(moved to the menagerie) Need Barn Cat Advice - Pet Insurance, and Medical Attempts Gone Bad

[ytr45]

Please folks no snarkiness, I’m all tied up in knots about this. This fall I got a lovely (unferal-ish) feral rescue. This is a friendly maine-coone looking guy that has a doggie personality. He wants to be picked up and petted, and follows me everywhere. I fell in love, yes I admit it. I was concerned that he had a lot of cysts on his face, so I bought some pet insurance and took him to the vet. This kitty is worth it.

The vet found out he had an upper respiratory infection caused by chlamydia and gave me clavamox. No worries, I have insurance, right? When I went online to upload my claim, the website said there was a 14 day waiting period, so my claims would not be paid
I didn’t submit anything.

Later the vet switched me to compounded chicken flavored doxy, but that caused violent vomiting. When I googled it, it seems like allergic reactions to doxy are common in cats.

So now I don’t trust that vet for not mentioning that to me. Poor Kitty!!

So, I guess I need to go back to clavamox, but I don’t really trust the vet anymore. Why didn’t she give me a heads up on the potential doxy reactions? The violent vomiting was terrible, I thought I killed him, and this kitty takes meds without any scruffing or “burritto’ing” or anything. He’s SO SWEET.

I’m thinking I should go to a different vet, get clavamox again, and then resubmit whatever claims I can, knowing they’ll probably realize the omittance of the earlier chlamydia bloodwork.

I would any non-snarky advice. thanks.

[skydy]

I would post this on the Menagerie forum. There are many cat people there.

[ThreeWishes]

@Moderator_1 please move this to the menagerie.
Want to help this kitty !

[trubandloki]

@ytr45

Please folks no snarkiness, I’m all tied up in knots about this. This fall I got a lovely (unferal-ish) feral rescue. This is a friendly maine-coone looking guy that has a doggie personality. He wants to be picked up and petted, and follows me everywhere. I fell in love, yes I admit it. I was concerned that he had a lot of cysts on his face, so I bought some pet insurance and took him to the vet. This kitty is worth it.

The vet found out he had an upper respiratory infection caused by chlamydia and gave me clavamox. No worries, I have insurance, right? When I went online to upload my claim, the website said there was a 14 day waiting period, so my claims would not be paid
I didn’t submit anything.

Later the vet switched me to compounded chicken flavored doxy, but that caused violent vomiting. When I googled it, it seems like allergic reactions to doxy are common in cats.

So now I don’t trust that vet for not mentioning that to me. Poor Kitty!!

So, I guess I need to go back to clavamox, but I don’t really trust the vet anymore. Why didn’t she give me a heads up on the potential doxy reactions? The violent vomiting was terrible, I thought I killed him, and this kitty takes meds without any scruffing or “burritto’ing” or anything. He’s SO SWEET.

I’m thinking I should go to a different vet, get clavamox again, and then resubmit whatever claims I can, knowing they’ll probably realize the omittance of the earlier chlamydia bloodwork.

I would any non-snarky advice. thanks.

I am glad your special kitty has found a loving home.

I think you are being a little too rough on this vet. Did you call when the kitty was having a problem and they ignored your concerns? Or are you really this upset because they did not mention the chances of an adverse side affect on a drug that could have helped?

Call up the vet you have taken the kitty to, tell them this medication is not working and ask what should you do now?

I say this for several reasons.
Reason 1 is I do not believe in lying to the insurance so the plan to start over at a new vet and not admit about the previous vet visit is not something I can condone. It is insurance fraud.
Reason 2 is, the vet has already tried two medications and can easily give you a third if you just give them a chance to continue to treat the kitty.
Reason 3 is that it is going to take quite some time to get into a new vet. At least in my part of the world. Many vets are simply not taking new clients so if you can find a vet that is taking new clients, an appointment is likely weeks out. You don’t want your special boy to wait that long.

[chestnutmarebeware]

Your kitty is lucky to have you!

I’m with @trubandloki, though. From what you’ve written it doesn’t sound like the vet was negligent—like doctors, some will mention EVERY SINGLE possible side effect for a med, and others won’t mention it unless you ask. As consumers of medical care for ourselves and animals, we have to make sure we ask about possible side effects and not just assume the doc will bring them up.

I’m also curious about the switch from clavamox to doxy. Was it because of the pink spatter all over your walls and clothing, or because it didn’t result in progress after a reasonable period of time? If clavamox didn’t work the first time, why would you go back to it?

If there hasn’t been a response, then maybe the vet can get a culture to i.d. the exact bacteria causing the issue. Then the most appropriate antibiotic could be prescribed.