It was seven years ago today that I almost lost my cat to an unknown incident.
We had taken a lovely snuggle nap together, and then I let him out. Around 5 or 6 pm I opened the door to call him for dinner and there he was sitting there. I thought “That’s odd, he usually cries to come in…”. He got up and tried to walk in the house, but he was wobbling and dragging his left leg behind him. It was just dangling there, and he was in shock. I took him to the Vet Emergency and they told me to put him to sleep if I couldn’t afford X-rays.
I pray I never have to go there again, anyway it happened on a Saturday and my Vet was closed until Monday. So, I told the ER to splint it and I’d take my chances waiting until Monday as I knew my Vet would work with me on paying. It’s a cat, a living being, you don’t kill any animal because of a broken leg, not even a horse, not in my book. I realize they didn’t know if they were setting it correctly, but I couldn’t have done any worse splinting it myself at home… Whatever…
He had a dislocated hip and a broken femur, and broke the tibia clean off. It took over $3,000.00 in reconstructive orthopedic surgery and nearly 9 months of recuperation, but the vet was able to save his leg.
He walks and jumps almost like nothing ever happened. He does get arthritic, and he has some kidney/liver issues I know I will need to deal with in the future, but I can not imagine looking back at the last seven years and not having him around, even if he does pee on the floor right next to the litter box.
Wow! What a story of survival. What a strong little guy! *skritch skritch*
It was HARROWING, I tell you. I can still recall it like it was yesterday, not 7 years ago.
I had to keep him in a CAGE. Can you believe that a CAGE. It sucked my soul out, but he was in a full-on leg cast from his hip down and had to be kept immobile. Yeah, that’s right – try keeping a cat immobile…
And then the fun of helping the poor boy in the litter box since he couldn’t stand. When you help someone stand in the litter box to poop/pee and then cover it up for them… you bond.
He says Thanks for the skritches, he likes that.
Awwww! Happy Happy Skippaversary! I am SO glad he has been around and loved his life with you for all these years.
Pooh on unhelpful soulless “emergency” vets.
I’ve had him since the day he was born, and his sister. They’re about 15 now, so he was only a kid when it happened. and he’s always RULED the house.
I recall my own vet saying, It’s going to be expensive, but let’s do this if you can, he’s so young, and still has so many good years ahead of him. I can’t recall how many hours he said the surgery took, but it was reconstructive with pins and clamps left inside since he broke the tibia clean off. I bet he’d set off the metal detector at the airport.
But I can not imagine if I had put him to sleep. I just couldn’t imagine it. I’d marry him if I could.
I’m just glad he had you there looking out for him.
I think he does more for me than I do for him. I would be lost without him.
I love his sister quite a bit, she’s my girl… but he and I are LOVERS. LOVERS.
I even had an ex tell me he was jealous of how much I loved up on the cat.
I love you even more for this GB.
Happy Skippaversary!!! 😀
by the way, I don’t know that I know your password here, so I couldn’t go to the private entry that you posted. 😦
OOPS! Check your yahoo IM for the password.
happy Skippiversary!!! what a story!
Nasty emergency vets.
Give him lotsa cuddles.
they’re our family. i’m constantly surprised at how many people don’t consider the furry ones worthy of medical attention we wouldn’t think twice about for humans. i almost got into it with my mom the other day (over Skype – it’s a good thing she’s all the way across the world). Their big, gorgeous bear of a dog is having issues and the vet said he’d just like to take x-rays just to make sure – and my mother said something to the effect that they just might put him to sleep so they don’t have to pay for the x-rays. i mean, seriously – what if the x-rays show something that’s not so serious and certainly not life-threatening – they’re just going to kill him? i almost had an apoplectic fit on the spot. of course, i should know by now that arguing with my mother rarely has the best result. grrrrr.
your kitty is super lucky. our animals are family. we treated Shitty Kitty like family before he left us, and we will be adopting another kittyfamilymember soon.
Yeah, some people place so little value on pet’s lives. for me, it’s all about quality of life. If their quality of life is so reduced that they can’t even get about, then it’s decision time. It’s not fair to have them in a degenerative state that is so bad that they cannot enjoy what little bit of life they have left. It’s always a tough choice too. Last kitteh we had, I couldn’t even talk when we knew what had to be done. I just cried and nodded my head a lot. Making me all leaky eyed right now just thinking about it. *sigh*