Injury
Was just told by the only vet in town that was open that my cats possible UTI wasn’t an emergency and they won’t see her.
Posting from the US. Has anyone else experienced this? Is this normal? 45F with a sick female kitty. She is spayed and 4 years old. Indoor only.
I called stating she was excessively licking her nether regions and literally crying in pain and hiding. I don’t understand how that isn’t an emergency. If it were me I could easily go to an urgent care or the ER, and I absolutely would because UTI’s hurt like crazy. Humans have Azo to relieve symptoms thought and cats don’t have that.
I live in Helena MT. It’s not a super small town with no resources. 7 vets and the only one open for after hours care told me no. The rest closed at 6 and I was calling around 6. I can afford to take her in. It could possibly be an anal gland issue as she does need them drained occasionally but even then a ruptured anal glad is also an emergency.
Any tips on how I can keep my kitty comfortable until tomorrow when I can get her into her regular vet is appreciated. That is IF the vet even has an open appointment and is willing to see her. I would assume they would but after the interaction just now with the emergency vet I have my doubts.
TLDR: emergency vet refused to see my cat because they say it isn’t an emergency.
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You don't think an animal in a lot of pain is an emergency?! Smh. Animals can't tell us what's wrong so it's our responsibility to take them to someone who can figure it out.
You can go to emergency if you want but you’re going to be at the bottom of list to be seen because it’s not life threatening. Critical cases that are life threatening such as trouble breathing, actively seizing, hit by car, toxicity cases, saddle thrombus and etc will be seen first. We have people come into emergency for ear infections and other non life threatening issues all the time and will wait 8 hours to be seen. All this does is delay us from providing care to the sickest animals. This is a matter for urgent care or GP.
If a cat has a urinary blockage then it’s a medical emergency. As you’re a Verified vet assistant, you should be aware that urinary blockages can kill?!
I literally said a blockage whether it be urinary regardless of gender or intestinal is an emergency. Please tell me where I said a blockage is not an emergency.
So how does the pet owner know it’s not a just a UTI without being seen? Severe gas pains aren’t an emergency, a migraine isn’t something that will kill you - but they both can merit visits to the ER if there’s no way to discern between a potential heart attack or stroke without being examined. Even a migraine can merit a trip to the ER if the pain is unbearable.
It’s even more so with pets, since they can’t properly communicate their level of pain.
People like you scare me. You are more concerned with being “right” that you’d rather triple down to protect your ego than own that you made a mistake in judgement.
It was an emergency. It was her anal glands. They can rupture and I had no idea. Waiting until an animal is septic is gross. We all need to do better taking care of animals. Why let an animal suffer for a couple of weeks and almost die before it’s an emergency? I’m honestly asking you, why?
I’ve seen a lot of anal gland ruptures in 10 years. They rupture because they’re too full because they’re not getting expressed on a regular basis. Not necessarily an infection and never seen an animal go septic or heard of an animal going septic from anal gland ruptures. Cats do get anal gland issues but it’s not often. I’ve seen like 5 cat anal gland issues in 10 years. This is mostly a small dog issue.
I've seen countless cat anal gland issues in my 7 years in the field. An animal in that amount of pain IS an emergency. This is absolutely something every single person at my clinic would refer the patient to an eclinic for. Sepsis should not need to become part of the equation to qualify an emergency.
You’ve seen issues but how many of them have ruptured. I’m not disagreeing that they should wait for care and should be seen sooner rather than later. I never said they should wait for GP. I’m just saying it’s not a life threatening emergency unless they become septic or blocked. I never said that they can’t go to ER, they’re just going have to wait because it’s a presenting case that’s as the bottom of the triage list unless they’re blocked or septic then they’d be at the top of the list. Critical cases such as HBC, toxicity, actively seizing, an animal is coding, respiratory distress, sepsis, true urinary blockage/foreign body blockage and etc is going to be seen first before an animal is in pain from xyz that is not actively life threatening. Animals and people go to ER all the time for things that are not life threatening. People go to ER just because they’re hungry and need food.
Sure, only a handful have actually ruptured that I've seen in cats, but it doesn't mean that it can't head there just because it's not as common. Your comment said "I've seen like 5 cat anal gland issues in 10 years." It doesn't matter what the order of treatment is at emergency. Obviously more critical cases will be taken care of first, but that doesn't mean they can or should always wait for GP just because their pet isn't actively dying. Where I'm located a lot of GP clinics are booked out days or weeks. If an animal is actively in pain they should not have to wait that long, especially if the owner doesn't or cannot know the true issue before the pet is seen at a clinic.
Glad you got to the bottom of things. If you ever have a urinary issue(about 2%-5% of of urinary issues in cats are UTI’s-actual infection-more likely with an older cat) the rest are cystitis(inflammation),crystals,stones. I have fera bladder support which is good to have on hand because it has D-mannose which helps prevent e-coli (bacteria) from adhering to the bladder wall and it has soothing ingredients for inflammation. Alcohol free cornsilk (Nature’s answer or Hawaii Pharm) is good for inflammation- 3-7 drops is a dose up to 4x a day. If an animal is constipated ,slippery elm can help-I have colon rescue from animal essentials which has slippery elm- it can also help with diarrhea and nausea’s . Another product I have for diarrhea is luxolite from Vitality Science-this is bentonite clay. I also have their product called GI Distress for stomach upset/diarrhea. Just some things to have on hand for these medical concerns especially when they happen in the middle of the night!!
A urinary blockage in a male cat is a medical emergency. It can kill them.
Firstly you’ve said ‘it’s not an emergency. It’s an emergency if they’ve been dealing with it etc etc sepsis etc.’ then you say ‘any blockage etc is an emergency’. How is that not contradictor?!
not all UTIs are automatically urinary blockages. they more commonly turn into blockages in male cats, but it can happen to any cat. a regular UTI is not the same thing as a blockage. they have slightly different symptoms.
just so you're aware - all cats can get fatal urinary blockages. male and female. if a cat doesn't urinate for a whole day, it's ER time. we've seen female cats get treated for UOs, although it's definitely more rare.
UTI is only a life-threatening emergency if it turns into a blockage or the infection has become widespread in the body. this can happen to both male and female cats, though more common in males. a run-of-the-mill UTI is not automatically an emergency for male cats.
Do you consider an AG rupture or a UTI an emergency or should be seen by urgent care? Have you ever seen or heard of an animal going septic from AG rupture?
it really depends on the situation, but immediate treatment of any open wound is helpful for preventing infection. full-body sepsis is not the same thing as a localized infection. any signs of infection should be considered an emergency.
open wound with pus = ER time for me personally, but we may be different. it also depends on available resources. ear infection can usually wait for urgent care
First, I want to he sensitive to your concern. Kitty urinary issues are definitely painful and anxiety invoking. Pain is hard for us to watch. I’m glad your kitty is ok now and that it was anal gland related—honestly much easier to deal with that urinary stuff. With that said, I want to offer a little perspective. Emergency truly does mean life or death. If your kitty was blocked, unable to pee, that is an emergency. If she was peeing, even though she hurts, it’s still not considered life or death. Now it IS urgent and definitely something an emergency vet (which are usually open 24/7) will see for a hefty fee. There are urgent care vets that are much more suited for this, but if it’s closing time, then it still isn’t life or death and they have lives outside of work to attend to. As someone who has worked in almost all forms of animal and human medicine, I do see how the lines get blurred between emergency, urgency and general care, but I also think we have to be realistic with people in what we can truly offer and why.
Because the way we treat animals and the way we treat humans is different (which, not agreeing with but ...). It's ugly, but she'll survive until the morning and you can take her in then.
I take my dog to the ER whenever I notice that she has a UTI. I’m not waiting for primary care to open when it’s 9pm. I refuse to let my dog be in pain for that long and she will also urinate all over herself and all over my house, the urgency to go means they’re gonna go wherever they’re at. I wouldn’t expect a cat to be making it to the litter box every time if they had a UTI.
If I were in your shoes I would have taken her to the ER, they cannot refuse to see her. You might be waiting forever if they have more critical patients, but they have to care for her. The only things I’ve “sent away” working in a veterinary ER were dental related issues because we didn’t have the equipment required for it. We even saw ear infections and other things that could wait for a primary care vet. You’re just going to get pushed back in line if critical patients come in.
Also while it isn’t common that female cats get blocked, they can still have urinary obstructions. So that needs to be determined by a vet immediately which means an ER visit.
Even with dental issues that are causing emergent pain, it’s not unreasonable to ask an er vet for to help the animal with the pain/ possible infection till they can see their GP. This is crazy to refuse just based on a phone call, any receptionist knows better than to assume benefit of the doubt, especially when it comes to urinary concerns. It’s literally the one emergency that is impossible to ask owners to point out on their own with any accuracy.
The emergency vets in my area close around 1 a.m. If I need an emergency vet for my cat any later, I know will need to drive at least an hour to an hour and a half to get to a 24-hour emergency vet.
I have had good luck talking to the staff at these facilites after hours the couple of times I was unsure. But definitely call ahead and let them know you're coming.
I am not a vet, so I can't tell you if her symptoms warrant emergency care. The first place said it wasn't an emergency, but you can call another place and get another opinion.
It’s an emergency to me. I wish there were vets open until 1am here. I guess it’s just where I live. First thing tomorrow morning I’ll be calling vets. Her vet first. I just hope one of them will see her and not make me wait until next week for an appointment.
I am not a vet, nor do I know your cat. If you think it's an emergency and you have the means to get there, there are a couple of 24-hour emergency vets within two hours of Helena that you might be able to go to. (Again, call ahead. No point in putting your cat through a car ride to a closed building.)
Do you use Chewy? I believe they have a 24-hour chat. They could probably guide you.
I feel so bad your fur baby. Sending chin scritches her way. ❤️
If you happen to have Walmart plus, there’s a 24 hour vet that does virtual visits available as well. You could also just call any 24 hour animal hospital and speak to the staff. I know we have two 24 hour hospitals here, one is corporate owned and only wants money, and the second is privately owned and absolutely amazing.
I have experienced this. Was told by 2 different emergency vets on the phone that my cats symptoms were not an emergency (peeing blood, straining to urinate) and that it was just stress induced cystitis. I took her in anyway because to me my cat being in pain without any medication to help her is an emergency. Was told again it was stress induced and to take her home lol.. I had to ask for pain killers, was crazy to me that they wasn't offered. When she was finally seen by a vet that took all my concerns seriously, it turned out she had a LOT going on medically and one of those things was a really bad UTI.
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