An Unexpected Vet Visit

On February 20, 2026, my beautiful cat suddenly collapsed after passing a massive hairball. Then on March 1, 2026, she suddenly started weezing. 

By chances of fate, I happened to be in Orlando, after weeks of struggling to be here due to other family emergencies... Watching her struggle was terrifying. It was too similar to what we'd just gone through with Mini... 

Immediately, I started sending out requests for vet appointments. No one replied back on the online inquiries but I managed to get an appointment the next day. When we put her in her carrier, she immediately started panting. While she looks "happy" in this image, it was actually scary not knowing if she would make the drive okay...

When we arrived, the receptionist was cold, didn't bother acknowledging we came in or that I was standing in front of her for 5 minutes. Then, I i noticed that there was a QR code sign for new patients, so I was like, "Okay, I'm gonna be proactive and I'm gonna go ahead and actually start the process to move things along." I didn't want my cat to be there longer than needed. As I was filling out the form, another employee showed up and asked if I was being helped. I said no, and pointed towards the QR code sign I was completing. She said "perfect, just keep on doing that." Then as I'm three fields about to be done, the original lady who was ignoring me asked if I was there for an appointment? So I said, "yes," and then she said, "okay, well, you need to fill out this form and I'm like, oh, I've been doing this one that the other lady told me that it was okay." To which she answered, " well, that's the wrong one." So at that point, I was now filling a second form with basically the same information. 

Finally, they took us to the back. And initially, the vet assistant was very kind, very helpful, my cat was actually letting her grab her, being friendly, which was very encouraging. 

At that point, I was feeling like maybe they did care about pets and it wasn't just a money grab. So the vet tech listened to all of the different information I had, the different issues that we had encountered leading up to that March 1st incident, and then the vet came in. He was primarily concerned with the breathing issues, not so much everything before then. He ordered x-rays and some blood work, and the x-rays. Were able to get the results od the x-rays within a few minutes of them taking them, and they came back clear for the most part. For the blood work, they said that they would call us the very next day with the results. 

Since I was nervous of what the results were going to be. I called them in the morning to ask "when can we expect to hear back about the blood tests, so I know when to follow up." The receptionist said they would arrive that day and I would get a call. They didn't. Instead, I called the next day and got another person on the phone who told me "the tests would take a few more days because of the type of testing" and then suddenly she found out they had gotten them just a few minutes before I called... Suspicious much?

Finally, I got the call from the vet and he just said "this is what we found, it doesnt explain the breathing issue, but I'm sending her more pills and we'll see you in three weeks. No explanation as to what the diagnosis even meant, what to expect, what to look out for, etc. It was just your standard we took $800 from you, now we'll continue to take your money, and we're done for now. 

I was in shock and still filled with questions. When I called back, the receptionist answered her best guess, instead of forwarding me to the vet or having him call me back.

When I went to go pick up the medicine, it didn't even make sense to the receptionist that he'd sent probiotics with the medicine she was on. When she called to ask, he just said "oh, it doesn't matter, just go ahead with it." A response that sent even more red flags about how nonchalant they were about the treatment that was being given to my cat. So once again, I am back to vets don't really care about helping their patients. They just care about how much money they can get out of you. Unfortunately, this is the reality of veterinary care.

Based on the strange interactions, I realized I wanted to see the results myself and hopefully get a second opinion. Once again, unlik any other vet, the ignored my request twice. They were completely unresponsive, so I cancelled her follow up appointment. If I can't trust them at a badic level, how can I trust them with my most precious treasure? I can't. 

Now, I'm in limbo and my cat's in limbo, and we still don't really know what happened, what caused it, and what to expectfrom the medicine. So we continue with 24/7 home monitoring, switching her to a homenade food diet, and lots of praying to find a good vet and her recovery.