Camus / Athos

[waywardcats]

Something is wrong with Camus / Athos the little wonky eared guy in my icon picture. He has hissed at me a couple of times when I touch his chest or try to pick him up. I'm concerned that he somehow cracked or broke a rib or has some sort of internal injury.

His usual vet, who knows him well closed her practice recently. I thought it was fortunate that it was the evening before his appointment with the new vet that I first noticed the problem. But, it seems more like bad timing than serendipity, because the new vets don't know him. So they think that the pain he is obviously in is related to his arthritis. It is not. But I am having trouble getting them to HEAR me when I tell them that yes, he lives in chronic pain, I am familiar with his pain, this is different.

It's worse than that, when we first visited the vet on Tuesday night for what was originally intended to be a "get acquainted" appointment, I didn't realize myself how bad it was.  He had only hissed at me twice at that point, and I was freaked out by the ordeal of getting him to the vet.  When I went to pick him up, he hissed at me and jumped down, this upset Porthos, who promptly jumped on top of him.  While I was containing Porthos, Camus crawled under the couch, crying.  I couldn’t lure him out, even with tuna, and finally had to drag him out by the scruff through an opening that was too small and obviously hurt him further.  So, there I was, freaked out and tired after a long day at work, facing a brand new vet and trying to explain that he was not in a normal state.  It didn’t sink in, and I was not in a good state to push it.  And Camus, being with a stranger and in a new place was being very stoic, as cats tend to be, so they probably thought I was over-reacting.

When we got home Tuesday night Camus went into the bedroom and hid.  He later moved to the bathroom cupboard, where he spent the night.  Wednesday morning he came out to eat, then went right under the couch where he cried for a few seconds.  When I came home 10 hours later, he was still in the same spot.  Again, he wouldn’t come out voluntarily and I had to drag him out to take him back to the vet.

The first new doctor went to a conference, so now I have another doctor to explain things to.  Argh!!  He hissed at her when she touched him on the chest too, so at least she got to see it.  But, because it was too close to their closing time, and they’d need to drug him (yada yada), she didn’t want to do an x-ray.  She did a soft tissue examination of his chest and didn’t find anything.  His temp was up a point (it was normal the night before), so she thought maybe he has an infection, cellulitis possibly.  He got pain medication and antibiotics and came home.

He was a little better last night, he sat in the carrier until before-bed feeding, ate and went back to the bathroom cabinet for the night. This morning he got up and ate, and went right back in there.  So he’s still hiding, but it’s better there than under the couch.

Meanwhile, I got an email from the 1^st new vet this morning, talking about options for long-term pain management.  Very nice, but doesn’t solve the immediate problem.  I sent a long winded answer (copying new vet #2) trying to emphasize that this is not normal for him!!!

So the plan is to see what he’s like tonight after the pain meds he got last night have worn off.  If he’s back to being really bad off I will go and do whatever it takes to get him x-rayed.  I just breaks my heart to see him this miserable.

The result is that I feel unheard and powerless.  Not a good introduction to the new vets...

 

Comments

[wild-irises.livejournal.com]

This is so hard!

To the extent that you can be calm and still very firm and determined, that will probably serve you best. It seriously helps to practice some of the things you want to say:

"I appreciate that you think this is his arthritis. I see him every day and I am sure this is different from his arthritis pain."

"I'm afraid that response is about his arthritis. He and I need for you to address the abdominal pain as soon as possible."

"I'm sorry. I can't accept a treatment plan that doesn't address the immediate new symptom."

[waywardcats.livejournal.com]

Excellently worded suggestions! I'm going to keep a copy with me for the next few days, if you don't mind.

I think, as you point out that I find it hard to steer people back to the track that I think they need to be on. Something to work on.

In my email to them I did state "this is not normal" and "his behavior is unusual, indicating a new problem". No reply yet, so we will see.

[stonebender.livejournal.com]

Oh, no! This is so hard. As you know I just had experience with trying to change vets, but fortunately I was able to go back to my old vet. Have you got any response from your vets to your e-mail?

[waywardcats.livejournal.com]

Not yet, but I did have a message on the machine from new vet #2 when I got home last night. She was gone by the time I called her back though. I will call them this morning.

[loracs.livejournal.com]

Poor Camus. Poor you. Being pet parents, we are in that life long position of being their voice, their advocate for their health care needs. This is so difficult during a crisis. You got some great advice from wild_irises. I hope your kitty is feeling better soon.

*Hugs*