DELVING BETWEEN THE TOES OF LIFE....I AM TOEJAM


2009-02-21 - 9:42 a.m.

I�ve been kind of freaking out about veterinary care lately. Eric (and the rest of his office) just received a 14% pay reduction in order to cut costs and next week more layoffs are expected. Since his is the only substantial and regular income we have, this is scary. Especially since this week I have to pay for two very expensive tests for my Bubba in hopes that he is finally diagnosed with something that we can treat. Oscar, with his diabetes and mouth ulcers, is finally stabilized and even though his ailments are severe I can manage to treat him easily and without a thousand trips to the vet. So if Eric did lose his job I wouldn�t worry too much about Oscar. But Bubba has had this cough thing since September and it is yet to be resolved. It could be many things�thyroid issues, heart issues, asthma, heartworm�I think the tests I am having this week will rule out or diagnose all of these things so that will be a relief. I am hoping this all turns out to be just allergies but I have to know, you know. I can�t just let him cough and think to myself every time he does that he�s going to have a heart attack or that a heartworm is dying in his lungs and he�s going to die instantly. So I have all this Bubba drama going on and then my cat, Smitten, starts to act weird. His fur looks like shit and that's his only real symptom though last week he did vomit several times. But fur looking like shit is a big deal. It means something is wrong. When Oscar�s fur looked like shit he had undiagnosed diabetes. I�ve already tested Smitten�s glucose and it�s fine so who knows what is wrong with him. I just know something must be. But I couldn�t really afford to take him to the vet with such a vague, instinctual sort of thing because they can�t even diagnose my cat, who has obvious symptoms, with anything. The idea of dropping $150 knowing that the vet will say they don�t know what is wrong with him and here, give him some antibiotic just in case, is not appealing to me right now when I�m being uber frugal about everything including how many black olives I put on my salad. Anyway! I finally caught a break! Yesterday when I got home there was an e-mail from the woman who petsits for me. She was telling all her clients that the emergency vet here in my town is trying to expand its services to include regular veterinary care and so in order to attract clients they are offering FREE exams this weekend! FREE! I immediately called and made an appointment for Smitten. FREE! I�ll have to pay for the antibiotics they are sure to send home with him but otherwise it is FREE!!! FREE!

In other veterinary news�.I had to go to that awful, evil vet I had taken Bubba to a couple times last September when he first started coughing. The vet who had very coldly announced that I needed to have that poor stray cat euthanized last October. And then charged me $200. I had to go there last week to get the x-rays they have from Bubba so the wonderful vet I now take him to can compare some things with the recent x-rays. Anyway, on their door there is a big sign that announces that they will not take any abandoned or stray animals and animal control will immediately be called to take any such animal away. Which disgusts me. I understand that vets cannot possibly care for every abandoned or stray animal and that yes, they are going to have to euthanize way more of those animals than they are going to be able to care for. But to put that sign on your front door is just cold and to me, unethical for a vet. If I were a vet and felt the need to put any such note on my door it would be more along the lines of�hey, we are also at capacity here and cannot provide adequate care for abandoned or stray animals�and then provide other options for people. I hate that vet.

So that�s all. I am just sitting here, waiting for the snow we were promised. It looks like it wants to snow but it still hasn�t.



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