Rant: $170

[purplecandle]

I just wanted to rant about something that happened to me last night/early this morning. I am angry at the neglect of some unknown cat owner, and the loss of $170 while trying to do the right thing.

After a long evening of grocery shopping me and my 10 year old daughter were on our way home. The car was full to the brim with groceries and we had just purchased Chinese take out. It was about 11pm.

While driving through the city on a narrow road littered with shot gun houses without front yards, ahead of me I saw a cat siting in the middle of the road on the yellow line. 4 cars in front of my past the cat, and you could see how terrified the cat was. None of those four cars stopped, yet I pulled over and attempted to get the cat. The cat was in severe shock and bleeding from everywhere. The poor thing managed to try to hop away from me, put I was still able to grab his neck and bring him to my car, at which point he promptly bit my hand so bad that now it is red and swollen and the hydrocodone has not eased the pain.

Still, I held on to the cat. But, I was not familiar with the area and had no idea where to take him. I could not even place him anywhere in my car because of the groceries. So I drove with the cat in one hand. Making matters worse at this point was that I drive a stick shift, and I have a sprained muscle in my left leg (clutch foot).

I drove until I thought I found a police station, turns out it was not, but they did have a button for me to push in case of an emergency. Well, that cat and myself were in serious pain, so it was an emergency. It took 30 minutes for the police to show up. I "thought" once the police got there they would take the cat to animal control or some emergency care place, but that was not the case.

Instead I followed the police to an emergency vet. I explained to the vet that it was not my cat. Again, I "thought" they would take the cat, doctor it up and let me be on my way. Again, I was disappointed. My only options were to pay $95 to get the cat seen by the vet OR put the cat in a box and leave it outside of the animal control building were it would suffer until Monday when they opened.

Unfortunately for the cat, it was injured enough to die, but not injured enough to die quickly.

So, I pay the $95 to get the cat seen. At this point my daughter is crying her eyes out to keep the cat. However, the vet estimated that if we tried to save the cat we would be spending about $2,000. Furthermore, the vet himself thought euthanasia was the best option.

So, while my daughter sobbed I signed the papers to euthanize him. At this point I figure to euthanize him would be free or discounted since it was not my cat. Alas I was wrong, it was another $75.

Money aside, the poor soul was suffering, so we petted him, and he was calm when he went to sleep in under a minute.

The vet then tried to sneak another $50 bucks out of me if I let them dispose of the cat. I was angry about them wanting more money from me, but I also felt the cat deserved better.

So, I met Mr. Mittens (named by my daughter) at around 11pm last night. He then died in my arms and ended his suffering around 1am. He is now buried in my back yard underneath a massive willow tree.

He was someone's pet, I could tell he was not a stray because he had clean ears, was well-fed, and despite the biting he was tame. The area I found him in he should of been a house cat. The busy roads are so close to the houses that front and back yards are non-existent, not a good place for a kitty to play.

He was an adult male, so probably his family put him out when he started spraying, instead of taking him to be neutered.

So, I am very angry at this owner. The cat was injured and died because of their neglect, I lost $170, and worst of all my daughter is still upset...in some ways she is even a little mad at me because we could not save him.

It makes me so mad to think that in the morning when the owner went to dump some food in the cat's outside bowl, and when the cat did not come they thought, "Oh he is just tomcating around!" When in reality a stranger and her emotionally scared forever daughter had mercy on him and paid $170 to end his suffering.

All of my cats can go in or out, but they are all fixed and the road is so far away that it is not a threat. In fact, my cat just lay in the yard an be lazy all day because they are neutered. It makes me angry that some pet owner thought it was ok for an un-neutered male to wonder the city streets at night.

RIP Mr. Mittens, you were worth every penny of that $170!

[JRC3]

Good job for doing the right thing.

I had something similar happen once. I saw a cat get hit by the car in front of me and I stopped for it. I knew it was a goner but I wasn't going to let crawl into the woods and take a day to die so I put him in a box and took him to a vet near by. I told them the story and they were nice enough to put the animal down and didn't charge me anything. I scheduled my cat for a checkup while I was there and she became my vet for several years.


Good luck.

[zookey]

Purplecandle..... I tip my hat to you.

Not many people would even stop to try to shoo the cat off the roadway (proven by the 4 cars in front of you) yet you stop, catch the cat, get injured and take it to the vet. You do the humane thing by having the cat relieved of it's misery.

I do worry that the bite could become very infected though.... a bite from an unknown cat is very dangerous. Have you seen a Dr. regarding the red swelling and pain??

[purplecandle]

I thought most vets or emergency vets would have some sort of program for thing like this. At least not make me pay a $95 exam fee when we know we are probably going to need to euthanize.

I am sure they had programs like that until too many bad pet owners tried to use a program like that instead of actually having to take care of their pets.

I do think something good came out of it all. My daughter has been so upset that I thought it was time to talk about ethics and ethical decision making. Basically knowing when a decision must be made even though it is not a pleasant one. Using our sense of what is right and what is wrong to make decisions and thinking of how a decision affects others and not just ourselves.

I think when she grows up, she will be better able to make such decisions on her own.

[purplecandle]

Purplecandle..... I tip my hat to you.

Not many people would even stop to try to shoo the cat off the roadway (proven by the 4 cars in front of you) yet you stop, catch the cat, get injured and take it to the vet. You do the humane thing by having the cat relieved of it's misery.

I do worry that the bite could become very infected though.... a bite from an unknown cat is very dangerous. Have you seen a Dr. regarding the red swelling and pain??

LOL, I have no more money for a doctor!! Most of the bites are ok, except for one really deep puncture, my hand is swollen and has a fever. I have some antibiotics for punctures/skin wounds (Last year I accidentally stabbed my leg with a meat thermometer, so I have some left over.) If it does not get any better by tomorrow I will go to the doctor

[J-P]

ditto on seeing a doctor for a cat bite. My mother was bitted by her own cat (hardly unknown) and got a serious infection.

It is admirable that you tried your best for the little guy. neuter and release programs are sponsored by some vets but not all. Too bad you chose one of the ones that isn't in the program.

Hope all goes well.

BTW.. where were you for the last 10 days?

[zookey]

I have some antibiotics for punctures/skin wounds (Last year I accidentally stabbed my leg with a meat thermometer, so I have some left over.) If it does not get any better by tomorrow I will go to the doctor

Ummmm...... okay. Stabbed yourself in the leg with a meat thermometer by accident? At least it was not on purpose.

Okay all kidding aside. I hope you don't end up with any kind of infection (serous or not). I was bitten by the neighbor's cat once, it was more of a scratch but was caused by teeth, and I spent a very long time on antibiotics and almost had to be treated for rabies because the cat went missing. It really was not the way I planned on spending my honeymoon. Thank goodness the cat was found along with his vet records so I didn't need the rabies treatment.

I wish you all the best!

[Pufferpunk]

I have been a cat groomer for 25 years. A cat bite can develop into a heart infection & can kill you. Don't fool with antibiotics either. You may need something a lot stronger. If it's hot, it's infected. If you wait until you get a red line going up your arm, you will be hospitalized & placed on IV antibiotics for at least 3 days. After being bit as many times as I have, I've actually developed an immunity to their bacteria. It's nothing to fool with though.

You did a great thing--that vet's an A$$!

[Flutter]

How do you have antibiotics left over? It's extremely important to take them all exactly as directed. Not doing so leads to bacterial resistance which is awful.

You did the right thing though and I'm sorry you were bitten, that sucks. I was bit by a cat due to a superior not doing their job. Thankfully it healed right up and there was no infection. How's your hand doing today?

[hadla]

I thought most vets or emergency vets would have some sort of program for thing like this. At least not make me pay a $95 exam fee when we know we are probably going to need to euthanize.

yeah when i took my tiel ricky in for her last appt. and i was sure they would recommend putting her to sleep, i still had to pay the $50 exam fee when all the vet did was took a look at her then put her in oxygen, then told me my options: about $400 to keep her alive for the day then extra for xrays and whatever else to figure out the problems. so i signed the euthanasia sheet and checked off that i wanted to be with her while they put her to sleep, instead the vet comes in with a cardboard box with her dead body inside. im still pissed off at them and want to bring dory to another vet, but they're the only bird vets around here. i figured since they put her to sleep, i could use the exam for her to give dory a quick check up but no, that would have been an extra $50.

[hadla]

He was an adult male, so probably his family put him out when he started spraying, instead of taking him to be neutered.

this also pisses me off, instead of stopping him from making more cats, they add to the damn problem... sorry for cursing and double posting. im just pissed off at people who dont spay and neuter their pets. and it doesnt even cost much to get dogs and cats spayed or neutered unlike other animals!

[purplecandle]

Too bad you chose one of the ones that isn't in the program.

I did not have a choice, I was in an area that I was unfamiliar with, the cops brought me there. I did not want the cat to suffer the drive to my regular emergency vet, nearly 45 minutes away.

BTW.. where were you for the last 10 days?I recently finished my BA degree. I did most of my work online, so now that school is over I am taking a much needed break and have begun spring cleaning and doing some redecorating. Also, my couponing is taking up time. But I still come back to see if there is an emergency, but lately you guys have been quick with those

I have some antibiotics for punctures/skin wounds (Last year I accidentally stabbed my leg with a meat thermometer, so I have some left over.) If it does not get any better by tomorrow I will go to the doctor

Ummmm...... okay. Stabbed yourself in the leg with a meat thermometer by accident? At least it was not on purpose.

Sorry you spent your honeymoon that way! Yes, I did stab myself accidentally with a meat thermometer! The kids took it out of the kitchen to play with it, I took it away from them and I put it on my floor where I was folding clothes. I got up to grab something and sat back down on it. It went into my calf muscle.

It is fine now. I would not have waited for the red line, I know how serious it is. I woke up on Monday and it was doing much better. I did have plans to go to the doc Monday morning, but canceled because it was not red anymore.

How do you have antibiotics left over? It's extremely important to take them all exactly as directed. I was prescribed them for another injury, but I did not take them. I was told to only take them if my injury got worse, which it didn't, so I still have the whole bottle, but you are right! Ultimately, I did not take them for the bite because the bite got better pretty quick.

You did the right thing though and I'm sorry you were bitten, that sucks. I was bit by a cat due to a superior not doing their job. Thankfully it healed right up and there was no infection. How's your hand doing today?It is fine know, still sore if it gets pressed, but no more fever or redness.

I thought most vets or emergency vets would have some sort of program for thing like this. At least not make me pay a $95 exam fee when we know we are probably going to need to euthanize.

so i signed the euthanasia sheet and checked off that i wanted to be with her while they put her to sleep, instead the vet comes in with a cardboard box with her dead body inside.DId you know that they charge you to be with the animal when it dies? I had to pay an extra 10 bucks!

He was an adult male, so probably his family put him out when he started spraying, instead of taking him to be neutered.

this also pisses me off, instead of stopping him from making more cats, they add to the damn problem... sorry for cursing and double posting. im just pissed off at people who dont spay and neuter their pets. and it doesnt even cost much to get dogs and cats spayed or neutered unlike other animals!

This is so common in my area. As soon as a male cat starts spraying, out they go! I have mostly black and white cats (males and females fixed) and about once a year someone will drop off an adult male black and white cat in my yard! I guess they figure I won't notice! It is almost always adult males, not females. Which means it probably has something to do with the spraying.

My cats can come inside, but they prefer to stay outside (even the new arrivals), so I have to get them fixed or they spray on my clean laundry I hang in my backyard! There is a new drop off right now that I can't catch that is doing that! I hang a blanket that smells like Gain, and get back cat pee!

[Pufferpunk]

DId you know that they charge you to be with the animal when it dies? I had to pay an extra 10 bucks!

Like I said, that vet's an A$$!!!

[hadla]

that is ridiculous! the vet i go to doesnt do that.

i would have wanted to get her cremated to bring her back home to louisiana and bury her near my other tiel that died, but that would have been like an extra $150!

the nicest vet i ever had was the one i brought my hamsters to in louisiana. we brought in a hamster that was already dead i think and they didnt charge us anything! another time we brought in a tiel that we bought from a bad place and they also didnt charge us anything for the visit or euthanasia.