boy vets are expensive

well last night was hard, I had put the kids to bed, was cleaning up around the house, as I was doing dishes I turned around to see my cat sitting there with a big red blob on her chest, I figured she had been biting at herself (I thought perhaps a tick??)

anyway I rolled her over to examine her chest and she had a huge open wound there was a twig in the wound but not stuck in her I took it off and thought that she was biting at herself to remove this twig. NOPE... the vet figures she got herself caught on a fence and tore herself open, which now makes sense.

I was home alone with the kids my husband wasn't home until after 1am from work. I emailed and explained what I thought had happened to her. When he came home he was in shock at the size of the wound and said she could not have caused that damage by biting herself, he was anxious to get her to a vet but the emergency vet wanted $198 just to walk thru the door. And well unfortunetly there was no way we could afford that before we even knew the cost of treatment.

We opted to put gauze on her until morning when we would take her to the vet. She did not move from the couch all night, hubby and I did not get any sleep worrying about her.

Anyways the vet put her under, cleaned her up and stitched up the wound. She also had a growth in her mouth we had removed since she was going to be under anyways so we killed 2 birds with one stone.

We also had her tested for diabetes which so far she does not have. I picked her up at 5pm and she was still very glossy eyed and disoriented. She is doing better she just had a little to eat, what an expensive day, but she is well worth it, she's been with us since hubby and I got together 10yrs ago. What an ordeal on my 2 days off!

Smurry, what an ordeal both for kitty and you!! I hope she's up and feeling better soon. You'll likely take longer to recover than she will. They may have four legs and fur, but they're still our babies. We just don't realize how attached we are until something like this happens. Although it sure does make a mess of days off, better that then when you're at work and helpless to do much.

Hope all is well and you're breathing easier soon.

Did you say $198 to walk in the door at the emerg. vet??

rottnmom wrote:

Did you say $198 to walk in the door at the emerg. vet??

Yes just to walk thru the door that did not include treatment.

She is doing a little better, she's hungry and just sitting by her water dish. I was only able to give her 1/2 of what I normally give her for tonight which obviously isn't enough because she won't leave and come sit in the living room. I also got a shallower litter box so it's easier for her to get into and I'll leave it upstairs for her so that she hopefully won't attempt the stairs tonight.

Here's a picture, the wound is much worse then it looks in the picture, the picture does not show all the stitches, it was quite a big wound and her skin is folded because she is so big.

OMG!! That is beyond nasty!! Are those gashes on her legs too?

Could it have been a run in with a car? or a car fan?

Her legs were fine, I think that is from the IV and they gave her an injection of antibiotics, pretty sure it was the chainlink between us and the neighbors as she does go over there sometimes to sit on the neighbors porch. The fence does not go the full length of the house, so I can imagine there is probably some fencing sticking out at the end of it.

Ouch!! Poor girlie, she's pretty sad looking. Hopefully a couple of days will see her back to her normal self and healing well.

Oh My, hope she gets better, that does look nasty. Have you a cone to make sure she can't lick the wound.

Aww that is sad, poor baby! This is why I get so paranoid letting my cat out but he freaks if we lock him inside. He would much rather be outside catching whatever he can find.

I hope your girl recovers soon!! She looks so sad in that picture.

Thanks everyone, she was still groggy when I took the picture, it took her a LONG time to come to after she woke up, even when I brought her home she was very glossy eyed and out of it. She does look sad but she still has the energy to purr as soon as I touch her.

No I don't have a cone but I don't think she can even reach the wound to lick it, she hasn't once since she came home but she also had a growth removed from her mouth so I'm sure that is another reason why she hasn't tried to lick it.

I hope she heals quickly. I won't be letting her out anymore, she hardly went out to begin with and usually when she went out she just sat on the path in front of our house eating grass, she isn't a wonderer but she won't be going out anymore after this.

It's hard to see her so quiet and sad. Can't wait till she's back to her usual self. I was surprised they didn't put in disolvable stitches, I have to take her back in 10-14 days to have the stitches out. Hopefully that isn't another hefty bill!

Those emergency vet clinics should be ashamed of themselves I'm lucky my clinic is open 24/7 and is just one house away.

Well my cat is healing nicely, her stitches come out on Wednesday. I hope they don't charge more money to have the stitches removed? Do vets usually include this in the price? I sure as hell hope so. I didn't ask when I called, I should have but I was scared to know the answer lol. Guess I'll find out on Wednesday.


My neighbor has put up a wooden fence at the end of her chainlink fence so that should solve that problem although I do not plan on letting the cat out anymore anyway. Maybe when we move and have a fenced in backyard she can be outside when we are out with the kids but that is about it.

1 more year here then we are moving YAY!! can't wait. I miss having a backyard


Hope all is well with everyone!!

Smurry, look on Kijiji in your area, for anyone selling a dog harness. One that would fit your cat and has some padding to it, so that it's not uncomfortable for your cat. This way when you're outside, she can go out with you and not get in harms way. Even though your neighbour modified their fence, there are lots of other dangers out there that could cost you more in vet bills for kitty.

I believe stitch removal is included in price, at least it was years ago.

you're right Jamn it was included in the price. She had them out today and she looks great, healing nicely!

I have to laugh at her, you'd think after the last visit she'd be totally against going into the crate.....nope, I brought the crate upstairs called her over told her to go inside and she "tottled" on in it without hesitation, most cats would run at the site of the crate. Gotta love her. She's such a laid back, extremely affectionate cat that acts like a dog.

Glad to hear she's okay!