Sunday, February 5, 2012

Planet of the Cats

Warning.  This will be a cat-intensive blog post.

Miss Macy had her dental cleaning on Friday.  I had an estimate from a vet for this procedure and it was upwards of $600.00.  This is very budget-unfriendly; I just put this on the back burner.  Macy seemed to have no problems with eating, so I felt comfortable with this decision.

Then we moved to our new house, far away from Macy's vet, and time for her annual wellness exam came and went.  I couldn't find anyone I knew to recommend a vet so I called the local SPCA, which is associated with the County's Animal Services Department.  Turns out they have a vet clinic and very reasonable rates.  Macy had her annual wellness exam, and the only issues were her weight (she needs to lose a pound) and her teeth.  The vet told me that she would need a cleaning and some of the teeth would need to be extracted.  The estimate was less than half of my original quote of $600 plus.  So we scheduled the cleaning.

The morning of the surgery, I bought Macy to the clinic and saw at least 30 other owners and their animals waiting in line (although most of them were probably there for spay/neuter - the clinic will not treat any animal that isn't fixed).  Macy was so miserable, meowing and carrying on.   Macy was one of the first animals called in and it was in the moment I handed her to the vet tech, that I started crying.  Poor Miss Mace is something I say a lot (in relation to Delilah's grumpiness towards her).  But I was saying it that morning.  Poor Miss Mace doesn't know what is going on and she's scared.  Of course, Macy pooped in her cat carrier, but I was prepared and scooped it out before I handed her over.

I was told that the clinic would call me if there were any complications or questions during the process.  I called the clinic but left a message with the vet tech.  I never heard from anyone and tried to reassure myself that no news meant good news.  I left work at 4:00 p.m. to go pick up Macy.

I arrived at the clinic at 4:30 p.m. and told the nurse at the desk that I was there to pick up Macy.  She told me that Macy would not be ready until 5:00 or 5:30 p.m.  Another couple was there at the same time as me to pick up their dog, who had also had a teeth cleaning and they were told the same thing.  While they patiently waited, I stomped out of the clinic and went to my car to call my husband.

When Mr. Grumpbump answered, I was already in tears and the first thing I said to him was "I should have paid the extra money."  And burst out into dramatic wailing.  Mr. Grumpbump is telling me to take deep breaths and calm down.  I told him that Macy would not be ready to go home until 5:30, but this was unacceptable to me and I was going to march back into the clinic and demand that my cat be released from this prison!

Honestly, the clinic people were not very friendly to me (I was pouting and visibly upset) and about 5:15 p.m. they processed Macy to go home.  Macy had four teeth removed and they prescribed pain medicine (to be rubbed on her gums) and an antibiotic (with a syringe so we could get it down her throat).  With the amount of animals they must see on a regular basis, their procedures are in place for reason.  I couldn't help but feel like I was in the animal welfare clinic because there was almost no personal service for me, the human, guardian, and the person footing the bill.  I believe that they took good care of Macy and she seems no worse for the trauma of it all.

Macy came home with a shaved front leg and now she looks like she's wearing a boot on her front leg.  I haven't been able to get a good look at her mouth.  We can't get anywhere near her with the pain medicine but she doesn't appear to be in any discomfort.  The required antibiotics are a bitch to get in her mouth.  Last night she spit up most of it (I think the taste is off-putting).  I posted a note in a cat forum and found out that I was administering the medicine wrong.  We were putting the syringe in the front and putting the medicine down her throat (and then she spit it back).  However, when we put the syringe in the corner of her mouth and shot the medicine across her throat, her reflexes kicked in and she swallowed it.  Success!

Macy and her fur boot
I have two water bowls inside (one is a fountain that has continuously running water) and there is a water bowl outside by the pool.  Delilah still insists on drinking from the pool.  I caught her this morning.  She spreads her back legs out and firmly plants them on the concrete as her anchor and then she lowers the front half of her body into the pool.

Delilah is very thirsty

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