Oh Ya

I forgot to mention that this Vet I phoned told me I could drop him off at the clinic and she'd 'get to him' when she could, as she had other appointments. 

This cat is having serious issues breathing, very possibly life threatening and she will 'get to it!' I would have very serious issues with going to this vet for any reason.

I will post as things happen for this colony cat.

Catspaw

DILEMMA

I have a very sick colony cat. He was ill for about three days before we noticed and gave him some penicillin as a precaution; just yesterday he started having trouble breathing and this morning, a lot of trouble breathing. 

Having asthma myself and living on a very humid island, I know just how difficult and serious not being able to breathe is and this poor little one is going through that right now. Because of his illness he hasn't been eating so he's quite weak and that condition is not helping the situation. His breathing is so labored he has trouble eating and can't even meow. Laying down causes more difficulty breathing so he tries to sit up but he's weak from not having eaten for the last three days. I have kept him in; he's very frightened, sensing that he is sick he doesn't want to be alone.


I'm guessing most people would simply hope for the best and put him outside; maybe he'll improve. I live on someone else's cat colony and this animal is not my responsibility. I know the people will not be interested in paying a exorbitant vet fee... I did phone a nearby vet, she was polite enough... She could come out immediately for $150!!!  Or I could take him in for a $48 initial visit fee and pay for whatever x-rays and meds he will need. Yes, she was kind indeed - I could talk to the colony's owners and see if they'd pay for all this. 


What do you think?  Think they'd go for it?


I have phoned Cat Action and I'm waiting to hear from them. Its not yet 8 am on a Saturday so I hope to hear something very soon. 


My issue with Vets is the fact that although there are some who are willing to work with Community Animal Care Society's like Cat Action, there are so many others who seem to be Vets solely for the purpose of making money!  Honestly, with the fees they charge and the claims they make that the treatments, equipment and meds are just SOOO expensive that they have no choice but to charge you your most vital body parts for basic medical care for your pet or other animals in extreme need, can't they look past the dollar $ sign just long enough to help an animal in distress that could lose its life to their greed!!!  This person I talked with at the Vet Clinic asked after the cats' symptoms and quoted a price list to me! 


Yes, well I understand that they are in business and have to make a living like everyone else and that nothing is cheap or free, but does that negate every bit of our sense of humanity to such an extent that we make a conscious 'choice' to only care if we are paid for it?  What kind of humanity is that?  Would you do the same if a sick child were brought to you?  So why, then, is an animals' life always worth so much less than a humans?  We, supposedly being the questionable 'higher' species, doesn't that make us even more responsible for the care of those who have no voice at all?  


What would you do in a situation like this? 


Catspaw

Best Way to Adopt Your Next Pet

Considering pet adoption, I take my hat off to you! There are a few insights of note for you to reflect on while you are choosing both the place to adopt from and the pet you want to accept into your home.

Depending where you go to make your selection of a new cat, dog or bird some places start you off with a meet and greet program where you literally meet different animals and interact with them at the store, shelter or facility. The staff helps you decide using an application for adoption which includes a section that takes into account your lifestyle, current residence and experience with pets. Through this medium, they assist you in finding the best fit for you or you and your family. Understandably, they want 'forever' homes for the animals they allow to go to different people.

These new pets are either already spayed and neutered, including being given their shots or you can request it if the surgery has not already been preformed. Check with each place you visit as to their fees as they can range from $50 to $150; usually the cost is included on the animals paperwork. Its a good idea to phone ahead and get some information so you can choose which ones to pay a call to.

Inquire if the animal you are considering is sponsored through a program they offer like Furry Friends, it may be that the adoption fee has been pre-paid. The adoption of two pets can net you a discount for some 'bonded' pairs that the facility or store does not want to separate. Some pairs of animals are designated as bonded because they have already lived much of their lives together and therefore, must be adopted together at a special discount.

Ask also about what medical services are included in the adoption fee. Usually the spay/neuter is done prior to being taken by the new owner(s) but it might also include microchip registration, a preliminary vet check, vaccinations – some places provide at least one booster shot, a DA2PP for dogs and an RCP for cats. Request information about rabies vaccine and if they perform this or if you need your vet to administer it under your name. Other items that may be included are internal parasite treatment, a heartworm test for dogs at six months of age and FeLV/FIV tests for cats, flea medications.

A complete medial history of your new found friend with an itemized list of the regimen they have had is yours to take to your vet for a post adoptive exam and some shelters may provide a 30 day gift of insurance as well. Not a bad deal for them and for you, as the new master or mistress of a healthy animal and a happier home.

Catspaw

Bereavement and Loss

It was a warm day in early October of 2010 when we prepared to set out on our cross Canada road trip to Prince Edward Island, where we were to live with Merrill’s ninety something mother. I had been packing for a month when we finally got everything we were taking crammed in. We said our goodbye’s to our friends and loaded the two cat cages in my van. 

We set out from Penhold, Alberta this fine, sunny morning with two overloaded vehicles and an almost bursting trailer with a handmade box hitched to Merrill’s van. The three noisy and complaining cats; Boo, Molly and Sassy, were none too pleased to be locked inside their carriers; Molly and Sassy were small enough to share. Actually it started out ok but then Boo decided he did want to play road trip anymore he started with a yowly complaint which got his companions doing the same. Have you ever been cooped up with three caterwauling, wailing cats that just want to go back home?  For a week no less! 

We stopped in Hannah, Alberta where little Molly got away on us and we had to gain the assistance of a kind gentlemen in a local lumber yard to use her leash to pull her out from under a huge lumber pile that look as though it could have collapsed on her, otherwise she would have become a permanent resident of that little town!  The whole scary scene was not lost on Sassy or Boo and after that, all three of them balked at the very notion of leaving the sanctity of their carriers; for the rest of the six days we were on the road they had to pulled out just to clean their confines. 

It was a blessing that the rest of the trip was largely and in seven days, we arrived. It was like another planet to them as they cautiously crept out of the carriers and into the room we were to call our own; they didn’t know what to make of the change. 

During the next two years they learned where home was when they were outside and usually stayed close other than investigating the only neighbor we had who lived across the road from us in large home with its expansive yard or the massive field behind the house where the owners grew potatoes. Sometimes I’d see them out in the small cemetery next to the house, catching mice. I could always call them in and when they hesitated, a shake of their treat bag never failed. They got used to being outside again and I never had any real problem with getting them in but lately Merrill’s mother was getting very forgetful and letting Boo out at night. Usually all my cats were indoors before the sun went down but I was working nights and Merrill usually got home late. He had absolutely refused to come in when called. 

The phone was for me that morning. Through a fog the neighbor was telling me she saw a black cat that she thought was dead just outside her yard… this sent me flying out the door and running across the road. It was Boo. 

My baby Boo and his brother Greymalk; I had found them both one winter in a freezing barn on a farm we were living on in Alberta. The mother was skin and bones and all her other kittens had died, their little wasted bodies strewn around the snow crusted yard. A visitor to the farm took the mother cat to a cattle and horse auction where she apparently found a home and did well. Her two tiny kittens, one completely grey with a little white mark on his head; the other black with a little white under his chin, were left screaming in the barn. The tiny black kitten, whose eyes were sealed shut from neglect, came screaming towards any source of noise hoping to find his mother and survival. That day he found me. 

I bundled them up and took them home, nursed them back to health and they became our first pets in Alberta. Some years before our move to the island and before Sassy’s time I lost Greymalk, now I had lost Boo as well. There was little to console me. Boo was a very special animal and I missed him dearly. It turned out that Sassy had a surprise in store for us that would honor her friend and companion Boo and help heal the wounds of losing him.

Catspaw