Zoolady

Over 15 years ago, working in a trailer at the University, I looked out the window and saw a mama cat, proudly introducing her newborns to the world by parading them down the sidewalk between the trailers. She chose their home to be under a trailer, I had been feeding the ferals for a while, putting their food in a tin pie plate filled with water so the ants wouldn't eat their food. When it got cold a few weeks after the kittens arrived, I put towels under the trailer so they could have warmth. The babies grew bigger and stronger and were having adventures on their own, making their way in the world. Something happened to Puddy's foot and he was leaving tiny blood footprints all over. A co-worker managed to capture him and take him to the vet. After treatment, she couldn't have him so Scott and I stepped up and brought him home. He took to home life like he knew it was his destiny. He never clawed or destroyed anything, was impeccable with the litter box, was a complete gentleman and only played with his personal toys and scratching post. Several years ago we had an invasion of mice and he rose to the occasion. I can see it like it was yesterday. We're in the computer room and here he comes in the room, holding something in his mouth with a little pink tail sticking out and wiggling. He walked over to Scott, dropped it and said, "Let's play." Puddy also gave us a glimpse into the Godfather. I came home for lunch one day and in the hall was a mouse head. No body and no blood. We set traps at night and kept him in the bedroom. We knew they were gone when he quit looking under a cupboard. We found the entry point and sealed it. At dinner times he thought he was a dog and would get on the dining table and beg. After dinner was tv time and he would hang out on the back of the couch with us or on the arm of the couch beside me, watching tv. His favorite channel was Animal Planet. When our 22 year old cat passed, he missed her so we got a younger female he could boss around. She's now been here about five years and learned her manners from Puddy. He taught he what was acceptable and good manners. She, however, doesn't like to be close like he did. The groomer at the vet loved him too. He was a Hemingway with the extra toes and she delighted in seeing him. He loved hanging out on the screened porch and after hurricane Wilma took it away, he wasn't happy and began acting strange. We contacted an animal communicator, Joan Ranquet, and she told us that he was okay but he was worried about me being stressed. After that he was okay and eventually we put his porch back on and he spent many hours lounging in the sun. There was a bed and water out there for him but we always monitored to see if he wanted to come back in. Last week he jumped up to the orchids on a table which showed us he was still strong and able. Last October he had an undetermined mass in his belly and Monday he started going downhill. Not wanting to come off the porch one afternoon, not wanting treats for two afternoons before I went back to work, and not eating but just licking the moisure from the wet cat food and not eating the dry that's always left down for them. It was quite a shock finding out his heart was failing and five times the normal size. I posted about this in Off Topic. We gave him the final act of love Friday, July 9. In my head I know it was the right thing to do but it was so difficult with him hanging out on the couch in the vet's office and know that with the medicines his mouth felt better and he was eating. It was hard to grasp that his heart and kidneys were failing and his time was imminent no matter what we did. We didn't want him afraid of us chasing him to give him his minimum six pills and the consensus of opinion was that his time was close anyhow with his heart failing and kidneys shutting down. 15 years was too short and 500 years wouldn't have been enough. I see him everywhere and even reach to touch him at night and remember he's not here. I'm confident he's okay on the other side and know we will be together again. We miss him so much. Precious keeps calling out for him too and searching for him. He was a very special, extraordinary cat that was very, very loved.

Thank you for all your replies and input...it's really a lot to think about. Faith was treated for the dislocated toe and a torn ligament which probably drove the cost up. IF surgery was needed the estimate was $3,000 to $4,000. He also said that greyhounds run and dig their toes in and there was a good possibility that, having been injured once, the dislocation could happen again. If it did, he would recommend amputating the toenail and if it happened a third time, toe removal. I was talking with a woman while she was in the waiting room and her cocker spaniel was being treated for a shattered leg after being hit by a car. She opted for surgery rather than amputation and the dog was able to keep her leg after three surgeries and the bill was around $10,000. Sitting in the waiting room was quite an experience with the emergencies flowing in. Some were horrible. We don't do much more than rabies and do titers every once in a while which always come back perfect. Our boys are totally raw fed and the girls 50% raw so maybe Banfield would have a problem. The one good thing about the regular vet is he is a believer in raw feeding and not over vaccinating. We might try Banfiled once for something minor but not for anything serious. We our GT family.

Little background first: Faith dislocated a toe and after xrays at our regular vet, we were sent to Palm Beach Veterinary Services which is a 24 hour hospital. The regular vet doesn’t do orthopedics. Dr. Roy, an orthopedic specialist and track vet said she also had a torn ligament. He put a hard splint and wrapped it for six weeks and then a soft wrap for another two and she is fine. Almost $1,600 but having her fine, priceless. Halfway through this we found out she had hookworms. She had panacur and drontal and the other three had drontal “just in case.” $24.51 a pill. This week she will have a fecal to make sure they're gone. $37.50 Yesterday, we took Babe in for a heartworm blood test to renew her Iverhart Max. I was told a couple months ago that it was about $38. The bill for the test was $51.50 and $13.75 for a nail trim. Later we were in PetSmart and stopped at the Banfield area. The receptionist was very helpful in telling me who the vets were, where they were trained (one graduated from Ohio State). Their heartworm tests are $38 and fecals are $28. She told me of the surgeries that have been done there. It is not a full-time hospital however. I searched Banfield on GreyTalk and realize it’s a business and the quality of services can vary from place to place. It just bothers me so much to overpay. I know our vet is excellent but I feel robbed at those prices. Does anyone use Banfield or something similar for routine care and have a state-of-the-art vet available for serious things?

Thank you for all the support and ideas. Apparently the person that gave us the $2,000-$3,000 estimate was incorrect. The vet that looked at her this morning was one that treats the dogs at the track. He called Scott and said he wanted to try to put the toe back in place by giving her sleepy sleepy and then going for it. Surgery would not be needed unless there was a lot of ligament damage. He would then xray it again to make sure it was good. Apparently the expensive estimate was for high end dogs that race. They either make sure the toe is stabilized and do what they can to get the dog racing again. If it doesn't work, they amputate and put the dog up for adoption. They gave her the rimadyl and tramadol prescribed by the first vet and used IsoFlurane for her anesthetic. He said she had a torn ligament too. He billed for a "phalanges Closed Reduction/Splint and said it was a serious injury but he was hoping for the best. They rigged an IV bag with a tie for her to wear on the splint when she goes outside. She goes back May 8 for a bandage change. I'm thinking of staying home with her tomorrow to make sure she doesn't go for the bandage and maybe take her to work with me for a while although that might be a problem because we just started a new semester and I am seeing many students every day. She will be in the splint for 6 to 8 weeks. I don't know how my boss would appreciate that. So it was another $579.42 for a grand total (so far) of $1,162. Of course her being well and whole....priceless.

You know, that's a great question. I think we will be asking a lot of questions tomorrow. It just sounded a little strange today that the doctor mentioned plates. My thoughts was put her out, put it back where it belongs and bandage. Scott broke his toe which was at a right angle to his foot and the doctor told him this was going to hurt and put it back where it belonged without anything which hurt worse than the break but he was fine. Perhaps they call it surgery because of putting her under? We had a bird that needed a toe removed that had an overnight stay at the vets...$457. Another toe went bad and we went to the vet that takes care of Parrot Jungle. She lives out in Loxahatchee which was a long drive. She gave him s little gas for sleepy sleepy, took off the toe, medicated, wrapped and sent him home for $40. It's a gotcha.

Well, $582.58 to tell us the toe is dislocated. Now she needs surgery to correct it which requires an orthopedic specialist because our vet isn't qualified to do that type of surgery. Off we go to the 24-hour clinic in West Palm Beach to drop her off for evaluation first thing in the morning by the top ortho surgeon (great credentials). We took her disk with the xrays and the tramadol and rimadyl. Faith didn't eat this morning because we thought she might need surgery today so the hospital will feed her and medicate. She already had two 10mg/ml injections of torbugesic. Her foot and leg are all bandaged and you could tell she doesn't feel good. Crying and panting and drooling. The admitting doctor said they treat a lot of greyhounds from the track so that made us feel a little better. Hopefully they can get it back where it needs to be without having to amputate. She said they may have to put in some plates but we're taking it one step at a time. Oh, the estimate? $2,000 to $3,000. Anybody have any ideas where the money tree is for working people?

It looked worse this morning and she was favoring it a little more. Our vet works Sunday but they're a little understaffed today so we had to drop her off and they will call us.

Yesterday evening I noticed Faith favoring her back right foot. There was a little scrape and it looked like the side of her foot was a little swollen and the toe turned. I thought it was broken but she was using it inside the house. Today it looked the same but maybe a little more swollen. Still using it but when she started to run she picked it up and was hopping instead of running. We called someone we know that's a vet and was told there's not much you can do for a broken toe. She recommended half an aspirin, one time only, soak in epsom salts and ice it. If it's not better by Monday to try some anti-inflammatory medicine. Is there anything else our GT family can recommend? She's acting fine, eating and not panting.

I am so sorry too. It's always too soon.

Prayers from all of us here too.

Ben's heartbeat was irregular two weekends ago so we brought him to the vet. Ben had been very lethargic the past few weeks, doesn't want to get out of bed in the morning and showing no interest in the couch at night which really wigged me out. He is always the first one to want to be on the couch with us to watch tv at night. The vet talked about tests that could be done but also said that in "stamina" dogs, it could be normal. He first wanted to do bloodwork which came back fine except for thyroid. He wasn't too concerned about the heart rate. I don't know what much of this means but the print out they faxed says, "T4 (which I think is thyroid) Reference Range 1.0 - 4.0" and his came back <0.2 ug/dL L". "Verified by repeat analysis." The vet had us bring him back for another blood draw that was sent last week to a university, I think in Michigan. Ben also has hookworms so we checked the other two and they were negative. How does that happen? They're all on the same heartworm/worm medicine, we haven't been to the dog park in months, and when they go for walks we keep them on the road, not in grass. We're very careful nobody spits our their monthly dosage. Any ideas?

We will definitely make an appointment with the vet Monday. Thanks for all your input and information. Barbara

His gums are very pink and his breathing seems to be normal. I think a trip to the vets is in order too. Thank you, that was very helpful. No coughing. Is Ben coughing at all?

Ben, our eight year old, has been very laid back lately. He used to be one of the first ones up in the morning to go out when Scott gets up. This week he's been staying asleep and waiting until I get up to go out. This evening he was laying on the couch in a roach position and I was rubbing his chest. When I stopped, I put my hand on his left side and left it there while watching tv. I soon noticed three thumps and a pause for two, repeated, then two thumps and a pause for one. No steady heartbeat. I called Scott and he confirmed. We went into the office to our computers (me to post this thread) and Ben followed. He had gone from a roach position and walked about 20 feet from the couch to the room and his heart was racing with very fast thumps. Any ideas of what it could be? (edited to add question mark)

Praying for you and Gracie.

Prayers for an uneventful surgery and a speedy recovery.

I am so sorry. Crying tears with you. He will be missed by many.

Prayers being sent to Cora and her family.

Prayers and wishes for uneventful surgery, quick healing and everything clear....forever.

He's beautiful. Maybe all the meds are making him a little icky too. Prayers for a good diagnosis and speedy recovery.

Wishing a speedy recovery and that she's home soon.

Prayers and hugs

Sending good thoughts and wishes for it being nothing too.

We got a mailer from the vet for $10 off a six month supply. It's a chewable versus a topical that can get "in contact with furniture, clothes, etc." Our initial reaction was no because their body has to process a medicine. On the other hand, their body probably absorbs the topical. We've been using Frontline Plus with no problems. Thoughts please.