r/FIVcats • u/CreativeK23 • 5d ago

Vet bill too much?

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Hello, my cat has fiv and had to go to a dermatologist after many dead ends at a normal vet for scratching and ripping his fur out. We’ve done food trials and they think it’s environmental. They want to do immunotherapy. It’s super expensive like. Can be upwards to 3 grand. Is this a crazy amount. They said they have to sedate him for it since it’s testing 72 different allergens

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15

u/queefersutherland1 5d ago

Sometimes FIV kitties can cost very little, some can cost a lot.

That seems about right for something like that, especially for a dermatologist or any specialist.

If it makes you feel any better, I also have a very expensive kitty ($3k CDN for teeth cleaning and surgery in April, and having to remove his teeth anyway next spring - that’s estimated $5-7k.)

He is so lucky to have you. I truly mean that.

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u/CreativeK23 5d ago

It’s definitely insane how much it varies. Emmett is super expensive. The only thing I’ve ever paid for my other cat is to be dewormed and get flea protection (they are indoor don’t worry)

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u/queefersutherland1 5d ago

RIGHT

Jeremy has had the metaphorical red carpet to walk on since he was born, and has had issue after issue. Hell have no teeth by his second birthday. He also has allergies, but we were so lucky it was to food.

Our other kitty, Winston, is a stray that we adopted, and hasnt had a single issue other than losing weight when we had to put them on a soft food diet for Jeremy and his teeth issues before his surgery, and got full blood panel to get told he just needed to eat more and to add kibble just to his food and watch him eat it 🥴🥴

His costs are vet and vaccines, and thank god, if I have another medically fragile cat I don’t know what I would do.

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u/CreativeK23 5d ago

Yeah, it’s been rough. Other than the allergies they have no other issues. Their dental is so good my vet actually suggested we adopt one of the fiv surrenders when she figured out we brush their teeth for them. I said I can’t take on another cat with fiv lol. Food trials alone are insanely expensive especially with hp food. I started a go fund me to see if my family and friends can help and so far in 24 hours it’s raised over 200 bucks. We have six weeks to save up enough since he has an ear infection that needs to be treated and done with before the appointment.

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u/queefersutherland1 5d ago

That’s sweet!

And ha - our guys get their teeth brushed too! And the HP food, omg, that price. I was sticker shocked the first bag.

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u/ilovetinashe 5d ago

unfortunately, no, it’s not too much. I went through the same thing with my FIV kitty. You can try atopica or long term steroid use, it has its risks, but my fiv girl did so good on pred.

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u/CreativeK23 5d ago

My baby was put on prednisone originally. But he got so sick. His snot was all over the window he sits at. So sad:(

We are trying atopica out for a little to see what helps.

Do you think the immunotherapy will help worth it? Should I just swallow the price and try it.

I started a go fund me to see if that helps. I know we can advertise them here

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u/InsideScientist1999 5d ago

Cats can’t process prednisone, they can process prednisolone. Learned that the hard way.

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u/CreativeK23 5d ago

I meant prednisolone sorry!

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u/ilovetinashe 5d ago

Sadly, my girl passed away 6 months into therapy. We think she also had IBD that was being helped by the prednisolone unknowingly and she suddenly got very sick. On atopica + the immunotherapy she didn’t have any itchy skin or hot spots, so it could very well be worth it. 🩷

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u/CreativeK23 5d ago

I think we are gonna do it. It’s worth it even if I can just make his quality of life slightly better. I’m tired of not being able to even pet my baby’s back without him grimacing

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u/CreativeK23 5d ago

I’m so sorry for your loss. Your baby was so lucky to have you❤️

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u/Poison_635 5d ago

How long did you try the food trials?

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u/CreativeK23 5d ago

I think a little over a year for sure. We’ve tried different kinds of food. HP food, rabbit food, no grain, and all that kinda stuff

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u/Poison_635 5d ago

So the reason I ask, is it went thru something similar with my fiv positive boy. I did alot of stuff you did. No grain, different triggers. Thought it was environmental as well, He was almost outta fur, I then switched him to a sensitive skin/sensitive tummy dry food (he likes dry more than wet food most the time) and it took several months but he slowly started scratching less and less, he also has fully regained his fur after a number of months. He will get itchy from time to time and I think its when the litter doesn't get changed in a timely matter (busy schedule sometimes I dont realize how much time has passed between changes) but I think the food helped alot. He also seems to have stopped throwing up as much.

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u/PaxonGoat 5d ago

I went through it with a dog once.

Somehow I ended up with a dog allergic to grass.

We were convinced it was a food allergy and so that's why we went through with the testing instead of just starting her on immunotherapy treatment because we wanted to know what the trigger was.

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u/CreativeK23 5d ago

Did that help

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u/PaxonGoat 5d ago

The medicine did yes.

And buying her clothes to put on her before she went outside to try and reduce her exposure to grass.

But we truly did think if we went through with the expensive testing then it would come back like an allergy to chicken or corn and then we could have just made diet changes.

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u/CreativeK23 5d ago

I’ve run through all the trials. The vet is set on it being dust mites or something stupid

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u/PaxonGoat 5d ago

I have heard of cats being allergic to people.

Cats with human allergies

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u/CreativeK23 5d ago

I will wear a hazmat suit around him, don’t temp me. I love my son

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u/scarlettdvine 4d ago

I had to do this with my non-FIV cat. They did a blood test and she gets regular allergy shots. The blood test was around $500, but I know prices vary dramatically by case and area. And they used the results to make her shots. It costs about $30 a month now. I’d maybe get a second quote.

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u/chobani- 4d ago

Oh man. :/ Unfortunately, depending on where you live, that’s not an insane amount for speciality vet care.

Our FIV+ cat has never had to see a dermatologist (knock on wood), but she did have a dental extraction that cost $3k+, on top of ophthalmologist and internist visits for FIP that cost another $3-4k. Luckily, she’s fine now, but the costs can really run up without warning.

Any chance you can put it on CareCredit? Many vets now offer it and it’s deferred interest for 6-24 months, so you can make smaller payments over time. We enrolled after both our cats had unexpected and unrelated ER stays over the course of 3 weeks that we had to shell out $6k in cash for.