ROFLMAO  so true

I suppose it's a good idea to be a little patient until the OP shows
themselves to be one of the a**holes who are too cheap or stupid to have a
cat. There might be people who really don't know if their cat's problem
could wait until morning for the regular vet or if it's necessary to do the
emergency vet trip. There are other people who might not have access to 24/7
vet care and post to see if there is something they could/should be doing
until they can get the cat to the vet. Sometimes they get jumped on because
we have all come to expect the jerks. Cats barf from time to time when there
really isn't anything wrong. How do you know the difference between eating
too quickly or trying to kutz up a hair ball and some life threatening
illness?

I've fostered a couple of hundred cats and don't always know what I'm
dealing with and if it really requires a vet visit. Making the call to take
the cat to the emergency vet can be even trickier.

Wendy

Mary  many points you are right.  There are newbie that truly do need help
or don't understand.  Many and Most of us out here are experienced and very
knowledgeable about cats but hey I learn something new everyday.  We can
never ASSUME about them; unfortunately we do sometimes and we make mistakes.
All we can do is apologize and move on.  The ones that start to argue are
the ones that are the a@@holes.

When I did not have money.  I took every spare dollar and put it away for
the furballs.  If they need something from the vet.  I went on payment plans
and many of days went to daily work daily pay jobs besides my full time job
to get extra money.  I made it a habit for each cat I put $50 away each
month.   I still do even though I don't need to but days come around and you
spend almost $10,000 to make sure one of your master will become safe,
healthy  and free from pain.  Every dollar spent was well worth it

 I am not a newbie but If you remember my vet was not that experienced with
diabetes food regiment. He is now thanks to you all.  But it was you, Phil
and a few others that got me to get Rumble on a Fancy Feast Diet.  The diet
got Rumble regulated and off insulin.  That help was on of the greatest
things anyone could have done for me out here and I will always be eternally
grateful to all that helped.

I  am truly annoyed at people that say I don't have the money but yet the
smoke, drink, go out to eat, have broadband cable etc

MaryL used his keyboard to write :

Against my doctors advice I would climb back into the ring to raise the
cash if my cats needed it.  Even if it meant they would have to carry
me out of the ring.  I am too old for it now.

"Tara Legale" <lawyershalloffame@yahoo.com> wrote in message

You're right up to a point, but it's likely you haven't seen some of the
questions asked here and asked much more frequently than you might imagine.
There have been people that ask "what should I do" when their pet has been
coughing up blood, is urinating blood, has a big raw area on their stomach
or is screaming in pain and similar stuff. In fact, there are times when
it's so obvious the animal needs to be taken to a vet that the only way to
get them to do so is to go apeshit on their a.s and snap them out of their
ignorance, if only for a few hours so they take the animal to a vet like
they should have done a week ago.

Some people truly are too self absorbed to responsibly own a pet. Yet, they
appear here on regular basis asking "what should I do" when it's completely
obvious what they should have done a long time ago. To me, that's some form
of ignorance, stupidity or a combination of both and requires only one type
of reply to them. And if it makes them angry at me or someone else for
saying it to them, then fine as long as they take the animal a vet as soon
as humanly possible.

thanks tara,you have summed up exactly what i was about to post. i
wont post again.

I agree with everything you said, Tara.

Staying on a newsgroup long term takes patience with each new question
and each new personality. Most people asking what to do when their cats
are truly in an emergency are not the regulars -- they are the ones that
just pop in for advice. And they do -need- advice, even it it's "go to
the vet."

I can guarantee they won't be reading this discussion.

Rhonda

get yourself a free copy of copernic or firststop web search software.
far superior to google. you can find anything you want on diagnosis and
treatment of most animal maladies. many sources of medicine for animals
on the net as well. you don't have to rely on these profit monger
doctors and their inflated staffs. Nor on the often spotty and
unreliable information in these groups. instead go to the hard core
articles written by DVM specialists on diagnosis and treatment, -all
free on the net.

This same thing can be said for the medical profession in
general....especially as practiced here in the US. It is about the most
screwed-up profession I know of. I would:
1.    Take away their "power of the pen", and let anyone be able to buy any
medication they want. (eliminate the prescription process) After all, it's a
free country....If I want to poison myself, why would you (or anyone else)
care? Physicians should be advisors. Period.
2.    Instead of tearing down all the federal hospitals, (as they did 15
years ago) They should have turned them into teaching hospitals, and started
turning out doctors as fast as they do lawyers and engineers.....No doctor
should be making more than his equal in engineers and lawyers. (The only
real reason they do, is because of the prescription process mentioned
above.) The AMA has congress in its pockets, and that relationship should be
broken up Muy Pronto......

My wife is a nurse, and I can tell you that the medical profession in this
country is royally screwed up, and you and I (and all the dogs and cats too)
are paying for it.

Basically, these guys are no better than the old snake oil salesmen who rode
their red and yellow wagons into town, and sole their snake oil from the
platforms on the rear deck for a dime a bottle, and then rode to the next
town.....Only today, because of the AMA and their superb salesmanship, they
have convinced the world that they are some kind of Gods who should have the
right of life and death over the rest of us.....Most of what they have and
sell is still no better than the snake oil they had in 1850. Only now, you
have to come to them, and they charge you $150 for letting them sell it to
you for 15 minutes.......

Careful, that's a wide brush you have there.

I'm not going to defend all vets, as there are far too many who's only
concern is how fast they can fill their bank accounts.
And know that a needle to put something to sleep is a quick, no brains,
profit, with no "complaints" later.
Or those who start running hundreds of dollars worth of tests when a 30
second examination may be all that's needed.

All you have to do is hear about one of those, and ALL vets are suspect.

Like every other trade or discipline, there are those who do it because they
love it, and those who just want to make a quick buck doing the least amount
possible. Or were just to stupid to be human doctors so got a smart paper to
work on animals.

(Although I still think a vet has to know far more than a human doctor)

The time to choose a vet is not when your beast has a problem, but when it's
perfectly healthy.
If they start talking about hellfire and brimstone unless you spend $$$$$$
while "kitty" is contentedly purring,...... RUN !

But if you run to the vet everytime "kitty" coughs up a hairball, expect the
even the most honest vet to start running up a bill, thinking that's the
only thing that is going to make you happy.

What praytell is "boogd"??