7/23/14
When my cat went from 12 lbs to 7 lbs I took her in to Apollo. They tested her blood and the results said it was a thyroid issue, which they treated her for. She began to get sick at night but was doing a little better it seemed. A follow-up blood test said her thyroid was now normal, but she wasn't improving. She went to 6 lbs. :(
Since they were telling me the levels were normals, but I knew something was wrong, I took her to Muller Vet up the street. They requested the blood results from Apollo and were given one. They had to call back while I was in the office and request the other blood test too. Why would they just send all the blood work together? I paid for it!
Muller did a blood AND urine test of their own and found a horrible urinary tract infection that included a kidney infection. Severe chronic kidney failure also showed up. There was a two month period between vets while my cat suffered terribly from the infection. To make matters worse, the thyroid treatment may have aggravated her kidneys. We are now treating her infection but the damage to her kidneys is severe and we have to put a needle in her every night hooked up to an IV bag and pump fluid into her. I just wish we had caught this a couple of months ago. She is my baby and the thought of her suffering kills me.
Aside from this I liked the doctor and staff here - and the same blood tests and read were less expensive. Sometimes cost is a factor when treating a pet. I understand its hard to treat patients that can't tell you how they feel, but I think it's a vet's job, not mine, to suggest all the tests that can be done. A urine test would have helped in her case. Kidney problems can be very painful and lead to nausea and loss of appetite, explaining her severe weight loss. Just wish we'd started to treat this sooner. She's gained 11 ounces this week since we've started the meds.
UPDATED FROM: 5/30/13
YOU'LL HAVE THE TEST RESULTS IN 24 HOURS
For me, the last 21 hours were pretty much the worst I can remember in a long time. Having noticed sudden weight loss in my beautiful long-haired calico, I panicked. She went from 11 or 12 lbs to 7.
We scheduled a same day appointment at Apollo after my husband called a ton of other vet locations. We wanted a blood test - I don't get why this isnt' a standard price from location to location. You're doing the same work but some places justify charging patients crazy amounts of money. The visit and blood work here were the least expensive around. Plus, it's conveniently located on Treat Blvd and I knew they'd be open when i was off work since they're open until midnight. It was important to me that I could go to the appointment with Autumn and my husband. He bought a Yelp deal and saved us $20 on top of the already lowest prices!
We were seen on time and a vet assistant had me get Autumn out of the box. I was suprised since normally the assistants grab kitty by the scruff and pull her off, but since Autumn was so weak I was glad for this today. She is very docile and doesn't bite or scratch or hiss. The assistant was gentle as she took her vitals.
The vet came in to examine her and checked out her abdomen, mouth, throat, etc. He agreed nothing was hurting her and a blood test was needed. I usually won't let anyone be alone with her. A bad experience at Civic Feline during a routine visit; and a good experience at Sage with people treating her for an emergency; and luckily another good experience here. I let the nice doctor take her to draw the blood from her neck for testing. I'm actually really glad I didn't see this. He then told us the dreaded words: "We'll have your results in 24 hours".
My husband and I couldn't wait though and called back a few hours short of the waiting period. They gave us the results and it's totally treatable. Hyperthyroidism. Medicine twice a day, but she'll gain the weight back. Really happy with the fast service.
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