How Common Are Serious Health Issues?

[CathyO]

Appreciate the response. I'll definitely post where there may be a possibility of more local info, great tip...thank you.

The cost associated with it is 1200 for the diagnostics, 2600 for the surgery because there have to be board certified staff on hand to monitor him in case of an issue during surgery (invasive due to his testicle still being inside him), and then the cost of traveling to the only vet on our island certified to perform the surgery, 400kms away. It's a 2 day surgery and with the pandemic, staying at a friend's house is not an option unfortunately.

@TheWrinkler which province are u in Canada? U are not in Nunavut are u? I wonder if your pet can be covered under the breeder’s insurance...if not, I’d def. first pay for an in person consult with a 2nd and 3rd doctor from the nearest major town centre. No more than $100-150. Only reason I’m mentioning a 2nd /3rd opinion is u aren’t likely the first person to have this issue and an experienced vet should be able give u an idea what they will charge and if all these things really need to be done...then u can subtract the premium your 1st doctor is charging u. Also try to get another person with u or ask for permission to record convo so u can digest advice for later reference.

 

[TheWrinkler]

@TheWrinkler which province are u in Canada? U are not in Nunavut are u? I wonder if your pet can be covered under the breeder’s insurance...if not, I’d def. first pay for an in person consult with a 2nd and 3rd doctor from the nearest major town centre. No more than $100-150. Only reason I’m mentioning a 2nd /3rd opinion is u aren’t likely the first person to have this issue and an experienced vet should be able give u an idea what they will charge and if all these things really need to be done...then u can subtract the premium your 1st doctor is charging u. Also try to get another person with u or ask for permission to record convo so u can digest advice for later reference.

Not quite as far out as Nunavut : ) We're on the northern tip on Vancouver Island, the vet mentioned is at the southern end. Unfortunately there is noone in between or closer.

Just to clarify, we have been through a first consultation but something seemed off in the discussions we had with that vet, so we went for a second opinion at another local vet in town. The part that threw me off was that the second visit was approximately 7 minutes ($96 for the record) and when the vet came back out with the cat she just repeated exactly what was in his file from the first vet, almost word for word. I totally understand that she obviously agrees with the first vet and I do trust that there is a concern with his health and prioritizing that first and foremost. When I had delved further in to the conversation I literally got the response "there are no other options available at this time", this was before I knew the cost of the surgery etc...so I didn't push to hard for more information at that time.

You are right in that it is probably time to push a little harder and make the vet sit down with us to discuss, I hadn't made that a priority after spending the $96 for 7 minutes of time there, left me with a bit of a sour taste about having a further discussion.

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my last message : )

 

[Lisa Katz]

both my boys were adoptions from craigslist.

Dr Spencer Reid came to me from a girl i went to high school with, she slammed his tail in a door when he was a kitten so he has a half a tail. when i got him i noticed he ate funny, he shook his head funny when chewing and i pried open his mouth and realized like 4 or 5 of his teeth were rotten. he had to have them pulled but hasnt been to the vet since that was in march of last year.

Jedi has some nasty skin, flaky and oily at the same time I knew that could be fixed but a month after he was with us he started to act odd, not eating or drinking and lost like 6 pounds in a week and the vet said his kidneys were shutting down aparently whatever she was feeding him wasnt passing and had stuck with him. we got him a higher quality food (we used to feed chicken soup for the cats soul now we feed natural balance) and with meds and now a digestive powder to accompany his food he is much better and we arent scared we will loose him.

I think you take a chance no matter what you do.

I love your attitude of taking a chance. I have taken very difficult (unadoptable) rescue dogs, and would not have it any other way. Neither would Parsley who is sitting at my feet right now as I message you.

 

[TheWrinkler]

Aside from the initial cost of purchase we're about $300 in so far with check ups and tests. Henry has a heart murmur and one of his testes has not "dropped" yet, he's a year old this month. We are having him monitored for the murmur but unfortunately we are potentially looking at close to $5000 to have him fixed. No vet we have talked to is even willing to discuss options. We want to make sure he is healthy and is in the best shape possible for a long life ahead, but the amount of money required for the procedure is daunting to say the least. The unfortunate part of living in a small town is the lack of in person resources to be found when looking for 2nd opinions. We're currently looking at options for having the breeder pay for this or pay for a portion of it due to undisclosed conditions when we got him but who knows how well that will go. Henry is the best pet I've had in my life but the costs associated with some procedures sure makes one wonder where the world's priorities are at. This isn't a comment to harp on vets, I know they have a complicated job and bills to pay, I guess it would be nice to just have one of them take a couple extra minutes of their day to review the cats options when someone is facing a very hefty bill that would be a small fraction of this amount if it wasn't for a heart murmur. What to do...what to do... Regardless of how it all pans out though, he's never going to stop being treated like a king in this house

Thought it important to follow up on this post now that we're a bit further down the road.

We went back to the breeder about our issues and concerns and to her credit, she was very supportive in providing more resources. One of the points she touched on was the fact that when it comes to the Sphynx, it's important to note that many vets use Ketamine during surgical procedures. This is extremely detrimental to this breed for various reasons. A lack of research and understanding on the part of vets has alot to do with this. This also plays in to the heart murmur concerns out there, but that's a whole different discussion.

She recommended we seek out a particular Vet in southern BC as they have a much more vast history of dealing with kitty's like Henry. So we did.

He had his surgery today, my wife drive him down now that we're allowed to take a ferry off our island again, and made the trek down to drop him off.

He is currently on the ferry to come home, cone on head, having done very well during and after the surgery. Lethargic, but seems to have made it through everything in good condition (fingers crossed!). We've been told he has about 1 to 2 weeks recovery ahead of him, we've already set up a bed in the den so we chill out with him as he recovers.

All in all, the procedure cost $500 plus traveling expenses, much less than the $5000 we thought we were looking at. It truly pays to do the research and talk to others who know the Sphynx well.

Super stoked to know he's okay, it was a long day at work wondering how he was doing, but looking forward to him getting home in a few hours and spoiling him for the rest of time!

Thanks to all for your previous advice, very much appreciated.

 

[Beckinboots]

Glad everything went well. Sending healing vibes for a speedy recovery.

 

[Staceyxxx]

bless am so sorry you lost your kitty!
Binky was really sick as a kitten and was expensive to begin with to try and figure out what was wrong, the short of it she had a parasite and infection in her tummy. Once we got over that she took skin allergies to the point she had sores on her body. Fast forward as she is now 4 years old, she takes daily medication attends a dermatologist every 4 months for a check up which is £100 every appointment and her monthly medication is around £100 and her allergy management food is £30 a month. My insurance won’t pay out due to changing providers as I had a fight with the ones that wouldn’t pay out when she was a kitten. Then you have the visits to the vets for check ups, ear cleaner, allergy shampoo, toys, feliway, it all adds up, roughly am £200/250 a month! thou I wouldn’t be without my girl n every penny I have spent on her has been worth it to get her to a healthy place n I tend to buy new toys every month as she is my only baby…!

 

[Sswanson86]

Our total out of pocket on Emma Leigh is in the range of 6-7K due to her cancer diagnosis. Lucky we got pet insurance and have only paid 100 dollars total which was the deductable. I highly recommend pet insurance if you can.

What pet insurance company did you go with?

 

[Sswanson86]

bless am so sorry you lost your kitty!
Binky was really sick as a kitten and was expensive to begin with to try and figure out what was wrong, the short of it she had a parasite and infection in her tummy. Once we got over that she took skin allergies to the point she had sores on her body. Fast forward as she is now 4 years old, she takes daily medication attends a dermatologist every 4 months for a check up which is £100 every appointment and her monthly medication is around £100 and her allergy management food is £30 a month. My insurance won’t pay out due to changing providers as I had a fight with the ones that wouldn’t pay out when she was a kitten. Then you have the visits to the vets for check ups, ear cleaner, allergy shampoo, toys, feliway, it all adds up, roughly am £200/250 a month! thou I wouldn’t be without my girl n every penny I have spent on her has been worth it to get her to a healthy place n I tend to buy new toys every month as she is my only baby…!

What pet insurance have you found to be the best?

 

[Sswanson86]

Astor died at 2.5 years old from chronic renal failure (diagnosed at 2 years old). We also learned that he had HCM close to the end of his life, but his kidneys were so far gone, it didn't matter. He also had a horrible intestinal virus of some sort when he was a year old--five days in the hospital, $5000. That was before I got insurance, but after I got insurance, I was able to pay for his intensive kidney care without too much harm to my pocket book.

I'm doing some reading on HCM and, once again, I am reading that while some purebreds appear to have a predisposition to the disease (Maine Coons, Ragdolls, oriental breeds, Persians, and maybe ASH? I'm not positive on that one), there are still more domestic shorthairs diagnosed with HCM overall. So...I guess none of us are safe

You were able to get the insurance company to help pay for a prior condition? If you don’t mind me asking, what pet insurance do you have?

 

[Sundance]

Tommy died at age 4 of genetic Fanconi Syndrome, a form of kidney disease that cats (theoretically) don't get. His vet bills topped out at over $21K. His troubles began at about 6 months, with a bladder infection. Then at a year and a half, feline idiopathic cystitis (he had PU surgery) which later converted into kidney issues.

The day I picked up Tommy from his breeder when he was just over 3 months old, I bought health insurance for him. Without that, I would never in a million years have been able to provide the level of vet care he got. But eventually all the vet care in the world was not enough to save him.

(FYI, I strongly recommend Trupanion insurance. There's a lot they won't pay for -- like exam fees -- but they never ONCE argued with me over a claim, or didn't pay something I thought they should have once I understood their rules.)

My new boy Sundance, who came into my life almost exactly a year after I lost Tommy, also had health insurance from Day 1. And we are about $900 into vet bills for him since April..... but in his case I really think his issue is misdiagnosis (ringworm!), and most of his problems have been caused by the treatment itself. Doesn't matter. Whether Sunny is the even sicker than Tommy, or lives to a healthy 20+ year old, he's my cat and I will care for him.

Tommy is the gray and white one. Sunny looks like his name.

 

[Sundance]

I wound up spending close to another $3000 trying to save him in his last two and a half weeks of life.

I've got a 9 year old Sphynx and a 6 month old Elf who recently got a URI...about $370

So sorry..... I went down the CHF road with one of my Cornish Rexes. He only lived 3 weeks after I made him go through a horrific long trip to the cardiologist, then multiple daily meds, etc. etc. CHF is a real bitch. I really feel your pain. I so hope your 9 year old and your new baby do well.

 

[Halis412]

Hi from Alabama. I have had my Sphynx boy for 7 months and have only had 2 minor illnesses. The first was an upper respiratory infection a few days after I brought him home and the second was gastroenteritis that we knocked out in 10 days with an antibiotic.
However, to be honest, I don't think there is any way to fully answer your concern as illness is often unpredictable and there is no assurance that you won't get a cat that doesn't have a few issues every now and then (just like us humans!)
Good luck!

Heyy, my cats currently also experiencing some respiratory infection - is it possible to let me know what antibiotics your vet prescribed please?
thanks!

 

[Yoda mom]

@Halis412 , hi, sharing some antibiotics seem to work better than others with our babies. @Catzzzmeow .

 

[Catzzzmeow]

We have seen Doxycycline seems to work very well in the breed.

 

[Chasethesphynx]

I recently lost my little guy to suspected FIP. Like you, I only had him for a couple of months but can’t imagine not living with one again. I had a free months worth of pet insurance but it expired a couple of weeks prior to him getting sick. I have learned my lesson and will be getting insurance on the next one. After this horrible experience, I’m just paranoid of anything like FIP or HCM. I hope we both have a better experience next time.

 

[janinasa]

I recently lost my little guy to suspected FIP. Like you, I only had him for a couple of months but can’t imagine not living with one again. I had a free months worth of pet insurance but it expired a couple of weeks prior to him getting sick. I have learned my lesson and will be getting insurance on the next one. After this horrible experience, I’m just paranoid of anything like FIP or HCM. I hope we both have a better experience next time.

I am so sorry for your loss, my heart still breaks, I could never imagine a animal could have my heart like she did. I made fun of people like me, lol!! We were planning to get Luna a sister and our breeder called us the day after Luna passed and said she had 6 wk old kittens, I was like no never again, never we saw them, then I went and met them, my breeder has been so awesome and we will be bringing Koko home Aug 30....I am terrified and I will be taking her everywhere with me, we have changed veterinarians, I will be the helicopter cat mom, lol. Hairless Hugs!!

 

[Yoda mom]

@janinasa , oh my heart ((squeeze hugs))) I am so very sorry sweet Luna got her angel wings. she only knows your eternal love.I share in the hurt. my girl got her wings a a young age. I was so afraid to open my heart again, I truly believe they send us the one to love like they knew in this world .
glad your breeder has been awesome. we look forward to an intro of baby Koko. hugs n head smooches

 

[Silke]

Sorry to hear about your boy
I've adopted 3 girls. 2 are healthy as an ox, 1 has mycoplasma that rears its ugly head frequently. On her, over the years, I've probably spent a few thousand at the vet. She also has a heart murmur but is otherwise healthy.
I think sometimes it's just the luck of the draw.
That said, one of my girls is being terrorized by my original sphynx, to the point that she now hides in the bedroom. I'm trying to fix it, but have also put her up for rehoming this morning. She's just not happy here anymore and it's beginning to take a toll on all of us.
I may yet change my mind again though, because I love that little girl as much as I do the other two.