my cats-obese, bad teeth, heart murmur, heart worms

My husband took our two cats to a new vet today to get them their annual shots.  This is the first time he has ever done this and he didn't bother asking prices before he took them in. 

The vet said both of our cats are in serious trouble.

One is morbidly obese and needs three teeth pulled.  However, the vet noticed she has surprisingly clean ears. (Despite how much she hates the other cat, she lets him clean them for her...haha!)  The other has a heart murmur that could be fatal if untreated. 

Sigh, I love my cats but am not about to spend $1000+ to treat these things.  I am going to put the obese kitty on a diet(vet recomends 200 cals a day...that seems so low!!!)  but I don't want to do anything about the teeth.  And the heart murmur thing sounds silly...he said that there is no real way to tell if its fatal, but we could narrow it down with pricey xray or ultrasounds. 

Finally, my husband bought heartworm medicine for them...$90 to cover a year.  I had him take it back.  Growing up I had lots of cats and dogs around and we never gave the cats heartworm medicine.  I grew up in oklahoma where there are lots of mosquitos and they have been fine. 

My question to you all is was that a bad move?  Am I being cheap or is it ok to skip out on this medicine? 

Also, how much would you pay to save a pets life? 

If I knew for sure that he had the heart murmur and it was terminal without the treatment, I don't think I would pay more than $500 to fix him.

Original Post by amy_blue:

Original Post by hmking:

 ...

 I have a totally healthy male cat that's one year old and he does this. He runs around like a maniac and then flops down panting. ...

 aren't they adorable little monsters??

Heartworm - as pg said research your area to see if it is an issue with cats in your region, but they are certainly not as suceptible as dogs. Most "heartworm medications" are actually combination treatments which protect against other pathogens as well.

Teeth - absolutely 100% get them sorted out. Bad teeth can lead to serious health problems later in life like kidney disease, liver failure, urinary tract problems, constipation and a myriad of other issues because bacterial poison is being leaked into the body via the mouth on a regular basis. See if your vet has any monthly specials because they often have them where you get 10% off if you do it in a specific month.

Weight - do the best you can, it's hard with 2 animals when one is obese and the other isn't. As for 200 calories seeming low - I eat around 1200-1500 calories a day and I probably weigh well in excess of 6x you cat and get way more exercise. My dogs are on around 160 calories a day (and the fat one is not losing anymore ).

Heart murmur - hard to say unless you know if he had it from birth. One of my dogs had a heart murmur at birth but it has since disappeared. I would probably leave it for the time being and just monitor it to see if it develops into anything more serious.

How much would I spend on my dogs? I honestly can't think of an upper limit (I'm sure my husband could - he definitely can with the snake and moans with every dollar I spend on him). When my dog was having mystery pain in his back I spent over $1000 trying to figure out what was wrong with him. We even had an MRI scheduled but the condition cleared up by itself while we were waiting to get an appointment. I have taken responsibility for these animals so I am beholden to keep them as happy and healthy as I possibly can as long as they are in my care.

Finally, preventative care is the cheapest out there. It saves you from having costs blown out of proportion because you are catching problems early. Yearly check ups are essential for good health, be you a human or an animal.

I agree with everyone who suggested getting the teeth sorted out. 

I have a cat with a murmur.  He was diagnosed with the murmur when I got him (he was 1-2 years old then).  My vet kept documenting the murmur over several years and just last year he had an ultrasound and x-rays and we put him on medicine.  He is 9 or 10 now.  As I understand it, heart murmurs in adult cats are almost always degenerative, so it is likely that the mumur will continue to get worse.  However, that doesn't mean that your cat needs meds now.  As far as cost is concerned with this type of thing, the ultrasound and x-rays were expensive, but that is a one time deal.  The medicine my cat is on is pretty cheap.  I think I pay something on the order of $25 per month (and could probably save a bit more if I would take the script to a human pharmacy instead of the vet office).  You also might be able to convince the vet to prescribe the meds if you had documentation of the murmur getting worse (e.g. the same doctor sees him every 6 months or so to have a listen) - and therefore forego the spendy ultrasound and x-rays.

Heartworm prescription for a cat is absurd!

I don't give my cats shots either, b/c they are strickly indoors.  One vet (who I no longer go to obviously) said, "what if a bat flew in your house and bit your cat - it might get rabies."  Seriously?  I think I can take that chance versus the risk associated with over vaccinating...

Also, for a little more perspective, it is MUCH less expensive to have annual shots and minor treatments on my horses (where the vet comes to you) than to take my cats to the vet.  This is just crazy to me.

Original Post by cheree89:

I agree with everyone who suggested getting the teeth sorted out. 

I have a cat with a murmur.  He was diagnosed with the murmur when I got him (he was 1-2 years old then).  My vet kept documenting the murmur over several years and just last year he had an ultrasound and x-rays and we put him on medicine.  He is 9 or 10 now.  As I understand it, heart murmurs in adult cats are almost always degenerative, so it is likely that the mumur will continue to get worse.  However, that doesn't mean that your cat needs meds now.  As far as cost is concerned with this type of thing, the ultrasound and x-rays were expensive, but that is a one time deal.  The medicine my cat is on is pretty cheap.  I think I pay something on the order of $25 per month (and could probably save a bit more if I would take the script to a human pharmacy instead of the vet office).  You also might be able to convince the vet to prescribe the meds if you had documentation of the murmur getting worse (e.g. the same doctor sees him every 6 months or so to have a listen) - and therefore forego the spendy ultrasound and x-rays.

Heartworm prescription for a cat is absurd!

I don't give my cats shots either, b/c they are strickly indoors.  One vet (who I no longer go to obviously) said, "what if a bat flew in your house and bit your cat - it might get rabies."  Seriously?  I think I can take that chance versus the risk associated with over vaccinating...

Also, for a little more perspective, it is MUCH less expensive to have annual shots and minor treatments on my horses (where the vet comes to you) than to take my cats to the vet.  This is just crazy to me.

isn't it a law that cats and dogs have to have rabies shots?

Rabies is the one shot we do give every 3 years. 1 because it is the law and 2 because they might sneak out one day.

I hope the authorities don't come and get me...

We each have to weigh the risks.  The rabies law is to protect humans from getting rabies (from being bitten by a dog or cat).  Since my cats both run in absolute terror when any other person is around, I think humankind is safe. 

well...say your cats DO get out...it could lead to a pretty bad situation you could be responsible for.  Rabies are pretty bad.  My obese kitty(frank) is a big pansy too...very shy at first...hates going outside...but she has run out a few times. 

Original Post by juliemae2:

I mis-read your post.  It seemed to indicate that your cats didn't usually get a regular check up, but I see what you are saying now.

...

 Oh...I just read my original post and see how you got that.  My DH and I just got married last year so I was always the one taking them to the vet before.  He is a first time pet owner...so this was his first time to the vet! Newbie!!

Rabies shots for cats is not mandatory in many states.  Some couties have mandatory rabies vacs for cats in states where it isn't law statewide (Ohio is one of those).

Original Post by p0nda:

Weight - do the best you can, it's hard with 2 animals when one is obese and the other isn't. As for 200 calories seeming low - I eat around 1200-1500 calories a day and I probably weigh well in excess of 6x you cat and get way more exercise. My dogs are on around 160 calories a day (and the fat one is not losing anymore ).

I have two cats, one is a very fat cat and the other is mostly fur and bones. When Mosquito (ah the irony) got to be over 30 lbs on DIET FOOD,  I had to take serious measures. I feed him less than half what the label says to feed a cat his size. I thought it would be a problem and that I would have a very angry cat on my hands, but he got used to it very quickly.

I make sure the thin one gets something to eat by filling a small dish and leaving it on a high shelf that Mosquito cannot get his fat butt up on. Cupcake, the thin one (I just realized that is also an ironic name lol) eats shockingly little....I keep it filled all the time for her but only have to put about 1/2C in every couple of days to keep it full. No wonder M got fat, he was eating both their portions.

Cupcake likes to climb and run around the apartment, Mosquito likes to lay around and if I am laying around too he loves to cuddle. He is my baby, I love him, and we are losing weight together (he has lost 6 or 7 lbs since January and I have lost 55, both of us close to 20% of our starting weight!) and I have had him since he was born right in front of me 10 years ago....but how much would I pay to save his life if he needed surgery or something? I don't honestly know, I have a hard time getting by myself. SO I hope it never comes to that. In the meantime, I buy the higher-quality food to prevent urine crystals and other health problems, and hopefully in a year or so we can both no longer be obese, and that is what I can do for him now. You can bet your a** I would get a second opinion in your case though!

Original Post by victoriagirl:

Original Post by p0nda:

...

....

I make sure the thin one gets something to eat by filling a small dish and leaving it on a high shelf that Mosquito cannot get his fat butt up on. ...

Hahaha! I now have this great image in my head of a big fat cat (not unlike my frank) trying to jump up to a shelf in an attempt to reach more food and failing miserably.  hahahaha!

We have a very old cat (we think she is about 21 years old).  Naturally she has had some health problems and we have had to consider putting her down a couple of times when vets found serious problems that had very expensive solutions.  We tend to go with the things the the vet says "will probably take care of it" and pass on the seriously expensive tests and treatments.  We have still spent thousands on her over the last year.  Sometimes I think we should just let her go, but she seems to so much better and be happy after treatment.  Until the next thing goes wrong.  It is a hard decision to make because you really have no idea of how it is going to turn out, you just do the best you can.

Original Post by hmking:

Original Post by victoriagirl:

I make sure the thin one gets something to eat by filling a small dish and leaving it on a high shelf that Mosquito cannot get his fat butt up on. ...

Hahaha! I now have this great image in my head of a big fat cat (not unlike my frank) trying to jump up to a shelf in an attempt to reach more food and failing miserably.  hahahaha!

 Haha....now I do too

Mosquito does not do that though. Too much effort would be required. He just gives it an occasional mournful look when Cupcake springs on up there and starts crunching away.

I don't feel bad though. He is a funny cat, he won't eat stale food, if I put new food on top of old food (like if I have to go away for a few days and laeve extra food out) he will pick around it. I know that if he was truly hungry, he'd eat the older food in his dish and not be such a primadonna.

I just wanted to add my two cents to everyone's advice.  That vet sounds like a charlatan.  Putting cats on very restrictive diets when they are very overweight is not a good idea.  They can develop fatty liver syndrome and other related problems.  Gradual food reduction and increased play activities work better.

Also, cavities in a tooth don't necessarily mean it must be pulled. My vet almost never pulls teeth and I trust her advice implicitly.  A good vet will look for a solution that you can afford and that gives your pet the best quality of life.  I had to get an ultrasound for one of my cats and my vet told me not to go with the assorted other test they would suggest at the clinic.  Saved me hundreds of dollars and meant my cat was not subjected to painful, distressing and unnecessary procedures.

Did the vet give you any warnings about cat diets?  If he didn't, find a different vet.  Putting cats on diets is potentially fatal if you do it wrong.  Here's some info:

http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/catweight.h tml

From the site

"Getting an obese cat to lose weight needs to be done gradually… no crash diets allowed!  Cats have a unique metabolic response to fasting and whenever a feline’s food intake is rapidly and markedly depressed, a serious and potentially fatal disorder can occur called Hepatic Lipidosis. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feline_Hepatic_L ipidosis

Cats commonly lose teeth, and you never now it.  If it's not stopping the cat from eating, and it's not obviously infected, it's probably ok.  Which teeth are the problems?  It's fairly common for them to lose the front teeth (not the canines), but if it's the molars, there's a bigger chance of abcess.  If you're cat's older, this could be more serious.

Our vet is very big on dental hygene, and is very adamant that good oral health can lengthen an animal's life.  I'm not completely convinced that it helps that much, I've had cats live upto 18 years with no dental work, but almost lost my 10 year old last year because of an infection he got from having his teeth cleaned.  His teeth are beautiful now though.  You can always try brushing thier teeth.

I've never had a cat with a heart murmur, but I do have one that only recently(she's 4) stopped running herself to exhaustion on occasion.  How much exersise does it take to get him panting?  If you're just playing with him, do he get that far?  Is it just one run around the house, or is he tearing around for awhile before he collapses.  It's possible something's wrong, but it's also possible he has no common sense (that's Ki-Lin's problem anyway.)   

I would think that if you're cats are strictly indoors, heartworm is probably not a problem.

Overall, I'd say get a new vet, or at least a second opinion.  Something doesn't sound right to me.

If the heart worms are fatal, I think you should definitely buy the medicine. I mean, these are your pets- they're your responsibility.

Would you do this to your kids? Not a chance. I know there's a big difference between cats and humans, but I would never knowingly let an illness go untreated if I had the money to afford treatment.

90 bucks may seem like a lot, but you can go a couple weeks without buying coffee everyday..or whatever wasteful thing you do unconsciously.

If the heart worms are fatal, I think you should definitely buy the medicine. I mean, these are your pets- they're your responsibility.

If they have heartworms, it can be fatal. The treatment for heartworms is very hard on the animal and sometimes they don't survive. That's why I think it's best (if you live in an area where there are mosquitos) to get the heartworm meds in the hot months when mosquitos are out. Plus, the treatment to get rid of heartworm (once the animal has it) is very very expensive.

In dogs I agree with you ali, but that is not true of cats - there is no treatment for heartworm in cats. It's also not as big a deal as it is for dogs (it still sucks but it's not as bad).

hm, if there is heartworm in dogs in your area you probably should get them tested then put them on meds (get one of the combination ones that does all the worms and fleas like sentinel or revolution), I kind of forget that it is a big deal elsewhere because it's not here.