To not do everything my vet tells me to do?

[BettySuarez]

We have 1 cat and 1 dog and both are up to date with flu vaccines (cat) plus Parvo and Kennel Cough (dog) plus both are regularly wormed and de-flead etc.

At the vets this week, cat was having booster jabs and vet was trying to persuade me to also have her vaccinated against Feline Leukaemia (?sp).

When I declined - she tutted at me

A I being unreasonable to think that 'enough is enough' and that I can't mitigate against every virus or threat that our pets might face?

I have always considered myself to be a responsible pet owner but surely a line has to be drawn somewhere.

So, should I hand myself in now to the RSPCA?

My cat had it. Was an indoors cat. Kitten when I got him. Clever brother suggested diagnosis over the phone as found lumps in his tummy, diagnosis confirmed by lab. Died of other cause.

The other 'extra' is Spot On flea treatment.

£24 a pack at my vets and only £14 for the same in Asda.

At every annual check up the vet looks at the cat's records and does cat's-bum face at me because the records show I have not bought any flea treatment from her surgery , so she therefore assumes I am not using flea treatment on the cat.

I am - I just buy it in Asda.

YABVU because if this was a child rather than a cat, you wouldn't have even had second thoughts.

wetaugust I've always been led to believe any flea or worming treatments you can just buy in the supermarket or wherever have been proven to be pretty ineffective. We've always bought frontline and milbemax on prescription because of that. Would be great (and cheap for me) if someone can convince me otherwise though!

We don't have cats. Our dog has everything the vet recommends and certainly we'd not be allowed to leave him at kennels without flu and kennel cough vaccine.

With the horses we just have their flu vacs done yearly although I know many vets now try to persuade you to have them 6 monthly. We do feel that our vet loves to experiment and get to the bottom of situations regardless of cost. Don't think he is trying to rip us off just that he is naturally curious and we have to rein him in sometimes.

I am a vet.

Tutting is unprofessional.

Not vaccinating an outdoor cat against the most common cause of cancer in cats is just daft.

Your vet probably tutted because it is not fun to tell someone their pet is dying of a preventable illness and she has to do it all too often.

Our vet is pretty good, but I don't always take their advice. A few years ago we had a very elderly cat - he had a couple of bouts of ear infections, not unusual, and he had had chronic ear infections when he had been rehomed to DP (he was an elderly rescue cat) - they responded well to treatment and he was a happy easy going soul. Bearing in mind we didn't know exactly how old he was, the vet suggested operating on his ears 'in case' the infections were being caused by polyps, and we declined. It seemed rather invasive and risky for an old cat with no guarantee that was the problem or if it would cure it, this would have also cost a lot of money, whereas simply treating it with drops was inexpensive and worked. He died a couple of years later from an unrelated illness.

It's a tricky one.

We always had our cats absolutely up to date with every jab under the sun.

One of them died of a cancer which is apparently caused (vet told us) by giving vaccinations in that place.

Seems you can't win sometimes.

IME vets take the piss..I actually dread taking any of the cats or dog to the vet as I know I will get pestered to spend more money than I planned. They play on the fact we love our pets and the prices they charge for a vaccine are stupidly high anyhow. No doubt they could do it for half the price but then wouldn't be able to afford the Range Rover outside ! I have no qualms about saying no, firmly as well !

It's cruel not to have their teeth descaled. They could be suffering dental pain

My older cat has to have her teeth attended to under GA every year, but it's worth it to know that she isn't in pain with chronic toothache or even an abscess.

Cats nowadays are not cheap.

flea drops, worm drops, insurance, vaccinations, dental work, baskets, little toys, feliway spray, scratching posts, Hills Science diet, Felix marinades, microchips, cat flaps, castration/speying, £15 per day for the cat lady when we are on holiday ...............

We have three wonderful boys, one of whom has cost our insurers £3k in the last 18 months, and we love them to bits. But pets are expensive and the cost must be considered before you accept them into your family.

Our vet is lovely too and I don't begrudge a penny of it.

That's a very misinformed post topknob.

Vets have trained as hard and are just as qualified as doctors. We're spoiled with the NHS in that we don't know or appreciate the costs of health care so that people think vets, who earn a great deal less than doctors, are taking the piss.

We have to accept pets are not cheap and people shouldn't have them if they can't afford their health care.

My two year old cat died of FL. Cost us a lot more in vet bills trying to make him well again before he was diagnosed and then we realised he wasn't going to get better. My next cat was vaccinated against it and lived to 15 and was hardly ill at all right up to the end.

If FL is in an area it spreads very quickly. It is not the same as the Leukaemia humans get.

discrete, vaccine associated sarcomas are recognised as a risk but their occurrence in the UK is extremely rare. They are more common in the USA where rabies vaccination is more frequently carried out. The risk of FeLV is much, much greater than the risk of a sarcoma developing. I realise that is no consolation to you :(

RDoo makes some very good points, especially with regard to costs. We can do so much more for pets than we could 20 years ago. But it costs much more and people who aren't used to paying for healthcare are often shocked by that.

FWIW I'm not a partner, just an employee, so I don't ever directly benefit from the recommendations I make to an owner. I always make the client aware of every option and make clear which is the best for the animal. It is not my job to judge how much anyone wants to spend on their pet - I give the info and the owner decides. I think you'll find most vets take the same tack.

I'm interested to hear from anyone who would prefer not to be advised of all the treatment options for their pet. Would you really have preferred the vet to have denied you the option of including a vaccine which the majority of cat owners elect to use? Can you describe how the consult could have been better from your point of view?

Samver my aunt vaccinated her cats every year and two of them died of it, and your answer only confirms what I said.

Oneofthosedays

It is Frontline spot on that I buy in Asda.

I agree that most/all of the other flea treatments that they sell in supermarkets are ineffective but this is the real deal.

YANBU.

I am a qualified veterinary nurse who worked in practice for 17 years until 5 years ago. I would actually find it very difficult to work in practice again as I do not follow the 'proper' procedure. I only vaccinate every 3 years. I raw feed my dog and am trying to get my cats transitioned to raw too but they are hooked on kibble crap so it is taking longer.

When I got my youngest cats I took them to the last practice I worked at for their first vaccinations and instead of being given a choice they were automatically given the FeLV vaccine. None of my other cats were ever given it. (the older your cat is the more likely it will have built up some immunity anyway). I only worm IF they have worms and only use flea product IF they have fleas. Even then I am considering using human grade diatomous earth instead of any chemical wormer or flea treatment.

Ask yourself if my child only needs one or two boosters in a lifetime why do my pets need them annually? You can ask for titres to be done which will show if your pet still has immunity or not.

I'm that you've got a 14yo cat and this is the first time it's been suggested.

I got out cat in 1990 (so 22 years ago and she's been gone a few years)
We had the annual boosters + feline leukaemia (and cat Aids IIRC) since the mid 90s.

If they have the disease they have to be housecats I think.

I have had several cats in the last 20 years. My dearest one, had injection site sarcoma. No doubt about it. We had lots of expensive treatment, traumatic for her, but it worked. Oh yes. Then a year later, fit and healthly, she dropped dead in front of me, aged 12. Stone dead, nothing to do with the treatment. It was horrible. Her brother (litter partner) was with us for another three years then wandered off and that was it. The current cats, who are nice pedigree etc etc, have Bob Martins wormers and that's it. They have a lovely life but they are not more important than the rest of the family and I won't be spending ££££££ again after the first experience (£6k in total, £5k paid by petplan).

I think you're a bit confused 70s

We've been taken for a ride by a few vets. Most recently, we were quoted upwards of £600 for dental treatment. I phoned around and found a different vet who charged only £200.

I fully agree that vets can sometimes pressure us into accepting treatments that just line their pockets.

YANBU. We have a 19 year old cat who has hyperthyroidism and kidney problems. She has 2 tablets a day and although she's slightly frail she has a good quality of life -good appetite, can move about without difficulty, enjoys pottering round the garden etc.

When we have seen recently qualified vets at the practice they are all for repeating full blood tests every 3 months - involving taking blood from her neck which distresses her - and putting her on a very restricted diet. The partners however are much more pragmatic. Their view is that as her weight hasn't changed in a year and she's in apparently good health, the tablets are working and if a 19 year old cat can't have a bit of cream/sausage/ham/prawns/chicken/cheese/tuna then it's a bit of a miserable life for an old girl. We only see the partners these days!

And none of our cats have never been vaccinated and none have ever suffered from anything that the jabs would've protected them from. One was pts following a stroke and two due to bowel cancer. Funnily enough the vets have never, ever pushed vaccinations.

70isa there is no vaccine for FIV so your cat would not have been getting that but you are correct that if a cat is diagnosed with FIV they should be kept indoors to prevent infecting others.

A vet was very unpleasant to me, when I refused to have my dog operated on for mammary cancer. It was in several teats, and would have been a massive op. I opted to let her enjoy the time she had left, without having to go through the pain of surgery, which wouldn't necessarily solve the problem. She was old and I loved her.
Sometimes it seems to be all about the money.

my boy is vaccinated for this but he didn't have a blood test first. That said last time he was vacc'd the vet said he needed his teeth descaling. I didn't get around to having it done so might get told off this time!