Ponyboy and Sodapop had to go to the vet for their second set of vaccinations a couple of weeks ago. And I’ll tell you what, the first problem was even FINDING a local vet who could see them …
They had their first set of vaccinations when they were still in rescue care in the beginning of March. As in, first EVER, even though neither one of them is a kitten, because crazy trailer hoarder lady could not afford to FEED her many, many cats, much less do anything expensive like get them vaccinated. And because that had been their first-ever set of vaccinations, they needed another, booster set, three to four weeks after the first set.
So! A couple of weeks after the first set, which was given to them by the rescue group’s vet out in East Jesus, and once I had adopted them, I called my own local vet, to set them up for the second set of shots. And the earliest my vet could see them was … the end of April.
And this is one of the many, many reasons I have begun to sour on people in the veterinary profession. Even though I have been going to this vet for several years, I was told that Ponyboy and Sodapop would be new cats there, and would have to have intake exams, and, well, they'd have to find a double vacant opening blahblahblahblah end of April.
So I called around to different vet offices. End of April. Early May. MID-May. Keep in mind, they needed their shots by the FIRST week in April.
I finally found a walk-in clinic who could see them, left work early one day, and took them in. Problem solved. Vaccinations accomplished. But then I asked the vet to take a look at Ponyboy’s right eye, which has been runny since he first entered the rescue system in January. Many different ointments and drops had been tried by his foster mom, and his eye was still runny.
The vet's verdict?
“He’s got herpes.”
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?
“Feline herpes! It results in conjunctivitis, and also could be causing the occasional wheezing you mentioned.”
I took him tonight to another vet for a second opinion, because ... herpes? Really?
And Vet #2 confirmed the diagnosis. Conjunctivitis due to feline herpes.
I can’t believe it. I’ve got a trailer park herpes cat.
*sigh*
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5 comments:
My older cat has it too. Vet cheerfully referred to it as "kennel crud." In her case, she hasn't had too many flares -- one bad one when we moved the other cat (She Who Is Hated Beyond All Other Things) in and a couple of minor ones when she has had a cold. My experience was that the ointment worked well, but the cat yowled piteously when we used it.
Does that diagnosis affect your plans to foster other kitties? What did the vet advise?
- B
Oh my gosh, I'm so glad Pony's not the only one. Trailer park herpes cats, unite!
Yes, this will definitely affect my foster plans. The vet explained that one of the "basic" vaccinations - I think it may be the distemper one, but I'm not sure - also includes a herpes vaccine, but I can never expose any un-vaccinated cats to close contact with Pony, so that eliminates young kittens as fosters, unless they're kept in separate rooms. *sigh*
The vet I saw tonight is ordering me some "compounded" medicines - I'm not even sure what that means, but I should probably stress that this is NOT some hippy-dippy vet - from a far-away lab, as nothing that's been tried so far has been helping his runny eye, and some of the ointments seem to make it worse.
It's just - after what happened to The Runt and Little Girl - a little much to take right now.
but Pony is happy and playful and eating well, so, well, we'll go from here.
p.s. and this vet's office was the first one to pick up on Ponyboy's name. sweet.
I know! It turns out Dylan has feline herpes and his left eyelid won't close or retract the whole way. Giving him ointment doesn't work. I have to use the "bombs away!" method with drops when he's looking up at me, hoping some of it lands in the right spot.
My vet said that it flares up during stress, and stress varies wildly from cat to cat. I think it's a combination of lawn mower season (which always freaks him out) and having the little girl cat come by for snacks on the porch.
You do not have a trailer trash cat. Hang in there, sister.
Thanks, Becs.
I feel like we should start a support group or something. :)
And of course, this whole mess could have been avoided if he had just been vaccinated as a kitten. Dammit.
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