A Vet's Animals Seem to Have the Most Problems

[Bearby]

It always seems that veterinarians' pets have the most medical problems. This may be because the veterinarian knows when certain diagnostics need to be done based on behaviors and symptoms, but I was just seeing if anyone here has problem pets.

My cat is 2 years old. When he was only about 16 weeks of age, my parents were watching him while I was at work, and he broke his leg. The radiographs showed that the femoral head was still in the hip socket and the rest of the leg was just floating there. He was too young to go through a FHO so he was put on cage rest with some pain meds for a few weeks. His leg still isn't in the right place but you wouldn't know it by looking at him. He walks and runs on all four legs and as long as he doesn't get fat he may never need surgery to correct it. A couple of months ago, he started coughing and has been diagnosed with feline asthma. I'm just now starting him on steroids after he had an attack that scared me ****less the other night and am hoping to transfer to the inhaled steroids so that I can keep his weight down since less of the side effects of steroids are seen with the inhaled kind. It's like $140 for 2 months worth of the inhaler vs like $2 for 4 months of the pills. We'll see what ends up happening.

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[MixedAnimal2B]

I totally agree. I decided to pursue this field last spring and began working at a small animal practice. I've had my yorkie since I was 6 yrs old so she was about 14 yrs old and had pancreatitis. We kept her on the Science diet she was fine. Then a year or two ago she developed an enlarged heart so we put her on enalapril. She was getting older and we loved her to death and knew she was getting up there. Spring 09 she wasn't doing too well so we xrayed her again. Her heart was 6 rib spaces and had fluid in her stomach. Then my shih tzu we got her when I was in middle school. Around the same time she began having intestinal problems. Bloody diarrhea, vommitting, not eating... it was the strangest thing. Took her to the vet xrayed her the intestine lining was inflamed. Put her on steroids to eat, gave her cerenia shots, hand fed her. After this persisted we took her to the Advanced Critical Care and they biopsied her lymph nodes and it turned out to be lympho sarcoma. It seemed as soon as I decided to pursue this field the two dogs got sick immediately, so bizarre. They have since passed on. My cat also ripped the tendon on his hind toe he jumped and got it stuck in a decorative planter. He's fine now, but I totally agree with you that vets/ pre-vets animals have the most problems.

 

[GellaBella]

Maybe it's just that as pre-vets we are more willing to treat our own animals and are more aware of their symptoms so it seems that way?

I have had one rabbit who was really a sickly little thing, we probably spend $10,000 on her in the one year we had her. She was the best though. Other than that, all the animals i've ever had in my life, from all the dogs, cats, potbellied pigs, pygmy goats, chickens, ducks, turtles, raccoons etc have all been really healthy.

Volunteering at the animal hospital I see way more people coming into the vets for their pets more frequently than i have to bring mine in so I guess I've been lucky.

 

[ReadyBeVet]

I think often times vets are the last people to treat their animal, but not in a neglectful way--- if that makes sense. I was reading one of the vet blogs where her cat had all of the clinical signs of diabetes but she delayed blood testing, etc, because she knew what it had to be.

I think someday once I'm a vet, I'll probably adopt animals with health problems from humane soc./ rescues since I'll be able to deal financially and medically with problems that others couldn't.

 

[cwazy cat lady]

Where I work we all have crazy multi-cat households and our cats are on prozac, paxil and depo.

 

[eventualeventer]

"The cobblers children have no shoes." I've seen some of the opposite, like ReadyBeVet said.

I think it is confirmation bias. The vets whose horses and pets I knew had no more problems than average.

 

[sunshinevet]

I think any bias there is is due to vets adopting animals with illness, as opposed to their animals just being randomly getting more illnesses. I mean, I'm sure we all know a vet with a 3 legged dog/cat... or the one thats taken home a sickly animal because it would have been euthed otherwise. I think that mentality is more responsible for it.

 

[VeganSoprano]

It does seem weird. I have to say I've been super lucky so far (knock wood), but I have three cats who have needed full mouth extractions and one who developed cerebellar signs at 12 weeks of age after recovering from panleuk - which is kind of not supposed to happen. Oh, and then another had a premolar that was so badly deformed (congenitally - he was only a year old when it was extracted) that the dentist kept it for educational purposes. And the asthmatic guy who I finally formally dx'ed when his right middle lobe collapsed. Otherwise, it's just been normal stuff - one chronic URI, one early renal dz,and several who have been on SSRIs. The joys of a multi-cat household.

 

[cowgirla]

I think any bias there is is due to vets adopting animals with illness, as opposed to their animals just being randomly getting more illnesses. I mean, I'm sure we all know a vet with a 3 legged dog/cat... or the one thats taken home a sickly animal because it would have been euthed otherwise. I think that mentality is more responsible for it.

Agreed.
My rescue pup's on prozac, but otherwise, knock wood, no issues besides being neurotic. (Not including the frequent GI issues from eating things that were never meant to be eaten...)
I think I'm also about to become the proud parent of a cat with plasma cell pododermatitis, since the owner cant even afford antibiotics, let alone any other meds that might be needed.

 

[Bearby]

Agreed.
My rescue pup's on prozac, but otherwise, knock wood, no issues besides being neurotic. (Not including the frequent GI issues from eating things that were never meant to be eaten...)
I think I'm also about to become the proud parent of a cat with plasma cell pododermatitis, since the owner cant even afford antibiotics, let alone any other meds that might be needed.

I met a cat that had that and it was one of the most interesting things I'd ever seen. We got the pads much firmer but it took a long time and a lot of bandaging. There was talk of sx but it ended up not being necessary yet.

 

[TorchWorker]

My dad is a vet and the only time our pets ever go in to the hospital is to donate blood.... or if they eat a choo choo train and it has to be pulled out of the rectum with forceps. Mmmmm

 

[chris03333]

I think any bias there is is due to vets adopting animals with illness, as opposed to their animals just being randomly getting more illnesses. I mean, I'm sure we all know a vet with a 3 legged dog/cat... or the one thats taken home a sickly animal because it would have been euthed otherwise. I think that mentality is more responsible for it.

agreed

 

[sumstorm]

I also think the sample size is a bit biased. Out of 6 dogs and 2 cats, one has allergies (post Katrina SAR exposure), and 1 has anxiety (probably also related to the 2+ moves a year since Katrina) and 1 has mild behavior issues (from a poor shelter situation.)

However, I had these same animals as a non-vet. I have a feeling that if you categorize pet owners, you will find a few 'types' and that vets will fall within a narrower range of those types, but I don't think you will find much contrast between vets and non vets of similar types.

Also, it does go both ways. My allergy dog had a seizure on Thanksgiving. Nothing unusual, cooked a meal, no guests, no treats, etc. However, my husband, the non-vet, would have taken him to an emergency clinic. Since the seizure was brief, and everything else was ok, I made the call not to...because I knew realisiticly there wasn't much they could do, and I wouldn't use regular treatment for a single episode.

 

[cwazy cat lady]

I mean, I'm sure we all know a vet with a 3 legged dog/cat...

Yeah, I have two... not a vet yet, but hope to be someday! I do love the three-leggers. It really made me nervous at first, but now I don't even notice it. I would adopt another one in a heartbeat.

 

[168135]

My cat, who is my family's first pet, had to have five teeth extracted because when we first got her, my mom refused to take her in for annual checkups becaus "if she was sick, she would show it". Two years after we got her, I managed to convince her to take her to a vet and right after we made an appointment, we found one of her teeth on the floor. She had a pretty nasty gum infection. Mom took her anually after that and I even managed to convince her to get some bloodwork done just to be sure, since our cat is at least 10. But because I wasn't home this summer, which is when we usually take her in, mom didn't take her and now she's overdue. *headdesk x 100*

Since getting gerbils in June, Hawkeye already had to see a vet. He developed a sore nose so severe that that there was no hair on his face. Because his face is so tiny and the medicated ointment tube is so huge, I don't think he'll ever have to go in because of a sore nose again.

 

[vkajko]

This is a funny thread becuase it does seem like such a weird coincidence. I just decided on being a vet last year and it does seem that my pets keep getting sick or injured. Just last week one of my rats got a cut on her tail and my dog some how got a cut on his eye. I don't want to know what could happen next, hopefully it isn't too bad.

 

[SaintSamson]

Lol, this thread is entertaining.
I have heard that animals owned by vets usually get the problems that are the most difficult to diagnose.
When my dog went to see an internal medicine specialist, she most of said that phrase 3 times...

So far -knock on wood- my old cat is doing fine. I found out he has herpes and he had about 5 very small teeth removed this year (I'm guessing it was his first dentistry ever...). I adopted him at age 9 from the shelter, so who knows what his prior care was. Depending on how long he lives, he may need to have both lower canines extracted, which is not something I'm looking forward to.

My dog, on the other hand.... After sneezing repeatedly and having a swollen right nostril, the vet I work for looked up his nose, found nothing, and referred me to a specialist. At 13 months old, my dog had a rhinoscopy, haha. They found nothing, aside from the swelling in the right nostril and inflammed lymph nodes, so they biopsied it. Came back as a lymphoplasmacytic imflammation. Which means it could be a bunch of different things. Then the sneezing mysteriously went away.
Had his neutered, turns out he's allergig to amoxicillin. He also has a mutated MDR1 gene, so he can't have butorphanol, acepromazine, and a bunch of others. He just recently got kennel cough somehow, is slightly allergic to the doxycyline, and on top of that, his sneezing/swollen lymph nodes/swollen nostril have all come back.
So in my case, it's the problems that are hard to diagnose!

 

[Sophie10]

One of my cats has a problem that probably never would have been noticed if I didn't work for a vet.

As a kitten, he came into work every day and hung out with us and greeted people at the front desk. He was super friendly and nice. Around the age of 6 months, he started to get really moody and biting a lot. He had come from the shelter so he had been neutered around a 4 weeks.

Had he not been at the vet, no one would have thought to feel his back and notice pain there. We gave him Metacam and he was still painful the next day. I brought him in for an x-ray which revealed total necrosis of the femoral head and neck.

However, he is pretty much asymtomatic other than a little waggle in his step (and sensitivity to holding him like a baby) and even consulting with a surgeon led to no treatment.

So.. I have a cat with no hip. And I don't think I would know that if I hadn't worked for a vet.

 

[dyachei]

One of my cats has hyperthyroidism and was diagnosed yesterday with heartworms. It took a lot to talk my parents into at least putting her and the other cat that lives with them on preventative. The other cat that lives with them has osteoarthritis. But considering that they are 17 and 19, I am thankful that they haven't had a handful of other problems, and are otherwise active and happy. The new kitten came to me with what was probably herpes, but she's doing fine now.

 

[jmcgintee]

I'm going to an internal medicine specialist today with my soon to be 7month old mastiff pup. She vomits every 6-8 days and has been doing it for months. We've done blood work and urinalysis, and multiple fecals. All normal. She's been on a prescription diet as well. Also, negative for Addision's...gotta love our problem pets She's may baby

 

[rugbychick16]

Ferret 1=Insulinoma, adrenal tumor, mammary masses. Special soft food and meds 2x a day
Ferret 2=Congestive heart failure. Meds 2x a day
Ferret 3=Recently diagnosed with early onset severe dental disease and mouth ulcers. On meds 2x a day until we get a dental done
Ferret 4=I've threatened her many times that she better stay healthy

Rat-currently on melatonin 1x a day to stop growing of mammary tumor

I also own a kitty with many congenital musculoskeletal birth defects...no issues yet, but testicles havent descended yet at 9 months old, so probably a surgery soon.


I had to leave 3 pages of instructions for my pet sitter over thanksgiving break. Thats what I get for taking in rescue animals....

 

[twelvetigers]

My corgi has uroliths/renaliths (sp?) and had a surgery before I got her, so she gets radiographs 2x yearly and eats special food. So far, we've been okay. The cats are healthy... to my knowledge. Well, Vesper's a bit of a fatty.

 

[Bearby]

As if my problem child wasn't already enough of a handful, today I woke up and noticed that he had a ruptured anal gland. Just got back from the E-clinic, he's still there getting fixed up. This cat costs me more than school.

 

[Whyevernot55]

I think any bias there is is due to vets adopting animals with illness, as opposed to their animals just being randomly getting more illnesses. I mean, I'm sure we all know a vet with a 3 legged dog/cat... or the one thats taken home a sickly animal because it would have been euthed otherwise. I think that mentality is more responsible for it.

I also agree with this one. My kitties are mostly healthy, but last year I acquired a kitten with VSD, and a heart murmur you could actually hear from across the room. We had him for 3 months before he went into heart failure and I euthanized him at 8 months old.
I've got two with chronic URI problems, and one of those two is also completely deaf. Talk about lack of volume control. The other two I picked up from some lady outside a WalMart with a crate full of kittens to give away.
They're all young (5 years x2, 13 months, and 9mos), but I have predictions on which kitties will be hyperthyroid, CKD, etc!

Don't get me started on my horse, and previous horses. I've had: EPM, chronic azoturia, popped splints, surgery to remove a sequestrum, hematomas, hygromas, colic, popped out stifles, OCD chips, subchondral bone cysts, 2 years ago my gelding had 30% of his hoof resected due to an abcess, many many many stitches, and of course, COLIC. To name a few.

 

[VeganSoprano]

As of this week I can throw a caudal maxillary squamous cell carcinoma in the mix. An awful disease in about the worst possible place. Our oncology service is amazing, but it will take a miracle - medical or otherwise - for her to be alive 3 months from now.

 

[lunajett]

I think I've been a lot luckier than most, but fortunately my experiences have been the opposite of this thread's premise. Here I am working for the past couple years at an ER/specialty hospital, with access to the best vets and a healthy employee discount, and, knock on wood, my dogs have been amazingly healthy for the almost 10 years I've had them. We go hiking/camping alot, lots of offleash running through brush and climbing/jumping, and never a fracture, snakebite, animal attack, nothing. 'Course, saying all this, I'm probably jinxing us.

I do feel bad sometimes, because I have many friends with large multiple cat/dog households, who have spent thousands on bizarre problems. My guys have just had routine care/checkups. Although, they are now seniors and are noticably feeling their age. Luna goes in tommorow for radiographs and a senior workup, and will probably be started on an NSAID for what I hope is just worsening arthritis. Jett, who is almost 9, could easily pass for 5. And as of 2 weeks ago, a stray pup has joined the pack. He's a bit of an unknown quantity at this point, but all signs are he's in perfect health, too.

But I can definitely still relate to this thread's premise. With what I see in the hospital everyday, my mind can sometimes race to "worst case scenario" at the first little sneeze or diarrhea. But I can usually talk myself down, and I think I know enough to know when to really worry. I think part of our good experience can actually be traced back to some good vets we went to in the early years, who in retrospect at least, probably inspired me a lot to think more about animal health for my guys personally and eventually as a career. I was really encouraged to focus on the basics - brushing teeth, lots of exercise/socialization, maintaining healthy weight, knowing the normals for my dogs. All things which I have now done for years, which seem to have very much paid off, and which studies have shown can add several healthy years to the average dog's life. That kind of knowledge and results is just some of what I would hope to pass on as a vet.

 

[sumstorm]

Well, I had the misfortune to have a dog lose his eye over the winter break...more precisely, christmas eve. Two dogs went after a ball mid air at the same time....snout of one nailed head of the other. No punctures, just pressure. Thank goodness I have the most amazing vet ever who came in late at night, leaving her two daughters with her visiting family. Eye isn't salvagable, but it was a hard call not to take him to the vet school that night to see if there were any procedures that could help. The $$$ was part of the issue (even with a discount) especially with the thought that there wsn't much that could be done. Consult with a opth later confirmed that we did everything we could, and there wasn't anything more that could be done. It was an accident, but I feel foolishly guilty for my oldest dog, a character and a half, hurting. While some of the swelling has gone down, it is still tender. Of course, I was down with crypto when all this occured, so I was pretty out of it (ended up in the hospital two days later myself) and my husband swears it probably wouldn't have happened if I had been exercising the dogs. But accidents happen. Now we have to decide if we just let the eye shrivel, or remove it. Will probably be a month before we have to make a decision.