Uneasiness at the Vet

Poor little Brulee had to be taken to the veterinarian two times in one day this week. 

Brulee inside her Cuddle Clones® Box

Brulee was congested, sneezing, and nauseous. 


Mom Paula woke up to Brulee sneezing and huddled beside the dresser in the guest room. On the way to the bedroom, she saw where Brulee had vomited. The ruff of her neck was soaked from all of the sneezing. Mom Paula quickly called the vet because she suspected another Upper Respiratory Infection (URI). The only time the vet could see Brulee was during the same time Mom Paula had an appointment with the pulmonologist. Mom Paula reluctantly agreed to drop Brulee off at the vet so he could check her out before she got worse. Mom Paula received a phone call an hour later from the new vet and he said he thought she had an URI. She had a slight fever and was congested. He recommended Clavamox for Brulee and Mom Paula told him that both Brulee and Truffle got sick when taking the liquid medication and it should be in their records to not administer it to them. The vet recommended Amoxi/Clavulanic Acid tablets. Mom Paula asked him to give Brulee the first tablet at the hospital. When Mom Paula went to pick up Brulee, the vet was at lunch and she couldn't talk to or meet him. The tablets the vet prescribed were quite large, even for the administration of half a pill.

Brulee in her Strawberry Red Sleepypod® Mobile Pet Bed on the way to the vet

We're turning this over to Mom Paula so she can talk about her experience and concerns about the visit with the vet.

Mom Paula: Before I tell you more about what happened with Brulee and our experiences with the new vet, I want to let everyone know that this will not keep me from taking my girls to the vet on a regular basis for wellness checkups and when they are ill. I truly believe in appropriate veterinary care and trust the animal hospital and staff who've treated the girls in the past. I also don't believe in publicly naming individuals or facilities; instead prefer talking privately with the necessary person/people. This post is more about being an advocate for your feline family member.

Brulee came home and appeared to be okay and even cleaned her bowl of wet food. About an hour later, Brulee vomited up all of her food and was lethargic. About two hours later, Brulee was vomiting again. I immediately called the vet again because I was concerned Brulee would get dehydrated overnight or even sicker, which may require a trip to the emergency animal hospital. I suspected Brulee was reacting to the antibiotic she'd been given. When I called the vet about my concerns, his response was to watch Brulee overnight and if she didn't get any better, to bring her in the next day. The veterinarian didn't even talk to me; he relayed this through one of the staff members. I wasn't too happy with his recommendation and felt the veterinarian was brushing my concerns aside.  I told the receptionist on the phone about how quickly Brulee could "go South" when she shows the first sign of illness and I felt that vet was brushing her concerns aside. I told them I wanted someone to see Brulee again, even if it wasn't the same vet. The staff agreed to let me bring Brulee back and they would work her in.

Brulee resting comfortably now

I quickly gathered up Brulee and rushed her back to the vet. We were the last to be seen before closing. The veterinary assistant was wonderful. She cuddled Brulee and took her temperature, which thankfully, was lower than the morning. The new vet came in the room and didn't even shake my hand as an introduction. To be honest, I don't remember if he even told me who he was! He stayed near the doorway to talk to me and didn't examine Brulee. He didn't ask me what was happening; he just looked at me as if to say, "why are you bringing her back in?" I felt that he either didn't like cats or he was upset because I chose to bring Brulee back to the hospital and question what had happened earlier in the day. I didn't give up. I talked to the him about Brulee's history of illnesses and how quickly she could go downhill. During this time, the veterinarian never asked about Brulee or examined her. I continued to talk about Brulee's symptoms and asked if Brulee may be getting dehydrated because of the vomiting. His response was neutral and I finally asked him if he was going to check Brulee for dehydration and he reluctantly walked over and checked her skin and mouth and he walked away again to stand by the door. He said she appeared to be a little dehydrated, but didn't offer any recommendations for care. I was already stressed and concerned because of Brulee's health, but I wasn't used to this type of treatment from a veterinarian. I continued to talk about the medication being the possible culprit for the nausea. He finally agreed to give her a Cerenia injection for the nausea, a Convenia injection to replace the earlier antibiotic (I made sure I asked him if she'd had this shot in the past), and to administer fluids. He then walked out of the room. The veterinary assistant took Brulee for all of the injections and I could hear Brulee loudly sharing her displeasure with the injections outside the door. I asked the veterinary assistant if this new vet even liked cats. She was very professional with her response, but I could tell she was uncomfortable responding to me. I respected her for this.

I shared my concerns about the treatment from the veterinarian with the staff as I left. I told them that unless there is an emergency, I didn't plan on letting this veterinarian see the girls again. I'm used to much better care and concern from the staff at this hospital. They are always pleasant, professional, and caring. I wanted to share our story so others will be advocates for their fur children. Don't ever settle for something when you don't believe it's best for your feline. I plan on contacting one of the lead vets/owners about my concerns.

Thankfully, the injections and sub-Q fluids appear to have helped Brulee. She hasn't vomited anymore and she isn't hiding. She's still a little congested and sneezy. The veterinarian suspects she may have the Herpes virus in her system and is recommending we try some L-Lysine with her. We'll write another post about URI, Herpes, and L-Lysine in another post.

Follow-up: The veterinarian did contact me the next day to check on Brulee. On the whole, he was pleasant on the phone and even gave me some recommendations about possible tests for the future and supplements. However, near the end he suggested getting tested for feline leukemia and I mentioned that her parents tested negative and they came  from a reputable breeder. His response was - "if they got Herpes from the reputable breeder, they could get other things." I thought this response was very unprofessional and uncalled for.

2nd Follow-up: I did contact one of the lead veterinarians, who is also a co-owner of the animal hospital, this afternoon. I explained the situation and shared my concerns. He was very open to listening to me and said he would talk with the new veterinarian. I did tell him that unless it was an emergency, my girls wouldn't see this veterinarian and he told me that he understood.