Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Dancer's Awful, Terrible, Horrible, Stressful Visit to the Vet Clinic

Dancer During an Earlier Visit to the Vet

Yesterday (Monday), I called the vet clinic and made an appointment for Dancer to get his monthly injection for his arthritis.  The appointment was for today (Tuesday). at 1:45 p.m.  Dancer hates being in his carrier and he hates car rides even more.  He meows loudly, desperate, anxious meows, and he starts panting and hyperventilating.  I'm not sure if cats can have panic attacks, but, that is the only way to describe how he was, today.  By the time we got to the vet clinic, he had worked himself up to such a frenzy that he was drooling as well as  panting loudly and meowing  

The technician took him inside and then, came out almost immediately to ask whether he drooled like that at home, too.  I said no, he just doesn't like being in his carrier and car rides and finds it stressful.  When my daughter was home, she would sit in the backseat with him held on her lap and he would still meow loudly. but, when I am driving on my own, he has to be in the carrier at all times.  

A short time later, the technician came back out again and said the vet had checked him out and she had detected a murmur in his heart and they were concerned.  He is, after all, 15 years old.  They wanted to give him some sedatives to calm him down, give him oxygen to help with his breathing, and they wanted to take an x-ray of his chest; would I authorize the services and here's the estimated cost!  I couldn't say no, so, I said yes.  There would be a bit of a wait, I was told, and I said it was fine; I sat and read my library book, after I texted my daughter to let her know what was going on.

Some time later, the vet came out and we went into a side room and she said everything checked out well, he was not going into cardiac arrest as she had feared, and she will give me a sedative to administer to him, one to two hours prior to future car rides, to help him with his anxiety.  She also said that she did see a spot on one of his lungs in the x-ray and was going to send it to a radiologist and she will call me with the results once she gets the report.  Oh, and they did give him his arthritis medication, too!

Dancer was still meowing when they brought him out and the technician had a trash bag in her hand, as well.  Apparently, he had pooped in the towel I put at the bottom of the carrier, so they put the towel in the trash bag and put a disposable liner on the bottom of his carrier.  

Then, I paid the bill.  What was supposed to have been a routine injection turned out to be an emergency exam, with x-ray charges and sedatives added to the cost of the arthritis injection.  It was an expensive vet visit!  

Dancer meowed a few times in the car ride back and hyperventilated, but, to a lesser degree than before.  He has been hiding under my bed most of the evening, but, he did eat some tuna and I think he drank some water, too.  I don't think he has used the litter box, yet.  He has been avoiding me, but, he did come up on to the sofa at one point to look out the window:

Checking that all is well outside

And then, he turned around and glared at me:

"It's all your fault, Mummy, for taking me to the vet's!"

Hopefully, the sedatives I have to give him before taking him the next time will help!  If not, we might need to reconsider the need for monthly arthritis injections!  They seem to have helped him, but, I don't know if they are worth the stress of the trip to the vet clinic and back! 

Today, I am grateful for:
- Dancer survived his awful visit to the vet!
- I survived his awful visit to the vet!
- Being able to pay vet bills!  
- A safe drive to the clinic and back
- Chocolate!

Today's joyful activity was a phone chat with my friend E to wish her for her birthday.

24 comments:

  1. Oh poor Dancer. And poor you (emotionally AND financially) You must have thought you were going to lose him. There has been a lot of recent discussion of vets bills here in the UK. A lot of people got pets during the pandemic (for company at home, or on their daily exercise walk) and since then many vets have really put up their charges. Do you have pet insurance or is Dancer too old to qualify? Thinking of you (both) this week - my neighbour is on holiday and I am feeding her two cats

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    1. Thank you, Angela. Unfortunately, I don't have pet insurance for Dancer; up until this year, he has not had any major problems. I don't think he'll qualify for it at this point!

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  2. Oh poor you and poor Dancer! As I was reading I did think maybe he should have something instead of the arthritis injection but I'm not sure it's easy to give tablets to a cat, maybe crush the tablet and put in his food. I hope the spot on his lung is nothing to worry about but I do feel sorry for what you and Dancer have had to go through, neither of you need that stress.

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    1. Thank you, Eileen. I will speak to the vet to see if there are alternatives to the injections, but, it's not easy to give tablets to cats. We are both still recovering from yesterday's stress!

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  3. Oh, poor Dancer. None of our cats have ever liked going to the vet and meow loudly the whole way, pee and poop in the carrier, get special handling, etc., but none have had a panic attack like you describe with Dancer. I hope the sedatives work for his next visit. My sister has to give one of her cats meds before she takes her to the vet. They work pretty well for her.

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    1. Thank you, June. This is the first time Dancer has pooped in the carrier, but, I guess there's a first time for everything! I am fervently hoping that the sedatives I have to give him before the next visit will help! If they don't, then, I think we might reconsider the need for the monthly injections!

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    2. Do you have any mobile vets in your area who would come to the house and give injections?

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    3. I honestly don't know, but, I will look into that! Thank you!

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  4. Good day, Bless.👋ðŸŧ I can so emphasize with poor Dancer and poor you. I sincerely hope all will be well with you both very soon. You have my prayers. Take it easy today! Judy (in Anaheim) 😀

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    1. Hi Judy! So nice to hear from you again! Any updates on your nephew John?
      Thank you; Dancer and I are both still recovering from yesterday's trauma! But, we'll be OK. Hope all is well with you.

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    2. John is doing well, thanks for asking. Aside from a little scarring on his hand, it was like nothing happened. I guess being young helps! 😀

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    3. Oh, so glad to hear that! He's had quite a few people praying for him! :)

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    4. We all appreciate those prayers, too. Thank you everyone. (I noticed my typo above…it should have been “empathize”.) Yikes! ðŸĪŠ

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    5. No problem; I figured that's what you meant to say. :D

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  5. Poor Dancer. You are going to have to work hard to get into his good books again! I see you are grateful for chocolate. That sounds like a necessary requirement for recovery from your experience with the vet visit, especially with the bill afterwards!

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    1. Thank you, Bushlady. Yes, I've my work cut out for me, although, he did jump on the bed and rub his face on my arm in greeting, this morning. I appreciated that until I realized he had come straight from the litter box and well, let's just say I had to do two loads of laundry before I did anything else, this morning! :D
      Yes, chocolate is a great stress reliever! I also hadn't eaten anything all day and was starting to get a headache, so, a piece of chocolate helped with that, too. At least, that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it! :D

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  6. Oh dear that was quite the ordeal for both you & Dancer. I think cats do have panic attacks. I'm sure the vet can help you decide about weighing the benefits & cons of the monthly injections. Sometimes the cure is worse than the ailment. Chocolate definitely was needed at the end of the day :)

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    1. Thank you, Mary-Lou. Yes, I will be discussing the pros and cons of his treatments with the vet. Perhaps once my daughter comes home for the holidays - Dancer is supposed to be her cat, although he's with me!
      Chocolate is my cure-all! :D I was very sad when my taste buds changed during chemo and I disliked the taste of chocolate for the duration! I think at least 10 lbs. of the weight I lost during that time was due to not eating any chocolates! :D

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  7. Oh, poor Dancer. Going to the vet sure is stressful for cats, and it does sound like he had a panic attack. Do you not go in to the exam room with him? If you could, maybe that would calm him a bit. I always hold my cat when the vet examines her and gives her a shot. He'll forgive you! He needs the sedative next time, and you need lots of chocolate!

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    1. Thank you, Celie. I go in to the exam room with him when it is a vet visit, but, even then, they take him to a back room, where we are not allowed, for the various shots and other tests. This time, it was supposed to have been a technician visit - just a routine injection administered by a technician, although a vet is always available to check on them - as opposed to a vet consultation. Only problem was, this time, it turned out to be an emergency visit!
      We will try the sedative next time and hopefully, that will work!

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  8. Poor Dancer, and poor you! That must have been an incredibly stressful experience for the both of you. At least Dancer has now had a thorough examination, and I hope he calmed down quickly once he was home again. Xx

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    1. Yes, it was a very stressful experience! He has recovered from the experience (took a couple of days for the sedatives to leave his system), but, I'm not looking forward to the next visit!

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  9. oh my goodness! What an ordeal for Dancer and for you!
    I'm glad the vet gave you the medicine to calm him down for the next visit.
    I'm a week behind so hopefully his grudge-holding ability is not that long! lol

    I switched to a different browser on my laptop instead of the normal one to see if my comment would go through. If it does, then it was a problem on my end!
    Fingers crossed

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    1. Yay! You are able to comment, again! I'm so glad! I guess the switch to a different browser worked!
      Yes, it was an awful day and we were both very stressed at the end of it! Which reminds me, the vet never got back to me with the results of the x-ray! She did say that no news was good news. I certainly hope so!

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