If anyone wants to read my ER visit novella, here you go:
Had a horrid ER experience last night. Asia has not been eating well (1/6 of her usual) and I gave her insulin assuming that she was eating well enough (as she had been yesterday until after shot time) and that the new dose of cerenia would be on board to help. She wasn't eating more than bites after eating a decent bit of her preshot meal. This became obvious shortly after her shot when she refused to go back to finish it. So I had two choices: monitor her all night long with only the ability to pump her full of sugar (Karo) as needed or... go to an ER with all the bells and whistles and see if I couldn't get some expensive and fancy tests done (that my vet has to outsource anyway) to figure out why she wasn't eating in the first place. It was a big mistake, but I chose option 2.
I brought with me her monitor, strips, Karo syrup, my notebook with all of her history and previous labs, my SS. Hopped in a cab and we were on our way. Arrived at ER and the receptionist asked my reason for bringing her in and I said she's not eating, she's diabetic and has kidney disease and I'm concerned that she isn't eating.
She came over to make sure I really had a cat in there and then sent me to a room with some paperwork to fill out. I hadn't even finished the paperwork when a vet tech? came in and peeked in the carrier (Asia was hiding her face as per normal when she is really scared, she usually hides her face in to my body if we have contact) and said is a very worried and pleading voice:
"Oh, she looks really 'down', do we have your permission to take her?"
"She's okay right now, she's just scared, why do you want to take her and can I talk to a vet first please?"
"We need to get her bg, she looks really down"
"Can I speak to a vet first please? I just took her bg, she is okay right now"
"Please just let me take her downstairs and get her bg checked and a vet will be right up to talk to you." Complete with sad puppy eyes and upturned eyebrows, clearly implying my cat was obviously in a terrible condition and she knew it, but I was oblivious and they just had to help her in spite of me. I asked could I please go with her while they checked as she is old, deaf, and more scared than most as she's had very little experience going to a vet as opposed to a vet coming to her. No, I could not go with her, it would be really quick and the doctor would be right up.
This, dear readers, is where I should have turned and left with my cat. But I didn't, I thought as soon as I could speak to the vet, maybe we could get somewhere and figure out what is going on. I consented to the bg check as that was the only way they would let me speak to a vet, stupid me. Side note, why do my kids/cats only get seriously ill after hours and on weekends?
A few minutes later a vet? (I suppose, he didn't introduce himself or even say hello), came in and said "Sabrina". Like a statement. I'm sure I had quite the puzzled look on my face as I tried to guess if were calling me Sabrina or thinks I have an animal there named Sabrina. I told him I'm Stacy and my cat is Asia, are you meaning to speak with me? You know, just to make sure he didn't go in the wrong room and I was going to now be making decisions for someone else's animal due to a mix up. His response: "You brought in the hypoglycemic cat. It said Sabrina" ...moving on...
He informed me that Sabrina's bg was 89 and that it is a really low number. He asked what insulin I was using and how much and when was the last time she ate and how often she ate. I answered his questions telling him how I monitor her and what her numbers have been doing recently, he mansplained to me that "we" don't shoot insulin when a cat isn't eating and "we" only feed diabetics twice a day, and "you" are counteracting the insulin feeding her that often and "we" don't like numbers to be below 200 (or something similar, it was well high is all I recall, even by SLGS standards). I tried to show him labs and my SS so he could get an idea that I was on top of her diabetes and not shooting blind and utterly clueless, he looked away! He asked if I was checking her urine frequently. For keytones? No, for glucose! I again explained I monitor her bg with a glucometer several times a day. To say he was condescending would not only be an epic understatement, but far too kind an adjective to describe him.
I tried, several times, to redirect the conversation to explain why I was there in the first place and I would like to have some diagnostics done on her heart/kidneys/pancreas specifically to try to figure out what's going on and perhaps why she isn't eating. I explained she had CKD and labs pointed to pancreatitis but it was unconfirmed and that her phos was high. He said she really needs to stay overnight they could maybe do a sonogram in the morning, he'd have to check if the right doctor would be there, but we could do all of those things on Monday. Okay...
I asked what would/could they do for her overnight and what would be the reason/benefit for leaving her there vs bringing her back in the morning as I have not left her anywhere and she would be quite frightened. He mansplained some more that "everybody says their animal is frightened" and her bg is really low and she needs to be on fluids overnight and they would implant a continuous glucose monitor and make her "hyperglycemic" to counteract this event. "So you're going to just put sugar and fluids in her, no food?" Yes. And I told you she hasn't been tolerating the fluids well and I'm only giving 50ml at a time, I'm concerned about her heart. Monday.
I said okay, you can bring her up, I can give her fluids and sugar at home. His look could best be described as "you idiot girl" and he left the room without saying a word. They brought Asia back up, I shot her full of Karo right there knowing we wasted precious time and they had done nothing other than open a vein to take blood and stress her out pretty bad. I'm disgusted and out a few hundred dollars with nothing to show for it other than a freshly bloody cat carrier and a sick cat that will have to wait for help until Monday when my vet is open again.
P.S. I had their report sent to me already and for a cat that was looking so "down" they marked her as QAR, quiet, alert and responsive.
Oh my goodness Stacy. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Have you ever been to this emergency vet before? Not Blue Pearl? My IM vet recommended Blue Pearl in Paramus for cardiology. Dr Andrea Eriksson, here's the
