Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2015 08:31:24 -0500
From: Billie Hinton
Subject: Local Veterinarians and a PSA for those with cats
I’d like to add my positive experiences with Drs. Staggs and Weston at Jordan Lake Animal Hospital to the mix here. We moved to Chatham County 10 years ago and have used every vet in the greater Chatham area trying to find one we like. For whatever reason, Jordan Lake was the last one we tried and we have been more than pleased with their competence, care, and compassion for our animal family members and for us.
This past fall 3 of our 6 felines contracted cytauxzoonosis (a tick-borne disease that originates in bobcats). It is a nasty, often fatal disease in domestic cats and when one of ours became lethargic on a Friday night Dr. Staggs worked her in on a busy Saturday morning, identified the protozoa, gave us all the options for treatment, and by Sunday we had 2 cats in the NCSU Vet School Hospital being treated. Those two cats did amazingly well and recovered fully due to Dr. Staggs very quick diagnosis and us getting the cats into treatment so quickly. A week later a third cat got sick and sadly she (a very compromised cat we had found a year previously starving by the river) did not make it. She had received excellent care for other issues at Jordan Lake Animal Hospital and when we let them know she died, we received individual condolence cards handwritten by each vet, and another card from the staff. The cards were personal and heartfelt and meant a lot to us.
On a side note – if you have cats in Chatham County, please be aware that we are a hot spot for cytauxzoonosis in cats. The tick prevention we used did not work against the ticks that carried the protozoa. Both Jordan Lake Animal Hospital and the vet school recommend using Seresto flea and tick collars. They are expensive but last for 8 months. All our cats and dogs are wearing them now and will get new ones going into the coming tick season. If your cat stops eating and develops a fever, get to the vet as quickly as you can. Early diagnosis and treatment is critical. Even then, even with the best care, there is not a great success rate b/c of the propensity of cats to throw blood clots during treatment.
And one more recommendation: Dr. Charles Loops is a local veterinarian who specializes in homeopathic consultation for cats, dogs, and sometimes horses. We discovered him 15 years ago before we even moved to Chatham County and he has been a wonderful resource for us ever since. He works with chronic illness, particularly cancers, and is extremely knowledgeable and very very kind and good to work with.
Billie Hinton