George and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (Which Could Have Been MUCH Worse)
The short version of the story: George makes a miraculous recovery and George's Mommy saves $1,000.
The long version...
Several months ago, George started doing something very bad. She started peeing on my bed. I couldn't find anywhere else in the house except right there, on top of the comforter. Nice. Other than that behavior, she seemed perfectly fine. Still eating and drinking and actually using her litter box.
I took her to the Vet and he said she probably had a UTI (Urinary Tract Infection) so he gave her a newish antibiotic which is in a shot and works up to 14 days. They tested her urine and found one lone crystal in it. He told me at the time that it could take up to 6 weeks of treatment to make a UTI go away.
About ten days later, the peeing on the bed started again. I took her back to the Vet and she got another shot and also an oral antibiotic which I had to give her twice a day for two weeks. Since I was leaving town (of course) in ten days, I said I would be back if she wasn't better. They also sold me some special UTI treatment cat food which cost a bundle so I started giving her that.
She wasn't better so it was back to the vet for another shot and this time they suggested an xray. The xray showed three stones in her bladder. Compared to the size of her kitty bladder, they were huge stones. The recommendation was surgery by the fill-in Vet because mine was on vacation. He said he'd seen someone treat stones with diet but it took eight months for them to dissolve.
The estimated cost of the surgery? $1,200 and up. Ouch.
Oh, and at this point, I was already nearly $600 in.
I wanted a second opinion so I waited for my Vet to be back in town and for me to be back in town. I couldn't see trying to fit in a surgery when I wouldn't be around to take care of her and since she didn't seem to be in pain.
My Vet and I played phone tag and while that was going on, the strangest thing happened. She stopped peeing on the bed. Completely, no accidents, no small leakage. Nothing.
When I finally connected with the Vet, he said surgery was really the way to go and that he'd never seen stones disappear on their own. I told him she wasn't exhibiting any symptoms so he said he would xray her again before the surgery.
She was scheduled for this morning and they told me not to let her eat after 10 PM last night. You can only imagine the bitching I got this morning when she couldn't even find her dish. I'd put it in the microwave so she couldn't get to it. Oh, the drama!
Of course, that drama was minor compared to the hysteria after I captured her and put her in her carrier. The drive to the Vet was accompanied by non-stop crying. Seriously, you would have thought someone was dying.
When I got to the Vet's office, one of the techs went over the surgery cost details with me. When she got to the IV part said, "Well, if we can get it in, I've heard she's..." Her voice trailed off but I'm pretty sure she wanted to say "she's a demon". Apparently, there is a black mark on George's chart.
I left her and headed off to work. I missed the call at 11 AM so caught the message at lunch.
It was a miracle!
The xray showed no traces of the stones at all. The Vet was quite surprised and we agreed she needs to stay on this food forever now.
He then asked me when I was going to pick her up. There was this little tone in his voice that I interpreted as, "Come as soon as possible because she's being a bitch." I told him, "I'm sure she's not behaving." and he said, "We have a towel over her cage to keep the sound down." I didn't ask if that was to keep the sound of her crying down or keep the sound of their activity from upsetting her.
I told him 5 PM but I got another call a few hours later from the tech asking if I'd scheduled a time with the Vet. She also asked if I wanted them to update her vaccinations. I figured, what the hell, she's already pissed off so who cares if we make it worse?
Apparently, that last time in and out of the cage broke her proverbial straw because when I went to get her, they'd already put her in her carrier and were ready for her to go.
The Vet showed me the old and new xrays and both he and the Tech were still amazed that the stones went away just with her diet change. I told him he should write a case study and he thought he should write the cat food people and they could use it as an advertisement.
As soon as George realized I was there, the crying started again and didn't cease until we got home. I tried to tell her it could have been much, much worse but she wasn't buying it.
Even when I told her she could have come home wearing a cone of shame.
My cost for the day? About $200.
The worth of not paying $1,200 and having a kitty get sliced open? Priceless.
The long version...
Several months ago, George started doing something very bad. She started peeing on my bed. I couldn't find anywhere else in the house except right there, on top of the comforter. Nice. Other than that behavior, she seemed perfectly fine. Still eating and drinking and actually using her litter box.
I took her to the Vet and he said she probably had a UTI (Urinary Tract Infection) so he gave her a newish antibiotic which is in a shot and works up to 14 days. They tested her urine and found one lone crystal in it. He told me at the time that it could take up to 6 weeks of treatment to make a UTI go away.
About ten days later, the peeing on the bed started again. I took her back to the Vet and she got another shot and also an oral antibiotic which I had to give her twice a day for two weeks. Since I was leaving town (of course) in ten days, I said I would be back if she wasn't better. They also sold me some special UTI treatment cat food which cost a bundle so I started giving her that.
She wasn't better so it was back to the vet for another shot and this time they suggested an xray. The xray showed three stones in her bladder. Compared to the size of her kitty bladder, they were huge stones. The recommendation was surgery by the fill-in Vet because mine was on vacation. He said he'd seen someone treat stones with diet but it took eight months for them to dissolve.
The estimated cost of the surgery? $1,200 and up. Ouch.
Oh, and at this point, I was already nearly $600 in.
I wanted a second opinion so I waited for my Vet to be back in town and for me to be back in town. I couldn't see trying to fit in a surgery when I wouldn't be around to take care of her and since she didn't seem to be in pain.
My Vet and I played phone tag and while that was going on, the strangest thing happened. She stopped peeing on the bed. Completely, no accidents, no small leakage. Nothing.
When I finally connected with the Vet, he said surgery was really the way to go and that he'd never seen stones disappear on their own. I told him she wasn't exhibiting any symptoms so he said he would xray her again before the surgery.
She was scheduled for this morning and they told me not to let her eat after 10 PM last night. You can only imagine the bitching I got this morning when she couldn't even find her dish. I'd put it in the microwave so she couldn't get to it. Oh, the drama!
Of course, that drama was minor compared to the hysteria after I captured her and put her in her carrier. The drive to the Vet was accompanied by non-stop crying. Seriously, you would have thought someone was dying.
When I got to the Vet's office, one of the techs went over the surgery cost details with me. When she got to the IV part said, "Well, if we can get it in, I've heard she's..." Her voice trailed off but I'm pretty sure she wanted to say "she's a demon". Apparently, there is a black mark on George's chart.
I left her and headed off to work. I missed the call at 11 AM so caught the message at lunch.
It was a miracle!
The xray showed no traces of the stones at all. The Vet was quite surprised and we agreed she needs to stay on this food forever now.
He then asked me when I was going to pick her up. There was this little tone in his voice that I interpreted as, "Come as soon as possible because she's being a bitch." I told him, "I'm sure she's not behaving." and he said, "We have a towel over her cage to keep the sound down." I didn't ask if that was to keep the sound of her crying down or keep the sound of their activity from upsetting her.
I told him 5 PM but I got another call a few hours later from the tech asking if I'd scheduled a time with the Vet. She also asked if I wanted them to update her vaccinations. I figured, what the hell, she's already pissed off so who cares if we make it worse?
Apparently, that last time in and out of the cage broke her proverbial straw because when I went to get her, they'd already put her in her carrier and were ready for her to go.
The Vet showed me the old and new xrays and both he and the Tech were still amazed that the stones went away just with her diet change. I told him he should write a case study and he thought he should write the cat food people and they could use it as an advertisement.
As soon as George realized I was there, the crying started again and didn't cease until we got home. I tried to tell her it could have been much, much worse but she wasn't buying it.
Even when I told her she could have come home wearing a cone of shame.
My cost for the day? About $200.
The worth of not paying $1,200 and having a kitty get sliced open? Priceless.
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