My gf and I adopted two cats from Paws and Prayers about a month or so ago. The morning after they…read morewere brought home, it was noticed that one of them had a unhealthy-looking booty. We assumed she had impacted anal glands, so she was taken to Primary Pet Care (in Fairlawn) the next day. At first glance, the vet at PPC said that the cat was very sick and she needed to be taken to a full service vet for workup (PPC is a really great place, but they do more routine vet services).
The cat was then taken to Visiting Vets, who got her in right away. The cat was severely jaundiced. They ran several tests and observed her overnight. Turns out she had liver failure, and was not going to make it. The day after observation, they said she either had FIP or advanced fatty liver disease - both fatal. I live out of state, so I was not there for this whole ordeal. Fortunately, the staff at VV is so great that my gf was not alone during this whole process. That day, they recommended euthanasia, since the cat could not keep down food and was in a lot of pain. My gf got to spend a lot of time with the cat before the procedure. And during the procedure, they allowed my gf to stay and hold her paw and pet her. The entire staff, including Dr Peckham and the techs and front desk staff, were oh so fabulous. They were very comforting for my gf, and I even got calls from the techs and the vet.
But that's not the end. As stated, they didn't know if it was FIP or fatty liver. The former is contagious (well, the coronavirus is... it's complated. Google it, if you really care), whereas fatty liver is not. Because we have other cats, it was important to know if it's FIP or fatty liver disease. Dr Peckham performed an autopsy at no cost and called us to say it was fatty liver, which gave us some peace of mind regarding the health of our other cats. I have no idea how much cat autopsies cost, but I thought it was really sweet of them to do it at no cost - they were concerned that, if it was FIP, there could be serious health issues at the cattery from which our cat came.
And that's still not the end. A few days after our cat was laid to sleep, we received a card from VV with handwritten notes from the entire staff and Dr Peckham. It meant so much to us - we still have the card and won't be getting rid of it.
And yet, it's still not the end. A week or so later, we received a beautifully wooden box with our cat's ashes in them and her name engraved. Also, there was a nice poem with it as well. To our surprise, we were also given a little cast with our cat's paw prints. We did not know about this last part, and it was such a beautiful surprise. Notably, I don't know how much of this was performed at VV or at their cremation partner (assuming they have one) - either way, it was a huge part of our VV experience.
This was our only VV experience, as it's not terribly close to our home. But what an experience. Couldn't be more thankful of the staff and just everything they did for us, medically and otherwise. I give Visiting Vets my strongest recommendation.
