TLDR: Regular vet sent my senior cat who had not eaten for days home without addressing loss of appetite, then when bloodwork showed possible hepatic lipidosis, only gave me options that would mean waiting 4-5 days - at the earliest - for an ultrasound. We are now using a new vet for this cat but I am conflicted about whether to “ghost” our regular vet, let them know how I feel privately, or post our experience somewhere publicly.
For background on where my head was initially, my sister recently had a cat with similar symptoms to mine sent home by a vet who said they didn’t think there was an obstruction twice before an emergency vet surgically removed an obstruction.
This story starts a few weeks ago.
On a Friday, my cat (14 year old spayed female), Lily, started to act like she had a hairball and was gagging up clear bile with some stray hairs in it. She was eating less than usual and left some kibble behind in her bowl. She’s done this with bad hairballs before, so we kept an eye on her all weekend with a plan to get her to the vet if this lasted longer than usual.
Saturday, Lily stopped eating.
Sunday, she was not pooping as well.
Monday:
-I called our regular vet and told them that Lily seemed like she was struggling with a hair ball (which is not totally uncommon for her, although it’s been very rare since she had been on cat lax for two years), but I wasn’t positive, and I requested they rule out an obstruction and try to figure out why she wasn’t eating or pooping.
-They got her in on Tuesday, I was scheduled to drop her off at 7:30am and took comfort in the fact that she’d be under their care all day until I got off work.
Tuesday:
-I dropped her off, asked them to call my phone number because my wife cannot answer her cell at work.
-Vet then left a message on my wife’s phone that she wanted to send off bloodwork, no mention of hairball/potential obstruction in voicemail.
-I called and asked for her to call me back when she was available.
-Finally spoke to vet on phone hours later, she was surprised Lily had not eaten or pooped in days. It did not sound to me like that was in Lily’s chart or appointment notes, or that part of her chart had not been read, but I did not ask.
-Vet told me I could come pick her up and to just watch her to see if she started eating again. She said Lily might be too old for kibble and needed wet food instead.
-She did tell me that Lily had pooped a tiny bit while there and it was very dry and full of hair.
-I asked if that meant an obstruction had been ruled out, she told me she wasn’t worried about that. She told me they could do an X-ray for my peace of mind, which I verbally reaffirmed I wanted.
-Vet took bloodwork.
-When I went to pick up, my receipt did not mention X-rays and the vet tech there said that none had been mentioned. Vet had already gone for the day.
-I took Lily home and was hopeful that since she had pooped at the vet, maybe that was the problem and she’d start getting over it.
-Lily did not eat her new wet food.
Wednesday:
-Lily did not eat breakfast, wet or dry.
-Before I could call; the vet called me and said that some of Lily’s bloodwork had come back already. Results showed very elevated bilirubin. She told me that the next step was an ultrasound.
-Vet said it could be liver cancer, an infection, or hepatic lipidosis. She just went down a list of possibilities really quick, but I clearly remember those three.
-Vet asked me how she was and I said she still had not eaten, vet said “Hmm, I don’t like that.” and nothing else about it.
-She told me that a travelling ultrasound tech would be in town “Thursday and Friday.” She had to call him, see if he would be available, and then call me back. If he was not available, I would have to see if he had any appointments at his clinic two hours away on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday of the next week.
-I called the office two hours later to follow up, and found out that the vet I’d been working with left for a conference in Vegas shortly after my phone call with her and she would not be back until Friday.
-There were no notes in the system about her telling me the next step was an ultrasound or that she was expecting to hear back about one.
-I was asked if it was ok if the other vet at the clinic called me back later, I did respond with less composure than usual “I guess it has to be ok, but I have a cat who hasn’t eaten in days and the person who was supposed to call me back is headed to Vegas.” I was also very obviously crying at that point.
-Vet #2 called me and reiterated that more is going on with Lily than an obstruction and she needed diagnostics. She then told me that the ultrasound guy was “hard to get a hold of” and will “text one of us back at 9pm a week after we reached out.” She told me he was in town on Thursdays and Fridays. But there had never been a possibility I’d be able to get Lily in with him that Thursday or Friday. Which was not mentioned by vet #1 at all.
-I explained that from my perspective, I understood her bloodwork indicated more testing needed to be done to find a root cause, and I wanted to get her in with anyone who could help her with the symptoms as soon as possible.
-She reiterated my options of waiting for the ultrasound guy or getting referred to a clinic hours away, Monday morning at the earliest. (Which I was perfectly willing to drive to, but I was getting frustrated that the only options being presented to me involved waiting days for an appointment when my cat was still not eating and had blood results indicating problems with her liver!)
-Vet #2 told me she could see in Lily’s chart that the possibility of hepatic lipidosis was “discussed” with me earlier and that “If you are that worried about her not eating, we have an appetite stimulant you can come pick up and put on her ears.” Her phrasing and tone sounded more like she was humoring me than agreeing that Lily needed nutrients ASAP.
-I told vet #2 I was going to see if there were any vets in town with an ultrasound on site. At this point, she did offer to call around and check if any local vets had an ultrasound and could get us in, which I am still grateful for.
-I got a call 20 minutes later that a local board-certified feline specialist had an opening for us at 10 the next morning. (I had decided at that point to take her straight to the closest 24hr emergency vet as soon as I clocked out if I did not hear back that afternoon, at least to address symptoms while waiting to get her a diagnosis elsewhere.)
Thursday
-The beginning of the good parts of the story.
-Vet #3 was immediately concerned about hepatic lipidosis, explained to me what that was and how urgent it is. He told me she was extremely jaundiced and showed me how to tell. He performed an ultrasound and recommended a feeding tube and a GI scope + GI panel based on his findings.
-He inserted a tube in her neck and performed the GI scope that same day.
-She received her first tube feeding, an antibiotic, and a steroid at home that night and was already acting a little better by Friday morning.
11 days later, the feeding tube was out.
Lily has gained multiple pounds and is acting like herself again. She’s not jaundiced anymore. She has started eating normally and is active and playing.
She does now have a diagnosis of GI lymphoma. Her new vet is hopeful that with steroids and chemo, she should have at least 500 to 700 days left.
Here’s where I know I fucked up: I hyper-focused on the possibility of an obstruction at first. I did not press the vet to explain to me what hepatic lipidosis was. I do wonder if I had jumped on that sooner, if they would have done more for Lily.
But what I can’t stop thinking about, is that even if their client was fixated on the possibility of an obstruction, everything I have discussed with the new vet and read online about hepatic lipidosis says that it is an emergency and should be taken seriously and addressed as soon as possible, typically with a feeding tube. I feel like it should have been the vet’s job to explain to me what was going on and they should have known that Lily needed more immediate care.
I cannot understand why they sent her home on Wednesday without addressing her days-long lack of appetite. I cannot wrap my head around being told that hepatic lipidosis was a possibility on Wednesday, and the next steps being offered to me would have been on Monday of the next week at the earliest. I can’t get past “Thursday and Friday” not meaning “this Thursday and Friday.”
Vet #1 performed a beautiful tail amputation on our rescue cat in 2020. In 2025 she closed an umbilical hernia in our Shih Tzu that another vet had already attempted to close, and it has not reopened again. She’s been incredibly understanding with our fearful blue heeler and all the theatrics he comes with. We’ve been boarding our pets with them for almost seven years now. She used to sit down with us and explain everything. Phone tag used to last maybe 30 minutes instead of whole business days.
In the last year, she opened a second location, hired vet #2, and they both split their time between both offices. She’s now always out of breath on the phone and always makes me feel rushed. They’ve ramped up their local advertising and social media posting. It’s been a bizarre feeling to see goofy reels posted on Instagram to draw in new clients by the same vet’s office that I feel put very little effort into helping an established patient.
A few months ago, our heeler saw vet #2 and a urine sample was taken. He had to go back the next day for more follow up and vet #1 spent a while trying to get a sample from him and it was only when we were leaving that she mentioned she hadn’t read his chart to see that a sample had been taken the day before. A few weeks ago, our new kitten saw vet #2 who asked me to bring in a fecal sample and when I brought one in the next day, the receptionist asked me what they were supposed to test for because there weren’t any notes and vet #2 was out that day. I didn’t realize these were red flags at the time. I told myself they were just busy and it wasn’t a big deal, I didn’t believe they would act like that with emergencies.
When they sent Lily’s records over to the specialist, he clocked right away that she had slowly been losing weight for months. I had no idea. Should they have noticed that too? (I’m going to start monthly weigh-ins on all our pets at home now, a baby scale has already been ordered.)
I don’t know what to do or how to address this. These are people we’ve trusted for years and leaving a negative review or just not coming back without closure feels like something one would do after a bad experience at a restaurant. I guess I’m just reeling, having gone from trusting this vet so much to realizing I won’t be able to trust her ever again.
Ideally, I would establish them all with vet #3. I trust him and his team more than I will ever being able to trust vet #1 again. But to be honest they’re super expensive (worth every penny but our budget just doesn’t support it right now) and they don’t board, so we’d need to establish boarding with another vet.
(The social media posts, second location, and constantly busy and rushed staff made me look into the possibility of a corporate buyout, but nope. It’s all still owned by vet #1.)
If you take anything from this, please know a cat that doesn’t eat for just 24 hours can be at risk for life threatening liver problems and it needs to be taken seriously and treated aggressively.
