What to look for in your family vet

[Bekki]

And patti I know about spay and neuter. To make sure no ketamine, and for vaccine only dead strain no live strains? I think that was most of what I heard to check. anything else to pay attention to?


"Those who wander aren't always lost"

 

[John Popp]

If there is a local spay/neuter release program, find out who the volunteers use as a vet. PAWS was a good resource for us and although the membership used quite a few different vets, they pretty much all stood behind one for critical care.

Make sure your vet is comfortable with the instructions from your breeder. If you plan to feed raw, they don't need to be an advocate but they need to be accepting of it.

Also, for first time kitten visits, contact your vet's office and see if you can make an appointment just to hang out in an exam room for 30 minutes. Play with your kitten, have them meet the vet and if all is going well perform the initial examination. If it's not, make sure both you and your vet understand it's better to pull the plug. If they afford the extra time to make sure you had the opportunity to make your kitten comfortable first, and a positive first greeting with the vet all should go well without need for a second appointment.

While I don't think Savannah's need any special treatment, I do think there is one important thing to communicate with your vet. Special thanks to Brigitte for pointing this out as well as it went a long way in explaining all the anecdotal information out there in regards to vaccinations and anesthesia. Quite simply, express to your vet that Savannahs are an extremely lean cat and require lower dosages of fat soluble medications. It should make immediate sense to them, provide some clarity on the breeders instructions and will keep you from looking like a kook fresh out of Dr Google's office.

 

[admin]

And patti I know about spay and neuter. To make sure no ketamine, and for vaccine only dead strain no live strains? I think that was most of what I heard to check. anything else to pay attention to?


"Those who wander aren't always lost"

Many, many breeders use modified live vaccine as it gives a better immune response and does not have the adjuvants that killed vaccines have...the entire having to give killed vaccines is the opinion of a few, not the majority.

 

[Bekki]

Oops I means killed vaccine. So everything is pretty close to being the same as caring for an average cat. Same inmunizations etc. it just comes down to personal preference


"Those who wander aren't always lost"

 

[WitchyWoman]

Bekki there is some excellent information here about vaccines that I think is worth reading before you determine which protocol you want to use for your cat http://www.catinfo.org/?link=vaccines

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Many, many breeders use modified live vaccine as it gives a better immune response and does not have the adjuvants that killed vaccines have...the entire having to give killed vaccines is the opinion of a few, not the majority.

Agreed, the killed versus modified live is a debate for all cat breeds...people have different opinions which is likely why both are still commerically available!

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

If there is a local spay/neuter release program, find out who the volunteers use as a vet. PAWS was a good resource for us and although the membership used quite a few different vets, they pretty much all stood behind one for critical care.

Make sure your vet is comfortable with the instructions from your breeder. If you plan to feed raw, they don't need to be an advocate but they need to be accepting of it.

Also, for first time kitten visits, contact your vet's office and see if you can make an appointment just to hang out in an exam room for 30 minutes. Play with your kitten, have them meet the vet and if all is going well perform the initial examination. If it's not, make sure both you and your vet understand it's better to pull the plug. If they afford the extra time to make sure you had the opportunity to make your kitten comfortable first, and a positive first greeting with the vet all should go well without need for a second appointment.

While I don't think Savannah's need any special treatment, I do think there is one important thing to communicate with your vet. Special thanks to Brigitte for pointing this out as well as it went a long way in explaining all the anecdotal information out there in regards to vaccinations and anesthesia. Quite simply, express to your vet that Savannahs are an extremely lean cat and require lower dosages of fat soluble medications. It should make immediate sense to them, provide some clarity on the breeders instructions and will keep you from looking like a kook fresh out of Dr Google's office.

Good advise on finding a good spay/neuter resource!

Also, although we don't recommend ketamine, a breeder that is also a vet pointed out something very logical, when a vet is very experienced using ketamine (and many spay/neuter clinics still use ketamine) there is less risk than one that doesn't do as much of those surgeries... and frankly, if your vet is used to using it, I am not sure I'd want them experimenting with other anesthetics on MY cat! It likely is safer to have the ketamine.

Especially if you point out the lean build and need to adjust dosages to allow for the lack of body fat...

I just laughed at John's "Dr Google's office" .... it is true that you need to be critical of what you find on the internet with searches but it is good to at least read the various opinions so that you can make up your own mind.

 

[Dantes]

An extra $.02, FWIW. A good vet isn't necessarily Savannah-specific, but IMHO you want to find someone who understands cats, particularly purebred cats, or at least doesn't discriminate. I've been to a number of vets due to UT problems with my Ragdoll Dante, mostly bad vets who gave him a general diagnosis that wasn't helpful in the least, and then gave up "that's the way some cats are, especially purebreds". My other Ragdoll Desi is a biiiig boy, approaching 25lbs, at 2.5 years. His daddy was even bigger. When he's been to the vet he is always "diagnosed" as obese, including when he was a kitten (largest of the litter)--dunderheads, there is NO SUCH THING as an obese kitten, duh. The problem is that Ragdolls are a big breed to begin with. They have a fat pad on their bellies, completely different from the primordial pouch of most cats (including Savannahs). Most vets don't know this stuff, and don't believe it when you tell them. The first vet I took Desi to when I first got him asked "Are you sure he's a ragdoll? He doesn't look like a long-haired siamese...." Trying to explain what a flame pointed ragdoll looks like was useless. This same vet acted visably scared of Duma as a kitten, and he is-and was-small! Of course I changed vets, the search continues. The only competent one I've found is a super-expensive holistic one, wish I really were made of money

Finding a competent vet for your pet is at least as hard as finding a physician for yourself, IMO.

Just for fun:

 

[John Popp]

I just laughed at John's "Dr Google's office" .... it is true that you need to be critical of what you find on the internet with searches but it is good to at least read the various opinions so that you can make up your own mind.

That came from a valued conversation I had with the specialized surgeon that repaired Chongo's hip.

Even better than that was you helping me make the connection lean body types of SVs and fat soluble medications. When I told that to my regular vet it made total sense to her and for me framed much of what I had read.

 

[cbain]

Here is a good place to find a Vet, http://www.savannahcatchat.com/threads/veterinarians-by-state.966/ all recommended by members of this forum