Cat owners please help

I'm glad she is okay OP, I totally understand how you feel. Fingers crossed your baby feels better soon.

"But the vet today said she’s not even that bad."

Vet today saw a cat with 50mg of chill out juice on board :-) - which by the way, well done on getting into her, not all owners are handy like that. Anyway, if you think the cat and the vets just don't gel then it's probably a good idea to try another, and sensible to look when she's well again like you plan to do, rather than changing horses mid stream. Remember to tell the new vet about the blood in the urine when you go, even if it resolves itself, just so they know she could be FLUTD- prone.

"the OP was clearly not feeling reassured and surely the vet's job, as well as treating the animal, is to communicate to the owner so that they feel confident their pet is being given the best treatment."

OP said the original vet and the emergency vet on the phone both said it was a good sign that the cat was well in herself so that's more or less the best you can say.
I usually add that sudden onset frank blood in F+ in a young, otherwise animal is so unlikely to be cancer that I've never seen it in >20 years, even though I see cats with bloody D+ reasonably frequently (and dogs with it every day of the week). This often calms people down a bit because the excellent colon cancer awareness campaigns in humans have had the unfortunate side effect of completely freaking out owners with colitis pets. And that if it is just colitis then the amount of blood lost - a little bit looks like a lot- is not usually significant enough to be anywhere near needing a tranfusion.

OP said she was sobbing in consult, her partner thinks she's over dramatic and she took some meds herself to calm down last night. Not OPs fault that she feels how she feels but sometimes there's a limit to how reassured people feel till they start seeing the pet improving with their own eyes. I don't think an internet full of strangers telling her that her vet was useless and negligent and that her pet was being deprived of urgent treatment was going to help in the reassurance stakes.
Today's vet inspired more confidence in OP and was able to handle the cat more...probably benefiting from the gaba the first vet had given.

@powershowerforanhour the OP was clearly not feeling reassured and surely the vet's job, as well as treating the animal, is to communicate to the owner so that they feel confident their pet is being given the best treatment.

So I don't think the original vet did a very good job regardless of clinical ability.

You're a tough crowd!

"Needs emergency vet now" x 9
"Get a 2nd opinion/different vet" ×9
negligent (ouch!) x2
odd x2
bizarre
shockingly bad
not adequate
isn't good enough
not on
useless
appalling

for a diagnostic and treatment plan that I would have followed almost exactly, possibly with one small change- that in light of subsequent information after the first visit, might not have been the best addition anyway.

Thank you for asking after Elton @Discoprincess6 - unfortunately he died a few months ago of kidney failure but the bloody poo had nothing to do with that.

Great news @Discoprincess6 so glad the 2nd vet did an actual exam and gave you the meds that were needed hopefully she'll take her probiotic tonight

can I ask, how and when did they give her the gavapentin? Was this part of the treatment or to calm her down?

"Your cat reacted in a natural way "
true

"and your vet sending you away initially was not appropriate."
not necessarily true. What should they have done?

It's ridiculous for a vet to act this way. Your cat isn't a lunatic. When cats visit the vet, they're out of their comfort zone and can become frightened, causing them to hiss (in fear).

I wouldn't feel confident seeing a vet who wasn't comfortable around cats displaying 'adverse' behaviour. Your cat reacted in a natural way and your vet sending you away initially was not appropriate.

I hope your cat has a speedy recovery.

Glad the cat is doing better.

"I’m changing vets once she’s back to full health."
Why?

Interestingly the vet we saw was also pretty cavalier about Elton's bloody poo - I got the impression that it's usually not as serious as it looks and yes not weeing is much more serious, especially for boys

That changes nothing about my views here.

That’s an encouraging update. I hope your cat is soon back to full health.

This is one of the most common ailments that clients book an appointment for.

It usually ends up with some pro-bind paste (cheaper from a pet shop) and/or some NSAIDS and being told to give a bland diet like boiled fish.

Unless they're not eating/drinking and are lethargic it's generally not an emergency.

If they're not urinating then it's an emergency.

Yes they would. Then they'd prescribe gabapentin and trazadone (taken the night before and then 2 hours before appointment) and say come back in the morning.

Unless the cat couldn't urinate at all.

It's uttetly bizarre that TWO vets have been so cavalier about a cat with blood in her faeces. Or that a qualified vet would say leave her because she's behaving normal, when they know cats will hide even critical illnesses as long as they can.