s/o do you take your indoor cat to the vet regularly?

[Anonymous]

I was the same. Only took my indoor cat in every few years when shots were due.

She's now 13, and her eating dropped off dramatically a few weeks ago, so I brought her in. The bloodwork showed signs of hyperthyroid and the ultrasound showed a large bladder stone. We're trying to figure out next steps (medicine? surgery?), but I'm not sure I would have done anything differently as regular check ups would not have turned up these problems.

[Anonymous]

PP, if she's hyperthyroid I recommend the radiation treatment. We did ours at Southpaws. Def better than daily meds and more effective.

[Anonymous]

Heck, we had an indoor/OUTdoor cat that only went when she had problems. She was so awful at the vet that he preferred to come to our house (small town, years ago) to give her the really necessary shots. We did have to take her in a couple of times for abscessed bites from other animals. She lived to 20, though I recognize we were lucky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I stopped taking my indoor cat in for shots after she developed a cancerous tumor at the vaccine injection site and I spent a ridiculous amount of money on cat surgery. This only happens to about 1 in 10k cats supposedly, and i was told never to vaccinate her again, but, side note, vet said they are supposed to give shots in the leg or tail now since you can lop those off if cancer develops. Anyway, my vet best friend says that exclusively indoor cats technically don't need most of the shots they get, but it's a way to get them to the vet for check-ups, which are important (blood work ups, etc).

Interesting. My cat developed a vaccine-associated sarcoma, which unfortunately was inoperable. I'd never heard of this before. I'm glad it sounds like your cat fared better!

Never heard of it until my friend's cat developed the injection site sarcoma. Lopped off his back leg, so he survived.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was the same. Only took my indoor cat in every few years when shots were due.

She's now 13, and her eating dropped off dramatically a few weeks ago, so I brought her in. The bloodwork showed signs of hyperthyroid and the ultrasound showed a large bladder stone. We're trying to figure out next steps (medicine? surgery?), but I'm not sure I would have done anything differently as regular check ups would not have turned up these problems.

I wouldn't pay for expensive cat surgery. Put it to sleep. You can get another cat.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for responding all. I feel reassured that my moral compass is not off.

The cat never goes outside and is the only pet in the house. She also was feral when we adopted her, and doesn't let anyone pick her up except for me and really, only on her own terms. Getting her in the carrier is a nightmare.

I had also read about injection site tumors and I figured it wasn't worth the risk. Also, if I notice her eating habits or bowel movements, etc. are off I would of course bring her in. But, I will also say, I'm not keen on the idea of spending thousands of dollars on preventative care or other medical interventions. Put it another way, it just ain't gonna happen. I have a child to feed!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, if she's hyperthyroid I recommend the radiation treatment. We did ours at Southpaws. Def better than daily meds and more effective.

Thank you! We are considering this, so it's really good to hear you had a positive experience.

FWIW, our vet recommended a month or two of the daily meds first to get her thyroid number down and be sure that doesn't trigger other problems. She has small kidneys so there's a bit of worry that lower thyroid might stress them out somehow. But assuming she's fine with lower thyroid numbers, we'll likely do the radiation treatment.

Thanks again.