One Sick Cat - Updated

[T2T III]

And I thought some of my days were tough.

My wife is taking care of a cat for a client who is out of town. The cat is a diabetic and requires insulin shots every day. My wife gave the cat a shot this morning, but noticed how lethargic it was. This afternoon, she made another visit to the house and determined to take the cat to the vet. The vet drew some blood and ran tests. The results were horrible - nearly every number (glucose, etc.) were all out of range. $100+ to run these tests.

My wife then took the cat to a 24-hour care facility. They know the cat will not survive very long, but need the owner to contact them to give them permission to euthanize the cat. They will board the cat for the night and keep giving the cat fluids. $600+ for 24 hours.

My wife reaches the father of the lady who owns the cat. The father is a redneck -- no sympathy towards what my wife has been through over the past 6+ hours -- and immediately says: "I'll just come over and shoot the darn cat."

My wife is aware of the cruise line that the owner is on - on a trip to Rome. However, we need the redneck father to call back and provide the name of the ship, so we can contact the cat's owner.


Cliff Notes:
- Wife takes care of diabetic cat
- Cat gets sick and is near death
- Vet will not euthanize the cat without the owner's permission
- Owner is heading to Rome on a cruise and can't be reached
- Redneck father of the lady who owns the cat offers to "shoot the cat"

[Update]: Monday Nov. 10th, 2003:

- Cat is 14+ years old and weighs 18 Lbs.
- The owner of the cat was finally reached on Friday.
- The Maritime phone system was not working correctly because the ship was already in port at Rome.
- Owner decided not to put the cat down - but wanted to wait until she got home on Saturday.
- Bills to keep cat going through Saturday: $2,000+
- Cat is diagnosed with Pancreatitis and congestive heart failure (as reflected in X-rays and blood tests)
- Owner gets home and cat is drastically improving - starting to eat on its own and may get released from the vet in a few days.

WTF? The cat was very near death and now comes back to life. The owner seemed glad to pay all of the money that went to the vets. It looks like this story might not turn out too bad after all. I wonder if all of this wasn't just brought on by separation anxiety since the owner was away for 2 weeks?

 

[Spoooon]

Should have just told the vet it was your cat and had it put to sleep to avoid the cost.
Though, knowing the cat was sick, the owner should have made preparations for just in case.
Speaking of rednecks, there is a story on the smoking gun about a guy who decided to neuter his dog with a shotgun.

 

[NokiaDude]

Dude, you better be getting re-imbursed. I'd be pissed to pay $700 to care of of someone's darn cat for free.

 

[iwearnosox]

Your wife should have said the cat was hers.

 

[anandfan]

At least your wife was alert enough to recognize the problems. We went on vacation for a week, left the cat in the house with a young, neighbor teen to check on it twice a day. When we got home, the cat just laid on the floor and wouldn't move. Cat had a huge, swollen, orange-size wound on its side (probably from a fight before we left). We rushed it to the vet without unpacking. Vet said it wouldn't have lasted another day without treatment. But even with 2 nights at the vet, didn't come close to $600!

 

[AaronB]

My wife reaches the father of the lady who owns the cat. The father is a redneck -- no sympathy towards what my wife has been through over the past 6+ hours -- and immediately says: "I'll just come over and shoot the darn cat."

Doesn't sound unsympathetic to me. Sounds like he was offering a practical solution.

I would let him handle it. I don't know what your wifes relationship is with this client but I know I wouldn't want a clients pet to die while I was responsible for it.

I would be passing the buck faster than a bag of weed during a traffic stop.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: anandfan
At least your wife was alert enough to recognize the problems. We went on vacation for a week, left the cat in the house with a young, neighbor teen to check on it twice a day. When we got home, the cat just laid on the floor and wouldn't move. Cat had a huge, swollen, orange-size wound on its side (probably from a fight before we left). We rushed it to the vet without unpacking. Vet said it wouldn't have lasted another day without treatment. But even with 2 nights at the vet, didn't come close to $600!

Yeah, my cat did that but his whole gut was inflated. He just laid on his side and yowled. Whenever I'd say, "Come on buddy, get up and play," I would poke him, and he would just scowl at me, as if to say, "Can't you see that the salty food I've eaten all these years has built of crystals in my urinary track, making me unable to urinate?"

Obviously I was like so he gave it to me straight, "Listen to me, dumbfvck, my wang is stopped up and I need to pee, take me the fvcking doctor."

So I take him to the dr, who says his odds are 50\50 . I say do whatever you can. The doctor informs me that my cat has already been put under, because he attacked several members of the staff. He's not really a people person (animal.) Anyways, the Dr. says, "We'll have to insert several catheders in order to flush out his system and dislodge the crystaline blockage." Obviously I'm like so the Dr. says, "His urinary tract is blocked, his chances are guarded." I'm like, guarded? So the Dr. says, "Go home. I'll call you tomorrow."

So I go home. The dr. calls me and tells me my cat has survived the surgery, but he'll need to be observed for 2 more days. So 2 days pass (playing with the ball of yarn isn't NEARLY as fun by yourself.) I go to get my cat, he's like, knocked out, and wrapped in a blanket. He has never looked less mean. So I take him home. The dr. says to bring him back in a week for another check up. I do so.

The cat is already miraculously recovered, and very angry about his ordeal with death. He's decided to live every moment to it's fullest. He's in a cardboard cat carrier box thing, to keep him under control. I didn't notice, but he chewed and scratched through a tiny corner of the thing. He then proceeded to jam his bulbous head into the hole until it opened. To this day, I"m baffled by how he fit his 30lbs of cat ass through a whole no larger than a coffee mug. Anyways, when he jumped on the seat, I noticed. He gives me a quick look as if to say, "So long, sucker" and jumps out the window (I was going 20mph through a school zone). You bastard. Slam on the breaks as I look in the mirror, he appears to be rolling on the road. Good one, genius. So I run back to get him, he is laying on the road, dazed, attempting to stand up, and falling down. He gives me this like like, "You did this to me... I don't know how, but you did." (cat owners know this look) So I take him BACK to the car. Put him back in the box, but point the hole into the floorboard of the car. He still appears dazed. I'm sure the vet is going to call the cops on me.

So I take the cat in, explain everything to him. He understands that my cat is the spawn of satan. He looks the cat over, feeling his legs and whatnot, and determines the cat is probably ok from the car incident, if a little bruised. He uses his magical vet skills to administer some sort of cat aspirin. SO then he starts feeling the cats insides to see if they are swollen. He squeezes what I assume would be the cat's bladder, all the while he keeps asking "does this hurt?" ANyways, the cat bites him. The vet says... "it's still a little tender, but it feels ok. You've been feeding him only the special food?" "Sure have. He seems to like it actually." The cat bites the vet again. I jokingly say, "Does that hurt?" The vet was not amused.

Anyways, so the vet says "Cindy will get you all paid out." I'm like, ok, great, this is gonna suck. Anyways, the gist of it is, they wanted $2000 for his cat surgery and cat keeping, as well as the various medicines and whatnot. Plus, from then on, I have to buy these ridiculously priced bags of catfood that cost $40 a bag! My cat is the size of midtower ATX case! He eats like 3 bags a month! Gah. Oh, and this food ONLY comes from the vet.

Anyways, my cat's the devil. I mean, I realize that all cats are inherently evil, but all the other cats are mere demons, my cat is the head hancho, satan himself. Resilient bastard too. Let me take a picture of his surly butt real quick.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boots the Cat

 

[Spoooon]

Have you looked for the food online? Maybe petmeds.com or something? Might save you some money.

 

[AaronB]

Nebor, that was hilarious.

I thought I would be disappointed when I saw the pic but no, he does look mean.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: AaronB
Nebor, that was hilarious.

I thought I would be disappointed when I saw the pic but no, he does look mean.

I constantly have some kind of cat scratches on my arms. He's SUCH a bastard.

 

[T2T III]

Originally posted by: anandfan
At least your wife was alert enough to recognize the problems. We went on vacation for a week, left the cat in the house with a young, neighbor teen to check on it twice a day. When we got home, the cat just laid on the floor and wouldn't move. Cat had a huge, swollen, orange-size wound on its side (probably from a fight before we left). We rushed it to the vet without unpacking. Vet said it wouldn't have lasted another day without treatment. But even with 2 nights at the vet, didn't come close to $600!

The cat is currently not at a standard vet. It's at a 24-hour animal medical center. Once it has been there for one day and stabilized a bit, my wife is going to transfer it to our vet where they can administer regular IV fluids and charge standard rates for housing the animal.

 

[T2T III]

Originally posted by: AaronB

My wife reaches the father of the lady who owns the cat. The father is a redneck -- no sympathy towards what my wife has been through over the past 6+ hours -- and immediately says: "I'll just come over and shoot the darn cat."

Doesn't sound unsympathetic to me. Sounds like he was offering a practical solution.

I would let him handle it. I don't know what your wifes relationship is with this client but I know I wouldn't want a clients pet to die while I was responsible for it.

I would be passing the buck faster than a bag of weed during a traffic stop.

It's hard to "pass the buck" - the animal medical center will not even accept the word of the father that the cat can be put to sleep - it has to be the owner.

I do wish my wife would have just said she was the owner. This would all be over ... and the cat would be resting in peace.

 

[AaronB]

the animal medical center will not even accept the word of the father that the vet can be put to sleep

The vet really pissed you off didn't he?

 

[whaleskinrug]

Originally posted by: Nebor

Anyways, my cat's the devil. I mean, I realize that all cats are inherently evil, but all the other cats are mere demons, my cat is the head hancho, satan himself. Resilient bastard too. Let me take a picture of his surly butt real quick.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boots the Cat

He is gorgeous! :heart:

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Originally posted by: Tiles2Tech

Originally posted by: AaronB

My wife reaches the father of the lady who owns the cat. The father is a redneck -- no sympathy towards what my wife has been through over the past 6+ hours -- and immediately says: "I'll just come over and shoot the darn cat."

Doesn't sound unsympathetic to me. Sounds like he was offering a practical solution.

I would let him handle it. I don't know what your wifes relationship is with this client but I know I wouldn't want a clients pet to die while I was responsible for it.

I would be passing the buck faster than a bag of weed during a traffic stop.

It's hard to "pass the buck" - the animal medical center will not even accept the word of the father that the vet can be put to sleep - it has to be the owner.

I do wish my wife would have just said she was the owner. This would all be over ... and the cat would be resting in peace.

Yeah but then the owner would be pissed that your wife killed their cat...

 

[Vonkhan]

Anyways, my cat's the devil. I mean, I realize that all cats are inherently evil, but all the other cats are mere demons, my cat is the head hancho, satan himself. Resilient bastard too. Let me take a picture of his surly butt real quick.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boots the Cat[/i]

thts a mean lookin cat ... i wudnt mess with it

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: Vonkhan

Anyways, my cat's the devil. I mean, I realize that all cats are inherently evil, but all the other cats are mere demons, my cat is the head hancho, satan himself. Resilient bastard too. Let me take a picture of his surly butt real quick.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boots the Cat[/i]

thts a mean lookin cat ... i wudnt mess with it

He bit through the neighbor boy's knee when I was out of town and he was feeding it. He had to go to the ER. It was not a good scene. And it was a narly wound. Just two puncture wounds but like, massive bleeding under the skin...

 

[T2T III]

[Update]: Monday Nov. 10th, 2003:

- Cat is 14+ years old and weighs 18 Lbs.
- The owner of the cat was finally reached on Friday.
- The Maritime phone system was not working correctly because the ship was already in port at Rome.
- Owner decided not to put the cat down - but wanted to wait until she got home on Saturday.
- Bills to keep cat going through Saturday: $2,000+
- Cat is diagnosed with Pancreatitis and congestive heart failure (as reflected in X-rays and blood tests)
- Owner gets home and cat is drastically improving - starting to eat on its own and may get released from the vet in a few days.

WTF? The cat was very near death and now comes back to life. The owner seemed glad to pay all of the money that went to the vets. It looks like this story might not turn out too bad after all. I wonder if all of this wasn't just brought on by separation anxiety since the owner was away for 2 weeks?