Sophie does not get enough coverage in this blog.
She came to me half-wild nine years ago. I was looking for a friend's lost cat but a neighbor showed up at my door with a very fluffy, freaked-out dilute long-haired calico. She's beautiful.
It took a long time to calm her down, but I persisted. I started out by talking to her. Then I pet her and played with her. And now, I can pick her up and tell her 'es she is a booful girl while she purrs and purrs. Sometimes, she'll clamber onto my lap. Most mornings during the coffee ritual, she's on the right arm of the sofa, basking in the lamp light. Sometimes, she'll reach out a feathery paw and put it on my hand.
She is so furry that she even has long, silky fur growing between the pads of her paws.
Amazingly, her fur is more like hair and never gets matted. She might get a little knot of fur in the mane around her neck, but I can easily pluck it off or it just falls off.
Sophie has been having trouble with her mouth and teeth for longer than I care to admit.
I feel guilty as hell about it because I know it's going to be God-awful expensive.
To prove that, I called up the veterinary medical group where Dr. Knightly practices.
"Well," said the receptionist, "We haven't seen her in nine years." Guilty, guilty, oh so guilty. "She needs vaccinations and a senior blood panel. The doctor has to examine her and then he can give you an estimate. Ball park is six to twenty-six."
Six to twenty-six what? Rupees? Pesos? Bhats?
No. Six HUNDRED to TWO THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS.
The last time I took a cat for dental work, the vet who did the work actually performed two root canals. On a cat! Look, you know I love them. But come on. A cat, no matter how much I love him, is still a cat. (Except for Boris and Dylan. And they are special.) I could go to freakin' Paris and have myself quite a fine old time on $2,600.
Once, I knew a woman who was originally from Tennessee and lived not far from me here in Jersey. She would drive her three cats, who were veteran travelers anyway, down to Tennessee to have their medical care done. She was there for other things, of course. She was taking care of her parents and had some financial dealings in the area. But the service there cost about 1/4 of what it costs here.
I called a vet's office closer to me. It didn't give me a lot of hope. They still want to do the vaccinations (of course), the blood panel and office exam. And then they'll give me an estimate. Look, I'm not asking for anything fancy. Why does she even need x-rays? Just sedate her, pull out the bad teeth which are pretty damn obvious, and clean and polish what's left. How hard is that? Why does it cost so much?
Why am I thinking of driving to Delaware to get this done?
Insert here swear word of your choice.
1 comment:
Tell the vet you want to skip the blood panel. That's just a cover-your-ass kind of thing for the vet. You might have to sign some paperwork saying you agreed to skip it. Vets do sedations in emergency situations all the time without doing a blood panel first.
Vaccines? Yes, they need to be done.
Money-wise, yeah, I just got taken to the cleaners with Soda's illness, but in an emergency, I tend to say yes. The teeth aren't an emergency, so you can work out a deal. Hopefully. You might also try to find a practice who does large-animal work - they can be a little cheaper with the smaller pets.
Sorry, didn't mean to write a book here. Once you mention a cat ... shit, I turn into crazy cat lady. Sorry.
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