Al
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My 14 Year Old Cat Is Having Trouble Breathing. After Seeing Her Vet, We Suspect She Has …
My 14 year old cat is having trouble breathing. After seeing her vet, we suspect she has a polyp. The examination was brief and the vet suggested X-rays or better yet, an MRI ($2,000).
I am a teacher and am on a very tight budget. What I would like to know is what kind of tests/examination should be required for the vet to complete the diagnosis? It seems from your youtube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCRwkQXd3Qs), that the vet could have found this by examining the inside of the cat’s mouth.
I’m trying to keep my costs down. How do I approach my vet regarding this matter?
Thanks
Al
1 Response
Hello,
I start all of the exams that I do with a long discussion about the patient. History and environment as well as parent observations all help. After that discussion and the exam I give a list of possible causes. Essentially the list of what the possible diagnosis might be. From this i discuss the diagnostics needed to confirm. This includes their cost. I also discuss what the results will help us to do. How it will help your pet and how it will affect your options moving forward.
For these cases I alway offer a sedated exam to look. BUT I want to be able to do something from that exam so I intubate and prepare to remove the poly if I find one. That allows me to hopefully cure the cat at a reasonable price. (About $200). It’s not a perfect plan and there are reasons others want $2000, but in every case I have helped a cat with a polyp from suffocating. I have had two regrow. Both were removed again and have never come back.
I think what this question comes down to is finding a vet you trust to help your kitty and help you make this affordable. Please let us know what happens. I want to hear about how this goes please.
Krista