Cats…good grief!
Yesterday SickyPie-Pie-Pie threw up at least 6 times, the last 3 nothing but bile (sorry). He was very lethargic, and I suspected he had a fever. I called my regular vet at around 3 p.m., but received the voicemail stating the office was closed.
Brief tangent: Why does the voice on the outgoing message on my vet’s voicemail have a British accent? No one I’ve ever encountered there has any accent at all, other than the normal nasal tones I associate with people from the NE U.S. And why is my vet’s office closed at 3 p.m. on a Wednesday? And why doesn’t the outgoing message state the office hours, rather than merely saying the office is closed?
These things are a bit concerning to me, but then I’m a worrier. They have been wonderful to my two fuzzy buddies in all other respects.
ANYWAY: I ended up calling the Emergency Animal Hospital to see if I should get him some immediate medical attention and they recommended I bring him in ASAP, which I did.
Long story short(ish): The vet gave me an estimate of $1400-3400. I said, “Look, dude, I love my cat but I can’t even begin to afford that. Let’s take this one step at a time, what would you suggest I do this evening”?
He ended up giving him IV fluids and a painkiller and recommended I abstain from giving him any food overnight, and only a small amount of h2o to see if he could keep it down. So, despite my fears that this cat was going to eat my face off in my sleep due to his obvious desire for sustenance, that is what I did.
By the time we woke up this morning, he seemed much better.
As of now, he has eaten and there have been no more instances of vomit. Always good news.
It cost me $230 thus far. I was so upset at the vet that my hands were shaking and I couldn’t retain the info he gave me. To be fair, no one wants to hear that their pet needs bloodwork, x-rays, ultrasounds, hospitalization, and possible surgery. Not to mention that all of this will run several thousand dollars.
I joked to R this morning that Slick did this for attention. He reminds me of how my mother claims that I repeatedly stuck Band-Aids all over myself as a child, and how the doctor would insist upon removing every single one of them in order to make sure I wasn’t being abused.
