Author Topic: Too soon to go to the bridge.  (Read 22520 times)

Offline JackSpratt

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #30 on: January 15, 2007, 17:55:42 PM »
Yep, they do!  :scared:

Hope you figure out what to do soon. When one of my boys got gingivitis recently, he was given two injections(antibiotics and anti inflammatorys I think) and the problem cleared up. It cost £21 in total, so not too bad.




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ccmacey

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #29 on: January 15, 2007, 13:33:20 PM »
And about that jack, I'm now paying £5 a month for Ollie's medication at the PDSA, where I was paying £28 a week at the private vet's, so they well overcharge.

ccmacey

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #28 on: January 15, 2007, 13:26:10 PM »
I take Ollie to an actual PDSA hospital as there is 1 near where I live, well about 8 miles away so they say that is close enough so they wont do Ollie's treatment through a private vet's. I leave a donation every time I'm there which covers his medication as the cost of the tablets comes up to £4 something. They also charge a consultation fee (which you don't have to pay) but as my private vet's has open surgery,  I wouldn't be paying for a consultation anyway. Ollie has had tests for viruses and all have came back clear, the vet said he doesn't have calici virus, just really bad gingivitis. I'm really stuck on what to do as I just keep getting the same old medication and crappy, careless advice from the PDSA. I don't even think they are as well qualified as the private vet's, and to suggest having him PTS has made me think even less of their veterinary skills.

Like I said all I'm worried about is, if removing his teeth doesn't clear his mouth and I have to go back to the PDSA, as someone has already mentioned they are funny about it and maybe they wouldn't take me back, In which case I will not be able to afford his treatment at a private vet's for the rest of his life. I would be more willing to do this if I knew some overall success rate.

Offline JackSpratt

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #27 on: January 14, 2007, 22:37:44 PM »
Yep, I recently found out how the PDSA Petaid works, and it isn't at all as I thought it was. Basically, the vet gets an allocated amount for each PDSA patient per month - and it really isn't a lot. (£3-5 on average.)I thought it worked much like insurance; an amount was agreed on and the bill was sent to the PDSA.

Basically, from time to time a loss is made by the vet on these patients.(Although, I do have to point out, that with their customers that aren't on PDSA, I'm sure they MORE than break even!)




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Offline Desley (booktigger)

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #26 on: January 14, 2007, 18:54:19 PM »
IT does sound like removing his teeth would help CC - I know you have said his teeth look fine, but there is obviously something wrong, and maybe it is the teeth that are affecting his cheek. I do think Christine's idea of speaking to the private vet is a good one - it can be done on a telephone consultation, doesn't have to involve an app. I would certainly explore all angles, and if they say it could help, then ask to speak to someone senior in PDSA and demand an explanation as to why a dental can't be done - you dont have to say you have spoken to another vet, just say you have been researching gingivitis, and this seems to be the treatment, so why can't it be done for your boy?
I am slightly astounded to read 2 stories in one thread of the PDSA recommending pts rather than a dental.
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Offline Grit

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #25 on: January 14, 2007, 15:58:33 PM »
Hi I'm a bit confused here, what is actually wrong with Ollie?  My friend's cat had bad gingivitis but she gives him Co-enzyme Q10 (you buy it for humans in capsules) it is okay for cats and she gives them the contents in their food when they need it.  The ginigivitis cleared up remarkably quickly

Offline Millys Mum

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #24 on: January 14, 2007, 15:56:04 PM »
CC, the whole of his mouth will be inflamed from the bacteria in his gums. This PDSA vet sounds like he is cost cutting. A family friend has just had her cats teeth out. Its 4 years old i think and has suffered terribly with swelling and infection (its whole mouth would be puffy & nasty not just the gums) I think you should go to the private vet and ask for a payment plan, offer to leave back dated cheques with them and go for it!
If it doesnt solve it and his quality of life continues to be poor than you'll have none of the "what if i.." guilt.
« Last Edit: June 23, 2007, 13:41:04 PM by Millys Mum »


Offline Christine (Blip)

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #23 on: January 14, 2007, 15:48:08 PM »
It's a horrid dilemma and I do sympathise with you  :hug:  As your private vet knows you well, I'd definitely go along and explain all your concerns to him / her. Perhaps you should initially ask for a quick chat with the vet on your own at the end of surgery? I did this a little while ago when I had a concern about someone else's cat and my vet and I had a good chat, obviously free of charge.

If you then go ahead with some treatment there, I do hope the PDSA wouldn't be sniffy about treating little Ollie in the future just because you acted on a second opinion. What do you think?

xC
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ccmacey

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #22 on: January 14, 2007, 12:30:59 PM »
The private vet's that I use are very good, they know me quite well as at 1 point I was in there every week, they know my personal curcumstances and maybe they would let me do a payment plan, Its something I would have to find out. I'm just worried that if I do go to them and have his teeth out, maybe it wouldn't clear the problem and then I would still need the help of the PDSA. Which I'm unsure if they would take me back knowing Ive took Ollie to a private vet's. The PDSA keep saying he doesn't need his teeth out because it is more of the inside cheek that is affected. I will have to go and get another opinion this week.

Offline JackSpratt

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #21 on: January 13, 2007, 19:13:28 PM »
Christine, I'm on a low income as well and can completely sympathise with ccmacey.(Not that I'm saying you can't!) If the vets in her area are anything like the ones new me, they outrightly refuse to do a payment plan system. I can understand to an extent, I would imagine a fair amount of chancers say they'll pay and the ndon't, but it is frustrating if you're an honest person with every intention of paying and you're tarreed with the same brush as these ungrateful oiks!

Loans when you're on small amounts of money tend to make your finances spiral further out of control even faster from what I've seen. It really is a horrible situation to be in.

Ccmacey, have you tried calling the administration offices of the PDSA to enquire about your queries with regards to the PDSA vet?
« Last Edit: January 13, 2007, 19:13:56 PM by JackSpratt »




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Offline Christine (Blip)

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #20 on: January 13, 2007, 18:31:14 PM »
I was struck by what Roger (fuzziesdad) said - that was a lot of upset removed for just £120! Of course, I don't know your circumstances, cc, but would it be feasible to get the private vet to remove Ollie's offending teeth and, if it's too much all at once, either pay in instalments or get a loan of some sort?
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Offline JackSpratt

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #19 on: January 13, 2007, 18:02:12 PM »
http://www.phytopet.co.uk/products.aspx

These people might have something that aids healthy gums. (Bad gums are the main cause of gingivitis as far as I aware.)




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fuzziesdad

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #18 on: January 13, 2007, 17:08:53 PM »
you might also try rescue remedy.

Offline Sam (Fussy_Furball)

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #17 on: January 13, 2007, 16:03:34 PM »
Feliway plug ins minic cat pheromens / hormes and help to relax cats ... the are odourless to people and have no affect on us.  http://www.feliway.uk.com/feliway_uk.nsf/Page?OpenForm&DocID=7&POS=5&Key=null
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ccmacey

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #16 on: January 13, 2007, 15:49:23 PM »
No havent tried them, what do they do? Are they alright to use when kids in the house?

Offline CurlyCatz

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #15 on: January 13, 2007, 15:19:32 PM »
if you think he's depressed etc have you tried feliway plug ins etc ??

ccmacey

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #14 on: January 13, 2007, 13:24:09 PM »
No his insurance doesn't cover he already had it, he's had it from being a kitten, and I think it was maybe caused because of his poor start to life.  Gingivitis is the only thing he's suffering from, apart from depression that it's also causing. He is fit and healthy and generally doing fine, just now and again it gets him down. The PDSA vet said its just a matter of controlling it with steroids and antibiotics. Only if his quality of life drastically declines, then i would have 2 think about THAT. But like I said this isn't an option for me and when the time comes to go elsewhere I will. I'm not letting him go just because they want to save money, it's ridiculous and after them suggesting that, I now know they arnt much help at all. I would like to know if there is someone higher at the PDSA that I could take this to, as I'm not satisfied with what my local Pdsa are telling me. After all I am entitled to Ollie's treatment so why wont they try more options and think about removing his teeth?


fuzziesdad

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #13 on: January 13, 2007, 13:18:28 PM »
my daughter uses the PDSA to treat her duffy she is about 13 years and has bad teeth and the vet there suggested that she have duffy pts as her teeth were so bad,so between a few of us family members we sent duffy to another (private vet) and low and behold duffy had 3 teeth out and a clean up at a cost of approx£120.
duffy at 13 has only been to a vet twice this time and when she was 6 months to be neutered she is a fit and well black and white which goes some way to bolster my theory that black and whites seem to be sturdier that other colours and breeds (she is a mog) as for PDSA vets as with other things in life everyone has differing opinions but it would be interesting reading their general policies on this sort of thing.
roger.

Offline Desley (booktigger)

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #12 on: January 13, 2007, 10:53:10 AM »
Aww, I do hope something can be sorted for him, it is too young.
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Offline JackSpratt

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #11 on: January 13, 2007, 10:45:24 AM »
I do agree, it is a very odd reason to suggest that course of action. One of my boys suffers from gingivitis from time to time, and no vet has ever suggested that to me!(Not even a PDSA vet!)

Is that the only health issue there is?




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Offline Sam (Fussy_Furball)

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #10 on: January 12, 2007, 23:11:56 PM »
As in what way Sam? I use the Pdsa wit Ollie cos his treatment is near £200 a month, well it was at a private vets anyway, you know how they overcharge!

I'm not speaking from experience ... thankfully ... but I was under the impress that the RVC hosital is where the BBC recently filmed the series "supervets" and it seem to be the place where people with very poorly pets or pets with very "hard to treat" ailments went.  I'm not sure if you have to be referred or not but I'm sure their website will give yu all the information.  Of course I sure any work they do won't come cheap and I don't know if your insurance will cover it. 

It seems strange to me that any vet would suggest PTS just for gingivitis :(

Sorry I've not been much help but it was just an idea and another avenue to explore really.
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Offline sonya

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #9 on: January 12, 2007, 19:14:48 PM »
CC would your insurance not cover Ollies treatment at a private vet or does it not cover dental work? Im sure mine does if its associated with a disease. I had a friend who used the PDSA and then a private vet , but when she went back to pdsa was told the dog could no longer be treat there as she'd taken it to a private vet too. I wonder if they have different policies in different parts of the country.
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Offline Gill (sneakiefeline)

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #8 on: January 12, 2007, 19:10:39 PM »
CC you didnt answer my question

ccmacey

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #7 on: January 12, 2007, 18:39:05 PM »
As in what way Sam? I use the Pdsa wit Ollie cos his treatment is near £200 a month, well it was at a private vets anyway, you know how they overcharge!

ccmacey

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #6 on: January 12, 2007, 18:36:26 PM »
No only the Pdsa say it wouldn't help. The last time I took Ollie to private was in Nov, and they said it might help then. They also say about alternative treatments like a sheep wormer, although its not proven to help. The PDSA arnt even willing to take swabs from his mouth and test them. I think they trying to save money. I thought vets were meant to help and give you every alternative to the best of there knowledge?

Offline Sam (Fussy_Furball)

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #5 on: January 12, 2007, 18:30:54 PM »
Have you tried the Royal vetinary college hospital http://www.rvc.ac.uk/  they are supposed to be the dogs B....ks when it comes to vetinary care.
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Offline Gill (sneakiefeline)

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #4 on: January 12, 2007, 18:22:50 PM »
Which vet have you just seen? If it is the private one does that mean that PDSA and private one both agree that having teeth out wont help?

ccmacey

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #3 on: January 12, 2007, 18:16:17 PM »
Yes I usually take him to the private vets just to get there opinion. As you know I take Ollie to the PDSA and it was a vet there that said that. Where as the private vets would remove his teeth. I wouldnt dream on having him PTS, only if I could clearly see that it was the right thing to do, I would have to do it. Im getting vey upset about this now, He will be 3 this year and ive been dreading the vet saying this to me for a couple of years.

Offline Gill (sneakiefeline)

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Re: Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #2 on: January 12, 2007, 17:40:56 PM »
Poor lil Ollie, is it worth getting a second opinion or have you already done that?

ccmacey

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Too soon to go to the bridge.
« Reply #1 on: January 12, 2007, 17:35:20 PM »
Hi all, took Ollie to vets today, my little gingivitis baby. Talked about having his teeth out, vet said it would be no good as its the inside cheek thats affected most. I said about his depression and not interacting with the others much, vet said is he eating and drinking normally, I said yes. And then he went on to say if his quality of life deteriorates i should think about having him PTS. This isn't an option for me.  Hes been tested for viruses and all came back clear. 

This has been cut short as I just wrote a long post explaining everything and it was wiped.

 


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