An invoice is not a medical record

Last week a stranger screamed in exaltation over the phone when I responded that, yes, we do board cats which need therapy such as subcutaneous fluids.  Apparently she had a plane to catch in 2 hours and her primary clinic doesn't do such a thing.  I explained that I had two conditions.  First, I must be allowed to assess the cat when it gets to our hospital so that I can be certain we won't have any surprises during boarding such as a horrid parasitism or difficult to control issues like unrelenting vomiting.  Second, I must be allowed to review the cat's medical record so that I can understand what sort of challenges the cat has faced in the past and anticipate any curve balls the cat may throw my way during the stay. 

She was happy to consent to the first, and assured me that she had in her possession the second.  Unfortunately, what walked in the door 20 minutes later was not a medical record.

To all of you cat lovers who keep a thick file at home with all of your invoices, I say good for you.  Unfortunately, that manila folder offers a veterinarian a limited glimpse into the cat's history.  Sure we can see when a vaccine was given, but what brand was it and where was it administered? I can see that blood work was run, but what were the values?  I can read that a medication was dispensed, but what was the dosing?

A complete medical record is going to give a comprehensive history of everything that your cat has received.  It provides the raw data that will allow a second opinion to come to its own conclusions.  After eight years, I have been told countless times that I was meeting with a cat who suffered true bacterial urinary infections, but reviewing the record confirmed my suspicions that an antibiotic was truly not what the cat needed for comfort.  It's going to tell me if a cat's heart rate typically falls around one value, so that when I hear that it's different than usual, there may be a problem.  By seeing the weight consistently fall around 11 pounds, I know something is up when our scale shows 9 pounds. 

I'm not saying you should toss those invoices, but understand their limitations.