What to Do when your Vet asks you to do the Impossible

 Talking with a client about her cat the other day, I noticed that she had stopped refilling a medication that her cat really needed. Her cat had lost a lot of weight as a result. When I asked her about the medication, she explained that she was simply unable to give the medication as her cat had started hiding from her to avoid being medicated.
There are many reasons why you may find your veterinarian’s advice impossible to follow. Your work schedule may not allow you to give your pet eye drops every six hours, or you may need two people to successfully give your cat needed medication and you live alone. Your vet may have recommended a prescription food that you can’t really afford, or that your pet simply won’t eat.
If your vet’s instructions or recommendations are going to be impossible for you to follow, please speak up. As veterinarians, we are trained problem solvers, and we’ll work with you to find a more easily given form of medication, such as a liquid or transdermal formulation, a more doable dosing schedule, or a different prescription food. As I often say to my clients, a food can’t work if your pet won’t eat it! Fortunately, several companies make prescription diets, so if your cat or dog doesn’t like one brand, ask your vet if they carry another brand’s version. The Cat Doctor & Friends carries many flavors and the two major brands of prescription diets, so our finicky feline patients will have a choice. Thanks to our new online store, there will be even more choices for both easier to give medications and prescription diets. If you can’t afford a prescription diet long term, ask if there is an over the counter diet that might work, once the initial problem being treated has improved.
The solution that we worked out for the client in the beginning of this article combined changing the medication to one that could be given once daily and placing it in a “ pill pocket”, a treat with a hole in it. If that hadn’t worked, I could have tried a transdermal cream that she could quickly dab on her cat’s ear, without upsetting her.
Please, if your pet’s initial treatment plan doesn’t prove doable or worse yet, isn’t effective, let your veterinarian know. If you feel that your attempts to medicate your pet are hurting your relationship with your cat, dog or horse let us know. If your pet is experiencing side effects, please call. Give your vet a chance to come up with a plan B or even C. I became a Cat Doctor to help cats and their families, and I’ll understand if you tell me I’m asking you to do the impossible. Working together, we’ll find a way!
If you have questions or need to schedule an appointment, please call 661-259-5288 or go to our website, www.catdoctor.com for a virtual tour and the ability to request an appointment online. We are located at 26055 Bouquet Canyon Road between Magic Mountain Parkway and Cinema Drive.