the vet just a few days ago (he’s the one that bit indiscriminately before turning into an angel) and, as he always does, he peed nasty-smelling boy urine into the carrier. The vet was doing something or other that involved bringing his face into close proximity. I apologized - “Sorry, you must be smelling horrible male cat pee smell right now. He always pees when I put him into a carrier. Of course, being a vet, you probably do endure a lot of bad smells.”
The vet was awesome - he said, “oh, no problem - you’re right. In fact you have no idea what nasty smells we face regularly. It’s part of being a vet.”
That seemed like a good attitude. Similarly, accepting that bites and scratches are possible should also be part of the deal. I’ve seen vets wear protective gloves (similar to what falconers use) because they accepted that bitey, scratchy animals were part of what they signed on for.
Your vet may be great, but a vet who complains about predictable animal behavior to the point of asking that the owner use tranquilizers (c’mon, a trip to the vet is stressful for even a very mellow pet) might raise some red flags for me. As far as I know, tranquilizers are NOT recommended for cats, as a general matter, unless the situation is otherwise hopeless.
Another:
We just had him at the vet for a urinary tract thing. I was sick and wobbly and couldn’t give him the pill. Some how they got him boxed up and to the vet without.
Apparently he was fine.
I was public enemy number one after he got home tho’
He ignored me for 2 days. Til he was starving for a treat. Got over himself and came to me.
So sorry you are going through this. The separation anxiety seems to make sense, that is if it’s not a physical issue like pain or the hormones. I am in favor of getting the vet checkup to make sure. And that they offer behavioral consults too is great.
I knew an abandoned outdoor-only cat (also an orange tabby) who neighbors put food out for, and he loved getting attention from me, but eventually he started acting a bit aggressively (swatting my legs angrily) when I’d have to leave. Some cats sure don’t mince words when they are unhappy about something. But biting and clawing ferociously is not ok, of course, so I really do hope you find not only a reason, but also a good solution to this behavior.
Also consider hyperthyroidism. We adopted an older cat that was hyperthyroid but on pills. Since she was not a good pill taker, we got her irradiated. She went from “Sydney Hellcat” to “Sydney SweetiePie.”
The first vet appointment available is Aug 2 and the receptionist said that if we want to try for an earlier date, keep calling every day or 2 in case of cancellations.
Meanwhile my husband went to Petco and found Hemp Seed Calming Chews and Wheat Grass Wellness Grass for him, and he seems to like them, so hopefully they have a good effect.
We’ve seen feral cats fighting in the driveway next door to us which makes me wonder if it will help or not if we let him out? He’s an indoor cat because of the ferals and because we’re close to a busy road. I take him out occasionally on a leash and harness, and whenever I do, he seems to be sniffing the ground in a low prowling stance. Sometimes he yowls at the door as if asking to be let out.
“Close to a busy road” is not usually a good place to let a cat out. Can you make him an outdoor enclosure? (Note that an enclosure that will hold dogs won’t hold a cat! It needs wire over the top and under the ground.)
And you may need to watch, if you do this, to make sure the neighborhood ferals aren’t harassing him from right outside the enclosure; which would probably get him all worked up and frustrated.
Oh, “let him out” is the wrong term. I should have specified “take him out on a leash”. Which I did this evening. He doesn’t usually want to stay out for long, and sometimes when a car drives by or an extra loud truck goes down the busy road near us, he gets scared and scoots back in.
When I went out for my own walk I saw a new small young cat, possibly a feral, in the driveway 2 houses down, and another young one under a car across the road, so there may have been a fertile female in the area around 5 months ago. Or else someone is letting their young cats roam around the neighborhood.
Given what you describe about the ferals and the road, I wouldn’t let him out. Cat fights can be nasty; my cat (40+ years ago) was an indoor / outdoor cat; she ws bitten by another cat once, and 8 hours later her leg was so swollen she could barely move. Death by car is not good either. Kinder to euthanize him, really.
Though I do really hope the vets are able to help you sort out his behavior.
As far as reacting to outside cats: I can definitely believe some of his behavior issues might be triggered by the presence of others outside. The one time our sweetheart of a fellow ever injured me was when there was another cat outside on our deck; Pete was looking at the cat through the glass door, and starting to do that low growl, and I foolishly came up and tried to stroke him to calm him down. He moved like lightning to twist around and slash my arm with his claws. My own fault, really - I knew he was stressed, and I startled him.
is he in the la area? if he’s the one I’m thinking of he’s been on tv a few times …I remember him saying hed been one of the Rolling Stones roadies every time they went on tour until he was almost 30 and Keith Richards was asking him one day what else he going to do with his life and he remarked “When Keith Richards is questioning your life choices maybe you need to make a change .”…
But yes we had a mentally disturbed cat we named “evil kitty” who had been thrown out of a car behind a warehouse and was found next to her almost dead sister and dead sibling only one person could get near for most of her life and even then shed get violent at the drop of a hat…
i think she had cancer at the end and was senile because you could totally pick her up and shed purr and be a normal cat … we always felt sad that’s how it should of been …
I’m glad you are seeing a vet. The deposit for new customers sounds totally reasonable. And it’s great that they advertise expertise in behavioral issues. My vet is really good with cat behavioral problems.
As for doping cats before taking them to the vet, that’s not all that uncommon. I’ve never had a cat who needed that, but I’ve known other cats that did, and both the cat and the vet find the experience less traumatic that way. (My current cats get bribed with treats by the vet, which seems very successful.)
I had a cat on Valium once, too. The vet wrote the scrip, and i filled it at a local pharmacy. We’d just moved, the cat was very stressed and peeing in inappropriate places, and the Valium worked great. He looked happier, and stopped peeing outside the box. After he’d gotten accustomed to the new home (a few months) we stopped the Valium and he was fine. Honestly, the Valium saved him from being euthanized, because I’m very sensitive to the odor of cat pee and was near the end of my rope. And you can’t re-home an old cat who pees in the house.
There are lots of non-drug behavioral interventions, too.
