Tuesday, December 11, 2012

And That Cat.

Lucky Kuzzeefowndus



We had a little cat problem over the weekend.  Lucky was out of sorts and letting us (me) know it.  In all the wrong ways.  If you're a cat person you know how they are.  And what those wrong ways may be.

It started with short bursts of attack mode -- on the dog.  The dog isn't much bigger than the cat and now that I am looking at the two of them together, I'd say Lucky is taller than the dog.  The poor dog spent most of Friday, Saturday, Sunday and yesterday in hiding.  He'd be under the bed, the sofa, a chair or the table.  If he happened to be out in the open when the cat began to saunter his way the dog hastily made his way to cover.

Lucky was bound and determined to fill each day with some form of angst.  I caught him attempting to tinkle on and in spaces that are not tinkle-safe.  For him mostly, for a cat who tinkles outside the box pays handsomely.  (okay seriously, what can you do other than mutter and clean it up? But you get my drift) He even saved a hairball or two for me.   I feel blessed I tell you.  Blessed.

He loves cellophane wrap and since I had a number of gift baskets wrapped and ready to go ... yep, he thought it was a good idea to chew the edges of the wrap.  At 2:00 am, 3:00 am, whenever.  Do you know how loud cellophane wrap is when wrinkled and chewed in the quiet of the night?

I began to think his behavior was related to a change in his location within the house. By Sunday I was sure he hated me for moving his UGG box to the office counter top from the kitchen counter top.  But I did explain it was only for a few days and I made sure he had extra treats.

You guessed it.  He didn't care.

Home from work yesterday, not feeling well, I had time to pay a little closer attention to his meanderings and malingering ways.  I began to notice that he was squatting, attempting to tinkle in corners, on the sofa (that didn't go over well) and ha!ha!ha! in the dogs bed.  Each time I followed behind him with a paper towel.  Hmm.  No tinkle. Well, not really.  Less than a dime-sized drop and some of them were pink.

Uh-oh!  A visit to the vet is in order.  

This morning I made an appointment and since I needed to get into work I asked Hubby Dearest to do the honors.  Which he did. Quite willingly.  He called me after the appointment to tell me that the veterinarian gave the cat two vaccinations that were due and talked about x-rays, which he declined, and urinalysis, which the doctor didn't do.

"She said he has a small bladder but they could put a needle in and get some urine."
Well, did she?
"No. And I don't know why.  We talked about changing his food back to what he had before."
And?
"Urinalysis.  But she didn't do it but I don't know why."
You don't know why?
Any medicine?
"No.  Nothing."
"Just change his diet back."

Argh.

So, how's the cat now?
"Still trying to pee."
Ah.  I see.  I will take care of this when I get home later.  Thanks for taking him for me.  And for picking up the new food.
"No problem"

Home from work I pick up the phone to call the vet's office to see what can be done about Lucky and his misery.  He is obviously miserable.  Can't settle, can't eat, can't pee.

Ring, Ring.
Attitude answering. How may I help you?

No exactly what I was expecting.  I was simply going to ask if I could bring the cat back over to get the urinalysis done when Miss Attitude started sniping at me, "He refused all offered treatments!"  Dr. O offered x-rays and urinalysis and he refused them"

Me:  Okay.  (taking a calming breath) I am not going to get into a pissing contest with you.  I have been a client of Dr. Wendy's for many years.  So many years, in fact, you weren't even born.  So. When can I bring the cat back over to be seen?  Because he is sick and I sent him there to be treated and all he got were two vaccinations from Dr. O that could have waited until he was feeling better.

I wanted the cat to be seen and treated and all I've gotten is your attitude and a sick cat returned to me.  I want him better.

After some back and forth it was agreed that I would drop the cat off and pick him up before they closed tonight.  They would x-ray him (yeah, yeah) and do urinalysis (provided he had any urine) and they would treat him with something.

I'm pretty sure they would treat him with anything just to shut me up.  Whatever.

An hour after drop off, a call from Dr. O came through.  She had given the cat some pain med, some anti inflammatory med, gotten his 'radiographs' which showed no stones or blockage and she was going to put him on fluids because he seemed dehydrated and had no urine to test.  Maybe he'd have some after he had some fluids.

Yeah.  And maybe he wouldn't.  Which would mean another trip back to the vet's tomorrow.  *sigh*

I arrived to pick him up before closing and Dr. I came out to see me.  There are three docs in this office and I prefer only one.  But a vet is a vet when your pet needs one.  She explained that they were able to get a wee bit of urine from Lucky and they were sending it off to the lab.  Results will be in in the morning and they will call me if he needs medication for a UTI.  In the meanwhile, Lucky and I can go home and wait for their call. Try to watch what he eats and drinks and if he isn't doing either of those things you need to get right back to us.

So, here we sit ten hours later. Waiting.  Me.  And that cat.



5 comments:

Jon said...

As someone who has a cat for a roommate, I can fully empathize with your plight. Hopefully Lucky's malady isn't serious and he'll be back to normal soon.
(are cats ever really "normal"??).

Donna. W said...

You need a different vet! The prices they charge for their services, they should be HAPPY to do whatever it takes to fix the problem. They will end up with hundreds of dollars: What's not for them to like about that?

Adirondackcountrygal said...

Wow, that vet person that answers the phone needs an attitude adjustment. I wonder how much they got from you for those vet visits!

ADB said...

A cat that can't pee is a sick cat. Hope they can put Lucky right soon - pity about the attitude.

MyMaracas said...

Just stopping by to visit. I see you haven't posted in a while - I hope the cat's Ok?