How about a different perspective? I'm the vet. As far as PetMeds, they are NOT a reputable company. They routinely ignore refusals by doctors to not renew medications, they routinely give Rx without seeing a pet without even having an Rx from a doctor, they routinely are in trouble with the law on these issues. And the hospital where I work is cheaper anyway. Plus, with Walmart offering generic Rx for $4/month if there is a way your pet can benefit from one on the list, ask the vet for the written Rx. We don't charge an Rx fee for any pet seen and diagnosed by our hospital. And since you can get many antibiotics and chronic meds for less there, why not? Fosters and Smith is reputable- they have never been in legal trouble and we have been very happy with them. A lot of veterinary practices rely way too heavily on diagnostics, but I don't think it is the vets' fault. In this age of litigation, we are all guilty of practicing CYA medicine somewhat. Yes, I can see petechia on the patient so I know her platelets are way too low, and she's pale and her heart rate is up so I know she is anemic, but if I don't run a CBC to prove it and patient dies and owner sues for malpractice, I'm pretty much stuck with lawyer bills, missed work, paying expert consultants, and in danger of losing my ability to practice which means I have $100,000 in school loans and no way to pay them off. So guess what? I run the CBC, even though I won't learn anything or do anything different based on the results. You have a right to refuse anything your vet recommends. You have a right to know what the vet is hoping to learn from the results of any test, and what will change in the treatment of the patient based on those tests. If your vet can't explain the answers to those questions satisfactorily, then refuse the tests. I will say that even in my healthy dogs, I run CBC, chem, and UA once a year; twice a year when they get older (above 7 since my dogs are large breeds). I'd add a T4 in a cat above 10 years. Pets can't say my liver doesn't feel quite right, or I'm always a little dehydrated because my kidneys don't work that well anymore, etc. And they hide symptoms until something outright FAILS, at which point it's a losing battle. Caught early, there are many things one can do for a cat with renal disease, or a dog with liver disease, but once they start showing symptoms, the disease is so advanced you are unlikely to provide any increase in quality or quantity of life. However you still have a right to refuse to do that testing if you don't want to and understand the value of annual or semi-annual testing. We can do a lot more for our pets now than ever before. Used the be unusual for a cat to live past 10 years, now I consider them young if they die at 14. I expect cats to live to 20 for the most part. I work at the cheapest vet in town, in a very cheap town. We haven't lost any business and in fact it is growing. We are however treating many more preventable diseases such as parvo, heartworms, GI parasites, tick-borne illnesses than ever. And we've been seeing people delay treatment for sick pets to the point of it becoming MUCH more expensive to treat, but they feel guilty and go ahead anyway. It's not the way I like to see the bottom line increase. I will be more than happy to discuss vaccines in another thread. Or I can refer you to this website. Take special note of the duration of immunity and realize why annual vaccines for FVRCP, distemper, and parvo are stupid. Here is a link that might be useful: Vaccine guidelines

murraysmom, you might have to wrap your cat to trim his claws. Some people report great success by trimming a claw or two at a time while the cat sleeps but I can't do that-I'd never knwo which had been trimed and would wake the poor kitty by looking for the un-trimmed claws. There is a sack of sorts made to restrain kitties, all but the leg being worked on can be kept in the bag, you just take out whichever one you need to work on. My vet tried this very thing on one of my cats who was ferocious when at the doctor's. It took them so much time to get him into the sack that he was thoroughly pissed and managed to snap at them while they tried to get him in order. He was a pip. One eyeful of stethoscope would send him into a rage. I decided than and there that he would be trimmed by me and no danged nonsense-and for me, he was fine after the sack incident. When I have to trim the feral kits' claws I just wrap them into a towel, then lay a cloth over their heads. By the time they figure out that they can shake the cloth off their head their nails are done. I have also seen masks designed to keep cats from biting. I don't know every trick there is yet. sweetchastity, you cat sounds very like a few of mine. How wonderfully fun and kittenish! I think if she takes to the emery, she'll keep the tips a little duller so less likely to catch. You're right, you will still be trimming.

I think Kitty is a great name for a cat...I called my first cat Miss Kitty, but a better name for your new pal might be 'Lucky'. I got 'hooked' on declawed cats several years ago when I adopted two elderly cats from someone who could no longer care for them. It was during their lives that I also bought some costly upholstered furniture. Both cats were absolute sweethearts. When they passed, I went to the ASPCA looking for a declawed cat. There were two choices...the first was a problem,and the staff vet knew it because she suggested that I take her on a foster basis. I had to give the poor thing back after a few days because she wouldn't let me medicate her(she had hyper thyroid). I don't know how much it had to do with her lack of claws, put this poor puss, although beautiful, lacked the ability to bond...just cowered in the corner on her cat bed...but her litter box use was just fine. My second choice was 8 year old declawed Odessa...she is as sweet and affectionate as any cat I've ever had. And she is the only cat i ever had who seems to like having her hind claws clipped...she just hangs out and watches me as I do it. She loves to have her forepaws played with and has never had a litter box related problem. A good book you might want to look up for introducing a new cat to your house is 'Cat vs Cat'. So far, it sounds like you are doing everything right.

The last time I brought in a new stray she lived in a bathroom for a while and they sniffed each other under the door. This was probably for a week. Then the newcomer was brought out for supervised periods of time - however long I could spend watching over everyone. I can't remember how long we went on like that - not too long - until everyone seemed to behave nicely. They really adjusted to each other pretty quickly. I had two neutered males and the new cat was a fully functional female. In short order she start going into heat and one of the boys attempted to go into action. I quickly made an appointment to get her spayed. She and that cat always got along better than the other one. They all got along fine but she'd curl up and sleep with him but not the other one.