Conjuctivitis (sp?) and pet insurance...

[HoundLover]

okay guys...well one of my fiance's cats had to go to the Evet last night...155 dollars later...and we find out that he has mild conjuctivitis in his left eye. i wasnt at my fiance's house so i didnt know if it was something major or not...but he was saying his eye was swollen and he couldnt seem to keep his eyelid open. what the vet DIDNT say was if this is contagious to the other cats in the household? (there is a total of 4 cats all together 3 are my fiance's). also he wants to get pet insurance but is it really worth it???
opinons please
Hound

[Grinch]

it is contagious cat to cat, because I got my one kitten and she came with it and the vet told me to keep her away from my other cat until she was treated and healed. As for pet insurance. I looked into it for my 7 pets and it was an outragous price. Maybe worth it if they get a bad disease but as far as vacs. go I don't think it's worth it.

[ssrinc5]

Pet insurance? I wish I knew more about it myself. I hope I can learn more by following this thread.

Conjunctivitis? Yes, it's very contagious. Humans can get it too. It's more annoying than anything, not terribly harmful if caught early. Make sure you wash your hands well if you touch any of the discharge, whether it be from a cat, dog or person. It's also known as "pink eye". I had it, years ago, in both my eyes, from wearing contact lenses that I hadn't taken care of properly. I didn't realize I had pink eye - until I woke up one morning and my eyelids were glued shut. With crusty, yellow goo-stuff. Ughhh...it was gross!!

Whenever I suspect that one of my doggy customers has conjunctivitis, I send them home, and advise that they see a vet. If the pup does, it usually takes about 10 days of treatment to cure the problem. Even if I'm wrong, and the yellow or green eye discharge is not conjunctivitis, I always think - "better safe than sorry".

Hindy

[HoundLover]

oh man thanks! the vet didnt say anything about it being contagious to the other cats in the household! if the cat is already on meds for it is it still contagious to the other cats? im sure he is washing his hands after he is putting the meds in...i didnt ask him though LOL!
thanks guys!
Hound

[Helly]

Conjunctivitis is a general term for inflamation of the conjunctiva. The causes can be mechanical (a scratch, for example), exposure to an irritant, bacterial infection or viral infection. The most common causes are bacterial and viral infection, and not all of those are contagious to humans...but they can be highly contagious to other cats. How long they remain contagious after you start treatment can depend on whether you're dealing with a virus or bacteria.

I'd make a quick phone call to your vet and ask if you should keep the cat isolated from the rest of your pets, and for how long.

[jovi]

Can't help you with the eye problem but I can offer some advice on insurance. All of my animals are on it. I have it through VIP pet insurance. There are others out there. I don't have the vaccine rider because vaccines are once a year or 3 years depending on the shot and animal andt they are not very expensive at my vet but it does help with the big stuff. I have a cat who has to have a steriod shot every 6 weeks- I save up the bills for 6 months and send them in and they pay me back. I have a $50 deductible each time but when the vet bills can run way up there it really helps. The monthly/yearly fees go up as the animal gets older but you can find cheaper insurance through others and they have things like indoor cat only and stuff. Good luck with the eye- if you do get insurance- check that pre exsisting condition small print!!

[HoundLover]

helly...

thanks helly! i will tell him to call the vet as kitty has been roaming around with the other 3 cats in the household...but there is really no way to keep him seperated from the other cats in the household...the house isnt set up that way...my fiance's bedroom is downstairs...and the other two are upstairs. the house is too small to keep kitty in one room as the other cats (his 3 cats) are fed downstairs..any suggestions?
we WILL be calling that vet though...all i know is he has eyedrops and a topical antiboitic to put on his eye. nick (fiance) had mentioned the other cat (his dads g.fs cat) that pee's in the house...so the vet knows there is at least 1 other cat in the household...
Hound

[Raggs]

I know a few people who have pet insurance. Some say it's great, others think it's a waste of money. It really depends on how often your pets are in the vet. If they never get sick and never need an emergency, then it's not worth it. But if a pet has some health issues and needs to be in there a lot it can come in handy.

But then, you never know when an emergency will pop up.

[wet noze]

I have the VPI Insurance for my dog and when he came down with pnumonia it came in handy. The money I received covered 3 years of insurance payments so I figured I've almost broken even. The thing about insurance is you hate paying for it but when you need it, you sure are happy you have it. I feel it's worth it for something catastrophic like if your pet gets cancer or, heaven forbid, gets hit by a car or something. One thing you need to know is they have a cap on all the payouts depending on what your diagnosis is. They got it all figured out! It's not very expensive so I feel it's worth it anyway. Hopefully, my dog will never need it but just in case.........