Thanks, Guys, you really have all been just great.
Ruben I like your signature. Are you by any chance a fan of the newest Battlestar Galactica series? - "What do you hear? Nothing but the rain, Sir. Then grab your gun and bring in the cat."
In case any of you haven't seen this, I'm pretty sure it was the first tank video NancyBoy starred in.
When FDR coined the phrase "The Arsenal of Democracy", he was talking about Detroit. Proud to live in the 2nd most violent city in America!!
The lab results said the mass was benign, but the blood-work said Nancy is FIV positive. That raises whole new issues and I've been really struggling with it and haven't really figured out how to post an update about all of it. For some reason when the surgeon learned of the FIV thing her price went from $1,000 to $1,500 all the way up to $2,500 to $3,500 and I'm still trying to figure out exactly what the hell is going on. For right now he's doing really good and the ear looks much, much better. Doctor Burke says there's a chance the polyp won't grow back, so we're hoping for the best. I have lots of work to do and lots of research to do and I think it might be a good idea to see a second vet, but that's kinda cost prohibitive. I'm prepared, though. All the great help I got from my brother tankers took care of a good chunk of the bills so far and now I have a war chest together that's getting bigger every day and just in case I need it I've worked out a credit line for vet services.
Doctor Burke and I went over everything and the current plan is to take him in to see the vet in about 10 to 12 weeks and we'll anesthetize him so the Doc can get a good look in there and see how things are progressing. Hopefully the evil thing won't be growing back and then we'll just have to take it one step at a time. He already knows he'll be expected to star in a few videos when the weather gets warm so all the fellas can see how he's doin'.
When FDR coined the phrase "The Arsenal of Democracy", he was talking about Detroit. Proud to live in the 2nd most violent city in America!!
Max, find a new vet! FIV is controllable in cats and cats can live a long normal life with it. However in its later stages they can get sick easy so you may want to start keeping him as an inside cat only, no sense possibly exposing him to anything that could make him sick.
Also a vaccine does exist however he'd still test positive for FIV the rest of his life.
Terry, that's really cool that you would take the time to look into that. I've done a bit of research myself and that's one of the reasons I'm so surprised by the huge price increase. That's not my vet, though, that's the surgeon from Milford, a woman named Mair. Doctor Burke is kind of a general practitioner type vet and he's pretty cool. I'll still go to him for annual rabies shots and stuff like that. I have two more cats besides Nancy. I get on well with Dr. Burke and his prices are reasonable, and he's really good about following through when he says he's gonna do something. He always calls right away when he has results or info, and I'm sticking with him. Now the surgeon's a different story and I had Shadow and Sylvester fixed at the Westland humane Society and they were pretty good to us so I'm gonna stop by there and talk to them and I think they might be able to help. It's not like we're giving up, or anything.
I say, "I have not yet begun to fight"
And Nancy says ........ "Meow". What, you thought he'd say something else?
That reminds me, I get people with that ALL the time ... You know what my cat said this morning? ... What? ... He said Meow, Stupid, you thought he learned to talk or somethin'?
When FDR coined the phrase "The Arsenal of Democracy", he was talking about Detroit. Proud to live in the 2nd most violent city in America!!
Hi Gary,
Pet care has become an industry in the UK, and a big money spinner for Vets. From what I've read, it was the US, and it's 47 Bn dollar per year pet industry that drove the changes. There's nothing Vets like more than ongoing checkups, blood tests and other lucrative investigative work, the results of which often tell you no more than you already know...and certainly don't produce health benefits. I have a friend who spent a mini fortune on blood tests for Cushing's disease in an elderly dog, where continued use of the prescribed medication- without the expensive tests- would have been quite sufficient. The tests had no effect on life expectancy. I've heard of unnecessary, and colossally expensive, x-ray and MRI scans here for animals with terminal diseases where the only benefit could be to the Vet's bank balance. I understand that this is the same situation in the States (more so. by all accounts), and the same commercialisation applies to private health care for bipeds, such as ourselves.
My advice, from what I've read, is make sure that your cats have regular treatment for worms and fleas etc., and keep them away from bug-ridden animals. FIV can also be transmitted from one cat to another, so how are your others faring? Keeping away from harm will be hard, for sure..as controlling cat behaviour is like trying to control the wind. Cats will scavenge, and hunt etc. But, you do what you can. You'll be amazed at how much you can do yo help your pals, without (possibly) being used as a cashcow by greedy
vets. There's a treasure trove of useful information and support out there on the net..it's helped me so often with my Westies, and often provided reassurance where none was to be had (unless it had a price). All the best,
Roy.
"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please"- Mark Twain.
Thanks, Roy, I know what you mean, and as an ugly American myself I can say we do have a whole lot of money grubbing arseholes in this country. I know what you mean about tests being beneficial more to the vets bank balance than anything else, but I do think an initial blood test is a good idea to look for things like FIV and feline leukemia. But when the female surgeon told me she'd need a fresh $150 blood work-up just four weeks after the last one I got pretty suspicious. It also gives me doubts about Dr. Burke's judgement if this is the surgeon he regularly uses.
But, we'll keep on keepin' on and with a little help from our friends we should get by just fine. Just one more advantage to being a member of the greatest community in the universe, the RC Tank Community!
When FDR coined the phrase "The Arsenal of Democracy", he was talking about Detroit. Proud to live in the 2nd most violent city in America!!
Hope it all works out; but don't forget to ask cogent questions- like "Is this really necessary?'.... cite similar cases you've found online (must be there ) where such frequent 'tests' were not part of the procedure. Some vets are as devious as used car salesmen...until you show you're not a financial doormat; but someone from an armoured kickass community, with flame throwing tanks and more..(albeit smaller than they'd suppose)
"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please"- Mark Twain.
Hope it all works out; but don't forget to ask cogent questions- like "Is this really necessary?'.... cite similar cases you've found online (must be there ) where such frequent 'tests' were not part of the procedure. Some vets are as devious as used car salesmen...until you show you're not a financial doormat; but someone from an armoured kickass community, with flame throwing tanks and more..(albeit smaller than they'd suppose) 
