Rant: $170
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 11:17 pm
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!
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!
