Renal Clinic

Re: Renal Clinic

Honeybadger — Sun, 27 Oct 2013 18:42:52 GMT

Just wondering what people charge for renal/senior clinics with a nurse?

Re: Renal Clinic

Stuart McQueen — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:57:22 GMT

profile updated...

thanks for all the tips and hints guys... keep em coming.

Re: Renal Clinic

ginny — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:30:56 GMT

We also see kidney cats fairly regularly. The number of visits depends on the owner and patient ( and the vet!)

Often we have other issues to discuss as well - such as dental disease, hyperthyroidism, arthritis.

Initially the vet sees them and diagnoses condition, informs owner etc. They then either come in and see the vet or nurse depending on how bad, owner expectations etc - even if they see the vet they will be made an appointment with the nurse at a later date, (sometimes for a "chat" and without the cat)

We discuss the condition with them and explain medication, diet, what results mean etc.

Blood pressure and blood are carried out as per the vets direction, sometimes monthly sometimes less frequently. They are weighed each visit and given a good check over, referring to vet as needed.

I personally found i had very mixed feelings when seeing these patients. Initially it seemed a good idea, good use of a medical diploma, good for client and patient to have a point of contact if concerned etc. . Then after a while it became terribly depressing that these animals were all slowly deteriorating and though it was a learning curve watching this happen and learning more about renal disease it was desperately sad. You build up a real bond with the client and cat. I find it similarly depressing with unstable diabetics!!

Re: Renal Clinic

Maisy — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:43:02 GMT

Hi Stuart

We do run them, albeit not very often! Only tend to see patients perhaps on a bi-annual basis where they receive diagnosis/treatment etc obviously with the vet. When the next renal bloods are due and providing there are no other 'vet' problems, the client will book in with a QVN for the bloods to be taken, blood pressure if needed and a nurse health check. Often the main concern with owners who have newly diagnosed cats is difficulty in getting them to eat so it helps to have a nurses perspective as I've found some owners don't want to bother vets with this type of issue.

This then alternates depending how often the cat needs to be seen and the severity of the condition. The client is advised at the time of booking the appointment that the nurse clinic is for maintaining health rather than being able to diagnose so if the O does have concerns beyond nurses remit, they are recommended to see a vet instead.

I think with clinics like renal/diabetes/senior pets there are more aspects that owners prefer to discuss with nurses just because they think the vet will be bothered by something so "trivial". Its a good way to build a client bond and you could also advise incorporating it into a senior pet clinic say every six months to keep a check on overall health.

(Although I've been talking about cats in the renal clinic the same would apply to dogs, we just see more renal dx cats as I'm sure most people do!)

Hope this helps!

Re: Renal Clinic

Saskia Quinn — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 07:29:08 GMT

Hi Stuart,

My guess is that you are likely to be given information by fellows on this site if you complete your profile i.e tell us something about yourself. Feel free to look at mine, which is complete!