Tuesday, November 15, 2005

the feline debacle continues

I don't even know where to start...

I went to pick up Emmy and here's the first thing -
the bill was 400 dollars! I had *specifically* asked the vet the cost and he'd told me, a hundred and fifty, maybe two hundred. If she needed a cast, another 50.
FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS?
How can an estimate be that wrong?

I paid half of it and today I have to go back to talk to the doc and the office manager.

And then...the nurse giving me discharge instructions tells me Emmy has to be confined to a cage for several weeks. I will have to help her to the litterbox and make sure she gets her painkillers. If I religiously do all this, she will "probably" be just fine. Probably. This is not the cheerful prognosis the vet gave me.

We are talking about a cat who wanted to be outside, running and jumping -- not some docile animal. And if she's not ok -- then what? A lifetime of pain and limited mobility? I may still *have* to put her down, if her injuries don't heal properly.

I so don't know what to do. She is in serious pain. She can barely walk. She ate a little bit but is otherwise just lying there, no spark, nothing. Apparently she hurt badly enough that she just peed all over herself rather than get to the litterbox Saturday (necessitating sooner rather than later ripping out of the bedroom carpet -ewww). She's suffering and I don't know what to do and I feel even worse because I don't particularly like her and I so do not have time to coddle a convalescent cat along with my infant and two children.

She's in PAIN. I always get mad at people who keep their pets alive for their own bebefit; animals can't know why they're in pain. It seems heartless. I don't know what to do.

And Dan is not around at all this week. I have to do whatever it is I am going to do today or tomorrow while I do not have Primo and Segundo with me.

17 comments:

Caro said...

Can you find a cage big enough that the cat box will fit in it, just a tiny box? You don't have time to help a cat make it to the box - not with a newborn. I would suggest that she recuperate at the vet's office, but not at those prices! What about the teen that babysits for you? Is she interested in helping with a cat?

BabelBabe said...

seppie seems to not care; he is up here with me. if he's gone down to the basement for anything other than the litter box, i haven't noticed.

his life would probably be nicer w/o her around, frankly. all she does is torment him when she's inside.

BabelBabe said...

Here's the update:

After crying, and calling half a dozen vets all of whom wanted to see her (to the tune of way more cash), I foudn out the vet who saw her last night is out of town till Thursday as is theonyl other vet who would be happy to look at her x-rays and give me a second opinion. so I followed Gina and Carolyn's advice because at this point I am incapable of thinking for myself:

I tried to get the pain medication down her throat meds one last time -- but I could not catch her. She ran up the basement stairs, all around the first floor and thern back down. If she can move that fast...and she's little, she can squeeze lots of weird places. So she'll have to do without until I can try again tonight.

I put a litter box (an old cardboard box cut low in front so she only really has to step in, not climb in) in the front room of the basement, set up the crate with an old towel so she can sleep there if she wants, and put her food next to the crate and a respectable distance from the box.

I simply refuse to feel guiltier that I do not want to spend hundreds of dollars on this stupid cat. I REFUSE. Categorically. I put my foot down.

I still feel horrible.

Now I have to go scrub my bedroom carpet.

Caro said...

If she's that darn spry, it sounds like you set her up just fine. Don't feel guilty! You just spent four-hundred bucks on a cat you hate. Many people would have just spent fifty on the lethal injection.

Gina said...

What Carolyn said!

Joke said...

For the record, I am a cat lover and former cat owner (when I was single).

You don't wanna know my opinion, trust me.

-J.

BabelBabe said...

joke, i do. esp. if you are hardcore one way or the other.

why the hell else would i post on the blog? i am totally conflicted.

blackbird said...

for the record, you don't wanna know MY OPINION, trust me.

signed,
disliker of animals

BabelBabe said...

and just for the record, for whoever wants to hate me and call me heartless - if i'd KNOWN it was going to be $400, I would have just spent the $50.

Badger said...

Well, I am a cat disliker so I say whack that kitty. But I don't generally recommend that folks use me as a moral compass of any sort. With good reason, obviously.

Joke said...

My opinion, and remember you asked for it, is that you should not throw good money after bad. Your unfortunate cat problem is eerily similar to mine with the car that sucks which I am reBaying ASAP.

Having said that, given this is a cat clearly ill-disposed towards you and yours, I would have not only not spent $400, I would not have spent even $50. I would have chosen a course of action which would have instantly and permanently eliminated all her suffering (of which Badger likely would approve) by a free exercise of my 2nd Amendment rights (of which Badger likely would disapprove).

I would have also reminded myself that, if you live anywhere near a major metropolitan area, kittens are free.

-J.

BabelBabe said...

i don't really have access to um, that sort of dispatch. but i do appreciate your opinion, since it validates my just wanting this to be over and done with.

but as i said, had i known it was hundreds of dollars...

Joke said...

You COULD use the cat as a shield while you, oh-I-dunno, knock over a liquor store.

But yes. I think the cat can no longer afford whatever is left of her nine lives. SHE would have fed you to the lizards the second you developed a slight limp.

-Joke

Gina said...

Joke, I must say that I had no idea a man as sartorially gifted as you would pack heat. James Bond aside, that is.

David said...

We have a cage big enough to hold a litter box if you want to borrow it. It was Rolarens jail in the apartment when she peed on something and needed to be confined with a box.

I'm sorry this is so crappy for you. Its hard enough when you know you'll have to spend big bucks to begin with, but being surprised sucks a little more.

Anonymous said...

Oh dear. This is all very distressing. I am a little freaky weird about animals (love 'em), BUT. I have a crappy cat who hides under a bed 90% of the time and forgets to use the litterbox on a semi-regular basis. If she so much as sneezes, I will rush her to the vet and pay for that injection.

Since you don't really like this cat all that much, I don't think you should feel terribly guilty about putting her down. If that's what you decide.

Anyway, I'm sorry for you and for poor Emmy.

Joke said...

Gina,

I refrain when it ruins the line of my jacket. One curious note; a certain VERY high end (suits starting at $7500!) London tailor asks his clients if, in fact, they carry firearms and if so, what kind and where. Not only does he cut the jacket to compensate but he also sews in little lead weights on the front corners of the jacket to make opening-and-reaching a lot bit easier.

NO, I have never had anything made by that tailor.

-J., the Law East of the Pecos