Hey guys. Not sure what happened to my message...said something about being held for moderator approval. Anyway, I'm resending. Hey guys. I just got back from UT CVM with Poppy and Bella, and I promised an update. As for their health, they're doing fine really, no symptoms still, eating well, taking the missing link and lysine supplements with no problems. The entire visit at UT took about 2.5 hours, but a lot of that was just waiting. First, a fourth year student called us back and done a physical exam and initial consultation. She then sent us back to the waiting room and took the info back to the clinician and an intern. About 20 minutes later she comes back and gets me and girls, and the intern is waiting for us in the exam room. They called my local vet, who apparently had NOT done an IFA test, which kinda upsets me. I've really tried to like that vet for the simple fact that they have emergency service available and they're a block from my house, but it looks like I'm going to have to start looking for another local vet. Anyway, an IFA had not been done, so they took the girls to the back and drew blood for the IFA. They also asked if I wanted a CBC, Chem Panel, Urinalysis and Hepatic Function panels done, which would have costed another $300 :( The vet was very understanding, and said she honestly could go either way, that it was my choice, but it might be pointless to draw the blood now and then have to do it again if they get sick, so we decided to wait on the bloodwork and do another SNAP test (which she will call or email the results from those to me today) and the IFA will be back next week. Here's to hoping the *real* IFA is negative. They were all honest at the hospital. The fourth year student told me this was her first case of Feline Leukemia, and the Intern said they didn't see very many of them at the hospital, but they're going to do research on current treatments and get back with both me and my local vet regarding a treatment plan. She said FeLV is manageable, and sometimes cats live many years with it. She seemed very optimistic, which made me feel a little better. Not sure how I feel about their utter lack of experience with FeLV, but I can't expect anyone to be perfect. We're going to wait on the lab results to get a real "positive" and go from there. She said they may have us come back if the tests are positive to do the bloodwork and try to type/stage the disease. She said for now the best thing to do is continue doing what I am since they appear healthy and are symptomatic. She recommended waiting on the antivirals until they're symptomatic, but again said this was a matter of personal preference. I'm waiting on the recommendations they're supposed to email me now, so we'll see how it goes from there. Overall, I'm having mixed feelings about the visit. I'm certainly glad I took them, and I'd probably do it again, I guess I was just hoping for a plan today. The total bill was $316 for the exam, research, and SNAP/IFA tests for both cats. I must say, the intern, Dr. Emily Purvis, was very compassionate. As a matter of fact, she paged the front and came back up there before I left and saved me $80. She said the research she was going to do would be the same for both cats, so she didn't feel comfortable charging me twice (which saved me $80. A "research" visit costs $115, versus $35 for a regular visit). I appreciated her concern. The cost broke down like this:
Research visit $115 Office visit $35 SNAP/IFAx2 $166 I'll be sure to let you all know what they say when they email their treatment plans/recommendations next week. Michael ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com
