Sorry your cat is sick. I remember being worried about what would happen between my sister and my dad if her dog got sick and needed something expensive. Fortunately, it died suddenly. It was kind of a stupid dog.
$500 is not so extraordinary for a beloved pet. Hope kitty is doing better soon.
Ditto on $500 being minimal in the scheme of things when it means you should have more time with Big Kitty. I'm glad you have vets you trust, even if they are on the wrong side of the tracks.
Reading this with the Dictionary of Numbers plugin makes it seem like such a not-a-big-amount. (Which is accurate for rich Westerners like us.)
Heebie:
I think of myself as someone who will not go to heroics for an elderly pet. But I am actually someone who just agreed to pay $500 [≈ Basic iPad, 2011] for parathyroid surgery for a 15 year old cat.Di:
$500 [≈ Basic iPad, 2011] is not so extraordinary for a beloved pet.Thorn:
Ditto on $500 [≈ Basic iPad, 2011] being minimal in the scheme of things when it means you should have more time with Big Kitty.
If I have a cheap Android tablet, can I spend less on pet healthcare?
My company is considering giving us all iPads, and I wouldn't be very happy if they gave me an aged cat instead.
If I had a pet, which a certain member of the household is now advocating.
If they do, though, I'll send it to Moby in exchange for an iPad.
I don't like a cat would work. We're being lobbied for a wolf and, if that isn't possible, a dog that looks like a wolf.
6: doesn't it depend what apps the cat comes with?
I'm thinking of getting him a pug and bringing it home tonight. I like to keep the rest of the family off balance.
10: Clearly you've never had a cat. Cats don't have apps. You are an app that the cat uses.
You ever see a cat return a stick? "Hey, man. You threw the stick, you go and get it yourself. I'm busy. If you wanted the stick so bad, why'd you throw it away in the first place?"
If I get a cat, I'd like to be Minecraft.
The company wouldn't even give you an aged cat, they'd give you a voucher for parathyroid surgery for an aged cat, should you happen to know one that needs such surgery.
This plan sounds vaguely similar to Republican health care proposals.
6: But would you trade in an aged cat that your family had loved for years, to get an iPad?
Hypothetically, would one be able to somehow conceal that such a trade was made?
It's known as cat laundering, Mobes. Any windowless bar in the Mon Valley should be able to help you out.
There's none close to me now that the Coop is closed.
Even if the transaction goes wrong, at least you end up with a somewhat better smelling elderly cat. Irate, but fluffy.
Somebody needs to reopen the Coop as a gastropub or at least as a bar that isn't filled with smoke and serving mostly IC Light to people watching the TV.
They could call it the Coöp.
Either that, or repurpose it as a community organization for raising humanely treated chickens. They could call it the Coop Coöp.
I see that nobody has paid property taxes on the place since 2010 and that the owner of the building lives just a few blocks from me. Maybe I'll see if he'll rent it to me cheap.
My cat died last month. I have a similar self-image in re heroics, but a combination of factors (to wit: we were away and he was being cat-sitted, he had sudden kidney failure and we were managing the situation over the phone) led to a >$1,000 bill for an emergency room visit that essentially just concluded that further interventions were useless. In contrast, a $500 surgery to guarantee quality-of-life for an otherwise-healthy cat seems totally sane.
While in a different smoke-filled bar, I was talking to a guy who wants to open a laundromat with beer. The Coop building might be a good place for that. The building is already used to selling beer and there's no laundromat nearby.
But would you trade in an aged cat that your family had loved for years, to get an iPad?
No. But I'd trade in an aged cat that LB's family had loved for years to get an iPad.
The cat is sort of in the category of "extremely elderly" in my mind, where I'm repaying him for years of loyal cat-ness (of which he was supreme), but it means that we're suddenly giving him all sorts of daily medicine for his arthritis, and canned cat food to help it go down, and filtered water to help reduce the risk of urinary tract infections, and special food to avoid the kidney shutdown that killed his brother. Having to board him instead of having a teenager feed him when we're out of town*. Quality of life is there, aside from the arthritis, but he's high maintenance.
* Let's play a funsies game: how much does it cost to board a cat in an expensive city?
I was talking to a guy who wants to open a laundromat with beer
"These shirts smell nice but they're kind of sticky."
28: I have said this before, but we have yet to find someone (non-teenager coming to the home or boarding place) that will take a dog for the same or less than the state pays for a foster child's care per day, and lots of states pay even worse than ours. We are not in an expensive city.
but it means that we're suddenly giving him all sorts of daily medicine for his arthritis
If he can answer questions about knee pain, I may know of a study you can get him in.
I have a very hard time dealing with the potential costs of vet care. It seems the standard for being a good pet owner is now $8000 joint replacement surgeries. So I think our thankfully very healthy cat will probably be our last pet.
Boarding a cat in a cheap, small town: $18.95/day.
I would like to think I wouldn't go to heroics for a pet, but I am not sure that's true. I am very sure that I couldn't be the bad person in the household that stands between our dog and anything that would save him. So I am very glad my softhearted boyfriend is paying for pet health insurance.
30: How much does the state give for foster care?
Am I a bad person if 28 immediately made me think of Kobe Bryant?
Maybe I should open a laundromat that sells beer and boards cats.
Quick search shows a similar "kitty condo" rate here, ~$20/day.
36: In these parts, $20-$25 for a child who doesn't have significant medical needs. I believe across the river it would be slightly less than what you pay to board a cat. (Our cats go to a place where we can board them both for $25 since they share a crate, so I'm not sure what the regular rate is.)
36: Seems like the actual answer is anywhere between $8 (Nebraska) and $30 (DC), though there's a lot of variety.
Nebraska is known for corn, college football, and cheap pet boarding.
The thing that always bugs me about the heroics, is less the money (people can spend money on what they want so long as its not evil), but that pets can't understand the point of heroics. People can understand going through pain for the hope of living longer, but pets don't. Lots of interventions seem to me to just be cruel. It's not ok to hurt a pet just to make the owner feel better.
HG's case sounds like the intervention is not so bad on the pain scale, so I'm not going to judge.
Want, that's for children. Holy shit. What a bunch of cheap bastards.
Our cats go to a place where we can board them both for $25 since they share a crate
Kids, being bigger, tend to need a crate each.
HG's case sounds like the intervention is not so bad on the pain scale, so I'm not going to judge.
I did my best to feel out what the vet was saying. Big Kitty can go home same day, and it's a minor procedure, and if that's actually the root cause of his problems, he will spring back to being an elderly, arthritic cat who isn't rapidly losing weight.
But christ do I hope he's not on antibiotics after the surgery. Is there any hope of that? Or are antibiotics standard?
For the surgeon, it's easier to prescribe antibiotics than to wash his hands.
Technically he has paws, but I see your point.
I was very glad that DogBreath let us off pretty easy. Her last year had a bunch of vet visits, and we did spend a fair amount on some course of injections that I've forgotten what they were, but her arthritis certainly seemed better after them. But we never got faced with "Spend $1500 on cancer surgery or your dog dies. Of course, maybe she dies anyway in more pain if you do." That would have been hard, if the facts of whether it would help her were doubtful.
I spent a fair amount on dealing with my cat's kidney stones and don't regret a bit of it. The little guy has been with me through some rough times and he really enriches my life.
The thing about the vet experience that stuck me was the up-front pricing. I've never had up-front cost discussions with a doctor. Usually I find out how much whatever it was costs when the bill arrives. I'd really prefer if the cost discussion with the doctor was part of the whole treatment process and I bet it would help with cost control generally.
Our cat is approaching the age of h-g's cat and is clearly declining. Kidneys being the main issue. In the last several months she has had some interesting behavior changes including being much more affectionate, much more vocally demanding of food (but not gaining weight), and being bolder outside*. We have already not gone down several proffered paths of expensive (to me) interventions, but so far have just implemented some minor dietary modifications. And point to her that she's dying.
*We call it her bucket list:
1) Visit the Z/ur/awk/a's yard.
2) Poop in the flower bed *across* the driveway.
3) Go outside in light rain.
JP - If it's kidney failure, I had really great success with subcutaneous fluids. When the vet first explained to me that what I needed to do was shove a giant needle under my cat's skin and let a bunch of fluid drain into it, on a daily basis, I thought: it's official. I've landed myself in crazy cat person territory. But, turns out, this guy was totally down for it. He was a really big love bucket (for example, he frequently would give hugs), so I think we was content to just sit on my lap while getting his fluids. He rarely struggled. Had he not tolerated or adapted to it, I would not have pushed the issue. But since he did, he and I managed to get a good 1.5 to 2 years more of quality time together = totally worth it. Sadly, he died while I was out of town -- at the front door. Hard not to believe the poor guy was waiting for me to come home. Had I known he was that close to dying, I would have gladly helped him do that, rather than alone. Sad. He was super awesome though!!
We had similar story with cat and kidney failure, except he wasn't such a fan of subcut fluids. Now we have a mouse, so I think we'll have to get a new cat soon.
Owners of cats with kidney problems, here's my big take-away from my cat's death: you really need to pay attention to changes in behavior. In retrospect, my cat started losing his appetite several months before he died and that should have been a red flag, but we just assumed he was getting older and finicky. Best case, we could have caught it early and maintained him in a state of declining health for several years... but the sudden dropping dead and the feeling stupid and irresponsible after the fact is pretty bad.
56: I have had many cats die--kidney failure among the reasons. My guilt is zero. My relatively minor annoyance at your concern trolling, however, is measurable.
Sorry, that was unduly harsh. The various advice was appreciated--the casting of pet death guilt as universal clearly not so much.
Concern trolling? I feel bad about my dead cat.
My experience was exactly like Rance's (except shorter). Kitty liked getting fluids. Only twice did I shove the needle through the pouch of skin and out the far side of kitty and think "Why is my hand getting wet?"
Don't shove a needle completely through a cat and tell me it's raining.
43: I had a bit of side-eye for my friend whose cat lived to be 22 or 23 -- the cat was in BAD shape for the last several years of his life: blind, seizures, arthritic, etc. Obvs. if you've had a cat that long, and already shelled out thousands for crazy vet bills (repairman threw then 2 year old cat across basement, cat escaped a later house and got his leg crushed) and he really seems like part of you, it's hard to say "no, this is where it ends", but come on, some broken old animal who can't be left alone for more than 2 hours in case he has a grand mal seizure just needs to go to his reward already. It is the kindest option.
The opposite of 62: A friend had a cat for about 6 months. One day discovers the cat, outside, paralyzed. Takes it to the vet, who can't figure anything out. Probably some sort of bite, but nothing they test for shows anything, and they stop short of super-expensive tests.
She called me that evening, in tears, because they'd already put the cat to sleep. Total elapsed time: about 6 hours. I suppressed the question, "You didn't want to give the cat a day and see if it naturally does any better?"
My dad offered to put a healthy dog to sleep in order to buy a replacement dog that wasn't stupid. He respected the rest of the family's sentiment against him, but I'm pretty sure he was serious.
This is an unexpectedly funny thread about pet death.
I started to talk about my own similar situation which ended with no cat, but eh. The upshot was $500 isn't all that much more than it costs to get a cat diagnosed and put down so hey.
Bave ran into our cat-having neighbor who said I should come by any time to hang out with their cat, which is great news, though I'm definitely going to feel odd knocking on their door for essentially a puss-in-booty call. I get kind of feeble when I am sick so I sat there upon receiving this news and ranked colors of cats by cuteness at Bave, because I am a cat-racist. I am hoping they have a black cat because I am a reverse-cat-racist.
65: Sorry about your kitty. I would totally leave keys with a neighbor if they'd come hang out with our cats while we're at work.
I suspect I'm going to be the one who has to make the call about when it's "time" for ours, but they're young enough that I can still pretend they're going to live forever. The black one is starting to get a bit of white in her coat, which I refuse to notice.
I have strong opinions about cat coat color as determining their personalities, which I guess makes me a cat-racist. Tuxedo cats are dignified, aloof, and violent -- I like them. Orange tabbies are idiots, and to be avoided. Grey tabbies are also dignified, but more affectionate than tuxedo cats. Tortoiseshells are insane, but charmingly so. Calicoes, and mostly white cats with spots, are boring and will hide under the furniture to avoid interacting with you.
I think that's most of the possibilities.
More exotic combinations like black/orange stripes or yellow with black spots are likely to eat you.
66: Can you use some Clairol on her or something?
I like cats that act like dogs, and dogs that act like cats.
Dogbreath was a very catty dog. I liked that about her.
I knew a cat that acted like a dog but she was such a bitch.
67: Huh, I think of orange tabbies as mellow and pleasant. I knew one who liked to be vacuumed. I think Siamese are pretty but high-strung, needy and disagreeable.
I feel like there is consensus about certain kinds, like Siamese being high-strung and disagreeable, and tortoiseshells being batty. My tortie was my manic pixie dream cat. My weird prejudice is that grey tabbies are a bit of a bore.
I grew up with a fat, affectionate Siamese cat. He did have that trademark howl, though.
Harley the Terror Kitten, my Peace Corps cat, was kind of a manic pixie dream tortie.
My cat growing up was a crotchety, disagreeable, spoiled nuisance (grey solid for those who are keeping score). I got her for my 13th birthday, and my mother adored that cat. It was like she'd spent my sister's and my childhood restraining herself from spoiling or overpraising us, and then when I got the stupid cat, the dam burst. The cat got a tablespoon of butter (!) with breakfast. I think she talked to the cat more than she did to me most days.
I have it on veterinary authority that 75.1 is correct.
Our one-eyed orange runt was very intelligent and very impatient. He was not afraid to launch an all out assault on my person if he felt he wasn't getting his way. Not playful pouncing and running away, but leaping at the nearest appendage and holding on. Never broke the skin though.
Is pet insurance very expensive in the US? It's quite common, and quite cheap, over here. Vet bills aren't really an issue if you have it.
a puss-in-booty call
No love for this? Tough crowd today.
80: Not a proportional amount. I mean, I was like 12x as big. I should've gotten like a stick and a half. Unfair.
I should've gotten like a stick and a half.
Somebody laugh at that or you'll make VW more upset.
Or maybe I shouldn't make penis jokes about former 13 year-olds.
81: It is a good line.
79: all out assault... Never broke the skin though.
I may have grown up with unusually violent (tuxedo) cats. But that's not an all out assault.
LB, did your cat actually like you?
The good cat I grew up with tolerated us as acceptable so long as we didn't screw up. He was pretty good about giving a warning shot before going for injury, but if you did something he objected to, he would cut you. The bad cat my parents got after the good cat died was flat out psychotic and tried to murder us all regularly. I moved out to go to college not long after they got him, so it wasn't mostly my problem, but I don't think he did like us much.
Did you try giving either of the cats butter? Apparently, that's a thing.
64 is amazing.
We had kind of the worst case scenario: our first dog, who was only 4-5 years old, was basically healthy, but had been diagnosed diabetic. No big deal, cheap shots, she was fine. One day our neighbor warned us there was a dog virus going around the neighborhood, and sure enough, our dog got sick and went off her feed. Overnight, she became incredibly weakened (presumably some sort of glycemic shock). Took her to the emergency vet (weekend, of course), they got her blood sugar under control... and then called us at 9 pm to come say goodbye, because it turned out she had undiagnosed tumors that were bleeding, and she was too weak for surgery. Basically full (apparent) health to dead in 48 hours. But what makes it worst case is that it cost over $1,000, and she had to spend her last 12 hours of life alone in a pet hospital. Ugh.
I thought that was to make them stay in a new place after you moved -- buttering their paws. But I've never done it.
The better question based on all these descriptions is why does anyone like cats?
No, you're supposed to butter the toast on the back of the cat, etc.
My pure grey cat was so affectionate, and rather insane. Also -- did not like people other than myself. My grey tabbie was a total joker, loved making people laugh (you could just tell), but was elusive with others. My ginger but not a ginger tabby (because I have somehow ended up with a purebred Abyssinian) is the most well-adjusted cat I've had. He won't get off your lap, is incredibly energetic and fun, and loves people. He's also very doggy -- lots of fetch, etc.
91: If that kind of awareness catches on, interpersonal relationships will be the next thing to go.
Oh, Dr. Oops got landed with an Abyssinian once(way back when, she was bartending, and a drunk who frequented the bar she worked at decided she couldn't take care of her cats anymore, asked Dr. Oops to take care of them for a while, and then disappeared). Beautiful cat, but incredibly dumb, vain, and clumsy. St Anthony would pace delicately along the back of a piece of furniture, holding intense, meaningful eye contact with you like Ben Stiller in Zoolander, and would then fall off for no reason. All the time. He was the most ridiculous animal I've ever dealt with.
I like kitties and iPads. Why can't they live in harmony?
(St. Anthony was so extravagantly dumb that I haven't developed a stereotype about Abyssinians generally from him. If they were all that stupid, there'd be no way to breed more of them.)
71: My dog likes to rub against humans like a cat. If you put him in a jacket he aggressively rubs people because he can't feel the contact and it makes him despondent. He's too desperate for human attention to ever be confused for a cat, though.
My former cat ate two sticks of butter in one sitting when I left them out to soften. I did not notice any ill effects.
My grandma has an adorably affectionate siamese that's good at falling off stuff. I think she (the cat) suffers from something more severe than clumsiness, though, because there are other behaviors, like walking in circles randomly for several minutes at a time. But she's cuddly and adorable when not falling off stuff/walking in circles.
101 sounds like the cutest thing ever.
I am currently holding an iPad and a cat on my lap (white, Tonk/nese, very dog-like). Our fat calico is about 17, and we've been giving her insulin and feeding her expensive food (kidney issues) for almost a year.
We were very clear with the vet that we did not want the calico to be in pain, especially at her age, but so far she's handled everything alright. While I'll be sad, of course, when we lose her, I really worry about how my husband will handle it,
98 was a weird thing to read out of context. Like, geez, LB, racist much?
103: for someone overly cathected, it will just involve a certain amount of unexpected crying for a week. Then you turn into a normal person who misses their cat.
104: for someone overly catholicted, St. Anthony is immediately recognizable as Portuguese and thus LB is only guilty of non-sequiturism.
Did someone say big kitty?
(That's SFW, I'm no apostropher.)
Big Kitty is home. His neck is super super gross. It kind of makes my stomach turn but I suppose it's the type of thing you get used to.