If you think your cat needs a vet it probably does

[kittieshasme]

I'm putting this in it's own thread rather than have it buried in Freya or Furraris' threads because I think it's an important message to get out.

Ok, confession time. I knew Freya and Furrari were having problems for several weeks before I finally took them to the vet. I have been unemployed since June 2007 and barely hanging on financially (my savings are gone). So I kept putting a trip to the vets off. With Freya I tried a change in diet to see if that would help her diarrhea and it seemed to help for a short while. With Furrari I knew he seemed to be drinking alot but I didn't really pay enough attention to the litterboxes. I have been crying and crying because 1. my babies have been suffering and 2. from shear guilt!

The point of this is to hopefully get people to realise that a trip to the vet for a check up of a seemingly small problem can prevent major problems and suffering (or even death of a beloved pet) down the road. If you think you can't afford a vet bill remember it's much usually much cheaper if a problem is caught early rather than allowed to become a full emergency.

It's ok if you want to flame me - you can't possibly say anything I haven't already said to myself over and over.

 

[sharky]

Flameing is not allowed on here

..

 

[mews2much]

No one can bad mouth you here.

 

[glitch]

Its okay hon, Ive been there too! If you read one of my threads (something wrong with Eek) In the pregnant cat & kittens forum you will hear my confession that I accidently poisoned my own cats! It get worse, 7 year ago when I got BooBoo he tried to get in the bathroom when I was shutting the door and I broke his leg in it on accident! It gets worse, my DH told me BooBoo was fine so I didn't take him to the vet! Now he has arthritis real bad!

I have one other story, but if you want to hear that one you'll have to pm me because I KNOW weather its allowed or not, someone would flame me, and I wouldn't blame them for it!!

The cold hard truth about things is vets are expensive, they overcharge and make it almost impossible to take you cat to the vet without signing away your first born child! I had Glitch for maybe 5 months, in that time I spent $2200 trying to save him!! It was worth every penny! I would have payed more if they could have saved him, but if it wouldn't of been for family, I would have NEVER been able to afford it!

Im glad they are at the vet now, I hope they will recover for you!! Dont be too hard on yourself though....

&

 

[rang_27]

I think we have all faced this problem. I have gone round and round with myself at differnt times. I have begun to call and ask for the Dr.s voice mail. My vet is good about returning calls. That way it saves me a trip and the money. I know the vets don't mind making the extra money, but I think why should they spend time with my cat if there is another very sick animal. Cats are very good at hiding their pain and it is sometimes hard to decide if they need to go. Even if you had all the money in the world, the first thing I would try for diarreha would to take food away for 12 hours & if that didn't work, I'd probably change food. So don't be so hard on yourself, hind sight is 20-20 and it can be difficult to know what to do in the moment.

 

[lmunsie]

ugggh this thread hits close to home. see all the recent cello threads.......just got him back hopefully for good $1200 later.......

 

[momofmany]

My hat is off to you. It's not always easy to admit you made a mistake but I think it's only bad when you don't learn from it. We've all been there and I'm proud that you've learned from this.

 

[kittieshasme]

Thank you, you all are being alot easier on me than I'm being on myself. Hopefully, tomorrow I'll be able to bring Freya home but we (the vet & I) are taking things one day at a time. Furrari may come home Saturday; again one day at a time.

 

[krazy kat2]

We have all been there, or at least most of us. I knew almost nothing about cats until I found this site. Fred was almost 7 years old before I had him neutered, because I did not know how good it was for him. Then it was only because he was spraying and it smelled so bad. Don't beat yourself up so badly, it was a mistake, and we all make them.