Lora Lee 
Finding a veterinarian that suits you and your beliefs in regard to your cat’s care is so very important. There are many great vets out there, but it can be a challenge finding one that suits you. For years, I had an amazing vet. One who was amazing with my cats. When we were dealing with FIP, she was extremely helpful and patient with all of my concerns and questions. However, as I learned more about what was best for my cat’s, including supplements, a species appropriate raw diets and less vaccines, we started to not see eye to eye. And that is where the problem began.
Sad Truth
Over the past couple of years, I have learned more about what exactly a cat needs to be healthy. Sadly, it was not what my old vet was recommending. She did not support a raw diet even though, at the time, Emmet, who had been on a raw diet for 6 months, had amazing blood work along with a healthy, muscle weight of 13lbs. She questioned my use of supplements that she was unfamiliar with. And she would push yearly vaccines without allowing a titer test. It was very frustrating to the point that I just stopped bringing my cats unless they were sick. Sad, I know. I am not proud of it, but I didn’t know what else to do.
When we moved to our new home 2 years ago, I discovered my local pet supply store, All Pets Considered. I was so excited about finding a store that carried everything that my cats needed to be healthy. Frozen raw food, freeze dried raw food, bone broth, CBD and so much more. What was even more exciting was discovering a cat only veterinarian, Cat Care Hospital, a few doors down. Of course, this was right in the middle of Covid, so I was unable to bring any of my cats for a visit. But that changed this year.
A More Integrative Approach
Back in August, our 14-year-old outdoor cat, Panda, became really sick. My “kitty senses” told me that he was not going to be able to bounce back. I didn’t want to have him endure a 30-minute car ride to my old vet, so I called Cat Care Hospital to see if they could fit him in. They could and sadly, it wasn’t good news. Poor Panda was in severe renal failure. And, unfortunately, we had to help him cross the Rainbow Bridge. As sad as it was to have to say goodbye to Panda, his passing provided me with the opportunity to see if this new vet would be a good fit for me and my cats.
And she is! Dr. McLeod is amazing. I have had, unfortunately, many experiences with her this month alone between Zazzles, Lily and now, Emmet. The month of October has not been kind to us. My love for her and her approach to the care and treatment of my cats grows with each visit. She and her staff took amazing care of Zazzles during his stay with them while he was dealing with low anemia levels. Not only was she fully open to my holistic approach of giving supplements to help support Zazzles but told me about a holistic vet in the next town. She had even brought up trying Reiki with him. I was happily shocked. Deciding to test the waters, I mentioned feeding a raw diet and doing titer tests before vaccinations. She was in support of all of it. I was ecstatic. I found my new vet and she is less than 10 minutes from my house. Oh, happy day!
Never Too Late
Luckily the majority of my cats are healthy. However, I do know that if I had been taking Franklin in for his yearly vet visits, I might have caught his kidney disease early enough that we could have treated it. That is on me and will be a regret that I live and deal with. It is sad that I did not feel comfortable with my old vet to be able to provide my cats with the health care they needed. I am filled with such relief that I now have Dr. McLeod and her amazing staff. They will get to meet all of my cats. Although my cats may not be so happy about that. Yearly wellness visits are essential. I am doing everything I can to ensure that my cats all live long and healthy lives. If you are having the same issue of not seeing eye to eye with your current vet, don’t give up. Keep looking. Your purrfect vet is out there.
“Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.
