UTI?

[Traci]

You posted this last Thursday, and you're only taking her to the vet tomorrow?? Do you understand that UTI's and crystals are extremely painful and debilitating and how much damage they can cause to the bladder and urethra and kidneys?

It isn't wise to give vaccinations yourself, for some very simple reasons, but can be harmful for your cats:

1) If buying vaccines from any place other than your vet, you cannot gaurantee their safety or effectiveness.

2) Vaccines must be shipped and stored in dry ice, then stored in a refrigerator. Once mixed, they must be used immediately, they cannot be exposed to sunlight or left out in a room for any amount of time. If you buy your vaccines other than from a licensed vet, you will never know how the vaccines were stored, how shipped, how handled.

3) You will never have quality or a gaurantee of the vaccine if it was not purchased/administered by a licensed vet, since the vaccine manufacturer will never gaurantee the vaccine if the owner gives it themself. This means that if a sarcoma develops, or a serious reaction that requires emergency veterinary medical treatment, you will have absolutely NO recourse against the manufacturer for reimbursement of costs, etc.

4) ALL vaccines have the potential to cause serious reactions, and if your cat(s) had a serious reaction and you didn't get him/her to a vet immediately for proper emergency care, you could seriously harm your cat(s).

5) Most owners don't know how to properly give vaccines, and many don't know what distal means, and if you vaccinate anywhere near the shoulder blades or into muscle or anywhere that is not as distal as possible, you are risking sarcomas....likewise, if you are buying adjuvated vaccines, this may increase the risk of sarcomas. Equally as important is live vs killed vaccines, do you know what the difference is, and do you know what each individual cat's specific needs are?

6) If you don't have your cats regularly examined yearly or twice yearly, one or more could have a hidden underlying illness that could exacerbate or become quite dangerous if a vaccine is given without proper diagnosis and treatment prior to a vaccine. This is why it is imperative that your cats are examined, with bloodwork every year to ensure they are NOT developing an illness that would be contraindicated for vaccinations.

7) Rabies vaccines are required by law to be administered only be a licensed vet. If you give Rabies vaccines yourself, they are considered void and invalid by your vet and the state. Therefore, if one of your cats gets loose, and is picked up by animal control, depending on quarantine policies in that state, your cats are at serious risk if you cannot provide acceptable proof of a Rabies vaccine/certificate of vaccination by a licensed vet.

Please think of the health and safety of your cats, only your vet can examine them yearly and detect hidden problems. Only your vet should give vaccinations that are appropriate for their ages, risk factors, health status, individual needs as they apply, and only your vet can give a Rabies vaccine and sign a Rabies certificate to be considered valid and legal.

[celt42]

Yes, I posted this on Thursday, and am only NOW taking her to the vet. It's a small town and in case you forgot, Thursday was Thanksgiving. Even if I was in town, the Vet was closed for the holiday weekend.

[Traci]

There's only one vet in the area?

[celt42]

There's the vet that I do use when I go to the vet. I'm also just back in town from visiting family over thanksgiving.

[mamabear]

Ok so what about the cat? Did you get the kitty to the vet and how is kitty? I am a bit surprised that the kitty had to suffer while everyone else was having a great time during turkey day. But that is not the point , the point is what about the kitty now. What did dr. say?

[paschat]

celt42, your location says Portland. Is that Portland Oregon or Portland Maine? If you're in Portland Oregon there are a few emergency vets that are open on all holidays including Thanksgiving, I've used them myself. A cat with a UTI is an emergency situation and can lead to irreversible damage to the cat, not to mention horrible pain and suffering. PLEASE TAKE YOUR CAT TO THE VET ASAP! How would you like it if you had a painful UTI and nobody would help you? This poor, innocent animal is completely dependant on you for help. Please do the right thing and help this cat right away.

[celt42]

Ok,
1. I haven't lived in Portland in years. I now live in a rural area.
2. I came to this site looking for advice. I then acceded and said I would bring my cat to the vet, when it turned out that giving her antibiotics wouldn't work.
3. People on this site have continued to act as if I said I was just going to continue to leave my cat in pain.
4. I said that I was short on cash, and everyone assumes that that means I'm short on sympathy. I wanted to avoid the vet IF POSSIBLE. I never said I wouldn't take her in if needed. If I had been so sure that I didn't need to I wouldn't have come to this site for help.

To those of you who were kind enough to just give me the facts to help me, thank you. To the rest, don't worry, if I ever need answers again, I'll look elsewhere.

[celt42]

One last thing, cat is on treatment and will be fine. She hasn't had the UTI nearly as long as I suspected. She just likes to use the bathtub as her literbox.

[Tambrey]

celt...I am sorry that you feel the need to defend yourself...but I just read through this entire thread and I do not see any instances where there was a need to be on the defensive...
you came for advice...you got it...you waited and yes, some got a bit upset..understandably....a UTI is a serious and PAINFUL thing, if you have ever had one yourself you would know....

I too live in a very rural place....draw a tic tac toe board and add a couple of alleys...this is how big my town is...the vet is in the next town...a bit bigger...6 miles up the road...the hospital is in the city about 40 minutes away...but even in rural communities, the vet is usually on call or has a back-up vet in a neighboring town to cover for him or her....

And most all vets, especially if they know you, are willing to make payment arrangements...I currently owe my vet $400 but he knows that he will eventually get paid...my husband also does computer work for him, so that helps with the bill...bartering is another good way to offset vet bills if they are willing to work with you....

Let us know how things go...

[celt42]

I disagree that there was no reason to be on the defensive. Every post after I said I was going to take M.K. to the Vet started lecturing about how I needed to do it right this second, and acting as if I was the worst of the worst for waiting until monday.