Hello,

I called Jarrettsville Veterinary Center this evening and they told me I should reach out on Pawbly with my question. Around the beginning of the year, I noticed my cat’s eye started to look a little different. I was seeing some discharge and it looked like it could be slightly infected. I wasn’t really worried about it and thought some type of drop would clear it right up. It did not get better and actually got a lot worse. It’s been months of appointments, different treatments and multiple drops to try and fix it. Where we are now is that she’s been going to an ophthalmologist for the past month who has diagnosed it as a corneal ulcer with entropion on her lower eye lid. The ophthalmologist is recommending surgery to correct the entropion and to do a debridement on the ulcer at the same time. I immediately started researching because the price I was quoted for the surgery is something that would be incredibly outside of what my husband and I can afford. I came across Jarrettsville and saw the prices are posted online which was incredibly helpful. I completely understand those are estimates and there are other factors that would contribute to the final bill, but Jarrettsville would be way more on par with what we can afford. I was so unbelievably excited when I found this place!

Also, I would be coming from Philadelphia (about 1.5 hours away) but would have no problem driving all that way if this surgery can be done by you. My question is though, since she’s been seeing an ophthalmologist already here and I’ve been told what needs to be done, if I were to send all of those medical records and also get pre-operation bloodwork done at our primary vet here, and sent that all to you, would that be sufficient in place of a pre-operation consult visit? Since we are so far away? If not, that is TOTALLY okay and I’d be willing to make the drive as many times as necessary for my cat. I just thought I’d ask.

I really appreciate any help you can provide. We are in a bit of a desperate situation. I don’t want my cat to suffer but we really just cannot afford the price we were quoted. I hope to hear from you soon and thank you so much in advance!

Becky

Hi Dr. Magnifico. We took Boogie to VRA in Gaithersburg, MD, a couple weeks ago, hoping to have the Radioactive Iodine Therapy done for his hyperthyroidism, but Dr. Conway said she did not think he was a good candidate for it and was very concerned with his constipation.

She did bloodwork, an ultrasound, chest x-rays and more. We took him there on 4/16 and again on 4/27. I asked her to send all results to you and I hope you have received them by now.
Dr. Conway said he has a tumor or mass on his kidney but no abnormalities found from the chest x-ray.
She quoted me $5,000-$6,000 (gulp) to do the surgery, but I can not remember if she said that was to remove the tumor from the kidney, or remove the entire kidney.
She also mentioned something about his blood being thicker? I really can not remember exactly what she said about that, but it didn’t sound good. It may have something to do with his red blood cell level being high due to the tumor on his kidney.

She said to cut back his methimazole to 1/2 pill every 12 hours. *Dr. Conway told me that his hyperthyroidism is very mild.
She also said raise his dose of cisapride 5 mg/ml from 1 ml every 12 hours to 1 ml every 8 hours (three times a day), and she said to raise his dose of lactulose to 3 ml every 8 hours.
I started all of the above on 4/17.

He has since sprained his leg and is limping. He’s been hiding under the bed more, but not completely. He will still come up on the bed to visit me once or twice a day, but just not as often as he used to, and is still coming up on the bed to sleep with me. I’m not sure if he’s not feeling well because of Dr. Conways findings, because of his sprained leg, or both, the reason he is under the bed more.

Here is the last email I received from Dr. Conways office on 4/29, after his ultrasound on 4/27:

1) His calcium results was fine and within normal limits. Dr. Conway suspects the prior calcium elevated was due to lab error.
2) His thyroid level is good on the lower dose of Methimazole – please continue as directed with this medication.
3) His blood cell count shows his red blood cell level is HIGHER – this is due to the tumor of his kidney. If you are not interested in pursuing surgery for Boogie, Dr. Conway’s recommendation would be an oncology consult to discuss any palliative care options.

Please let me know if you have any questions.
​
Julia Conny, RVT
Internal Medicine Lead Technician
Veterinary Referral Associates
301-926-3300

Dr. Mag, We have been clients of yours for several years, as four of our cats are all seen by you and your wonderful staff. We are begging you on hands and knees to please help our Boogie boy. He is only 12 years old and we are not ready for him to go. Can you please do the removal of the tumor or kidney? We realize it is a very risky surgery, but we would feel better knowing we did something, than not. We know you are a big advocate of doing everything you can to help bring pets back to health, instead of just giving up.
I’m in tears as I write this. Can you please look at all his records you have at your office asap, and also what Dr. Conways office sent you. Please, can you help our baby?

Terri and Steve

Dr. Magnifico,
Hi, I was in to see you in February with my 18 yr old cat Sophie. The morning throw- ups and lack of appetite got better for awhile. The appetite stimulator ointment really helped. But, we’re on a downward swing now. Sophie eats VERY little, yet still manages to throw it up. Yesterday, (Saturday) she ate hardly anything. Today she will not eat at all and has slept all day. So, I’m concerned about what to do. Best case scenario, she would die in her sleep. If she’s not eating, I would think this would happen. But, I don’t want her suffering. If I have her put to sleep at the vet’s, what’s the procedure since i can’t go in? I can’t imagine just handing her off to a stranger. I’m really struggling with this, so would appreciate any advice. Thanks.

My 2-year-old cat suddenly has been hiding and crouching in the corner underneath a bed in one of our spare bedrooms. She is crouching but isn’t “aggressive” until we tried to coax her out and gently push her bottom. By aggressive, I mean that she would just give us warning signs that she might bat/smack one of us if we kept it up. This is extremely abnormal behavior for her, unless there are several people/strangers over. I am worried if something may have scared her or if she is possibly not feeling well? I can’t get her into the vet tonight so I am very concerned. If you have any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions please let me know!! Thank you!

Hello guys, I have a strange question. I have two degus, one of them (a couple months older) is a male, the other one was not really identified as the people in pet shop were not sure, but we are pretty sure it’s a girl. They didn’t get along when we first put them together in one cage and would start fighting, but after some time of exchanging them from one cage to another, they became friends and now we keep them together recently. My question is: in last couple of days, the smaller one (a female?) is humping our older degu, which is a male 100%. Is this normal, or is this only possible if both of them are males? Even if it’s asserting dominance, the smaller one should not be a dominant one, right? I am really hoping you can help. Thank you very much, Nem

Dr Krista – I am a YouTube watcher with a 22yo cat that may have nasal or ear polyps. We have spent 8 weeks trying every antibiotic, nasal steroid drop, antibac nasal drop and still fighting the snorking sound and her inability to breathe. Did nasal swab wk of 4/20 – found 2 bacteria, getting compounded anti bacs at this point since both bacs are super resistant apparently – Citrobacter freundii and pseudeomonas species. Antibacs will arrive to me in California by Thur 4/30 . She has a grade 3 heart murmur and hyper thyroid (on 5mg Methimazole daily). Just as your YouTube vid about Stripes with polyps (2/23/2018), I think I may be in the same situation – I have a vet telling me to go to a specialist for $$$ because everything we are throwing at this isn’t working. How in the world do I find someone like you who is willing to help me for a reasonable cost? I am calling all over for vets and everyone is ‘specialist focused’. Do you have tips on what to ask, experience, and honestly, I need someone with your confidence to do this. Or I need you 🙂 I have been in cat rescue over 30 yrs and ‘get; the lingo but have never had such difficulty finding a vet who could assist. Thank you in advance!

Is ivermectin effective against maggots in cats?

is there any symptoms of my cat having a heart murmur that i could tell at home?

I have a semi domestic cat with maggots at its tail on uper body. It’s not completely a house cat and can be very aggressive when in pain. Lives mostly in parks in front of my house. I want it help but vets are all closed due the covid 19 lockdown. And the infestation of maggot is really bad. There are 3 wounds on its tail.
I need some tips to sedate it at home so that I can treat it. Any tips?

My vet thinks my cat has a nasopharyngeal polyp but he needs to go under anesthesia so he they can know for sure and get it out, but he was also listening to my cats heart and said he has a grade one mitral heart murmur and that he needs to have xrays and ultrasounds and such done to make sure his heart is ok before going into surgery because they said his heart could fail while under anesthesia and he could die. My dad said they we should just go ahead with the surgery without spending $550 extra dollars because he doesn’t think he has anything serious wrong his heart considering it was only a grade one heart murmur and my cat was already very nervous about the car ride and being at the vet and that could have caused his heart rate to be off a little. Would it be necessary to look into his heart further or just go ahead with the surgery considering it would only be a 20-60 minute surgery? Would a cat with any type of heart conditions die during surgery? What should I do next?