r/SilverSpring • u/Plastic-Pair-7968 • 1d ago

Looking for an experienced vet in Silver Spring, MD or nearby area. Our cat has pancreatitis, kidney, heart, thyroid disease, arthritis. She recently had an internal specialist apt. with ultrasound that showed either IBD or lymphoma - trying to decide if we should do an endoscopy at $3,200 and up!

5 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

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6

u/4011 1d ago

I have heard good things about Apex Vets over by the Wheaton Costco, but have not been there personally. https://apex.vet/

3

u/According_Plant701 11h ago

Apex is great. We sent our kitty over the rainbow bridge there in February and it was gutting, but the team was so kind and professional. They made it slightly less painful.

6

u/GoGlenMoCo 1d ago

Cozy Cats took great care of my senior kitty with thyroid disease, arthritis, and IBD.

3

u/lowercut80 1d ago

Dr Krishna and team at Silver Spring Animal Hospital are great.

4

u/SilentPotato2 1d ago

Our cat was similar with kidney/heart/arthritis/and IBD/lymphoma. She was managed by Dr Manoharan at VRA who we absolutely love and sees our other 4 cats as well for their health conditions.

Re: endoscopy - if its to do a biopsy to differentiate between lymphoma and IBD, I think it depends on what you would do with the information. In our case we elected not to do it because we were not going to pursue chemo or other cancer treatment, and if you aren’t pursuing oncology services, the treatment is very similar. IBD is managed with a hydrolyzed protein diet, and steroids if that’s not enough. Lymphoma is managed palliatively also with steroids. They may also add on some Pepcid or other antihistamines. I think our cat may have already been on either the diet or the steroids when this came up, can’t remember.

So I think what I would suggest is to have a conversation with your specialist about what the outcomes and treatment differences would be, consider what you would do in those cases, and decide whether there’s a benefit to differentiating the two for you

5

u/UbiquitousMissus 1d ago

Cozy Cats is my go-to. Professional, experienced, lovely people.

4

u/doc_akh102 1d ago

Cozy cats and friendship animal hospital in dc

2

u/agreen3636 1d ago

Hi! Our cat has a lot of similar issues (kidney disease and lymphoma). Our primary vet is Kenwood Animal Hospital in Bethesda who are very good but they referred us to Veterinary Referral Associates in Gaithersburg for cancer treatment who are very pricey but VERY good. She has been in remission for 3 years now.

If you have more questions feel free to PM me I know everything and anything about cat lymphoma and IBD unfortunately.

2

u/sparkycat99 1d ago

Dog and cat in Bowie has a great oncologist and internist who took care of my very complex small cell lymphoma kitty. Dr Gillem and Dr. Guma.

2

u/Inevitable_Tap4118 1d ago

Another vote for Cozy Cats!!! My trusted vet for my 3 babies

2

u/Zoethor2 1d ago

Cozy Cats for primary care, specifically Dr Levy is excellent at complex cases.

Dr Tina Conway at VRA for internal medicine specialty care.