I had to go to the ER today, for the first time in 35 years.
I was getting ready to feed the cats this morning, removing the lid from a can of cat food. For some reason the lid slipped and sliced right into my left hand … in that fleshy area between the thumb and forefinger. It cut all the way through the skin; I could actually see inside.
Of course the cats were sitting there saying, “Bleed on your own time; we want food!” And yeah, I did finish feeding them, with one hand wrapped in a towel.
I cleaned the wound with with hydrogen peroxide, stuck some wadded up tissue in there, then wrapped my entire hand with an Ace bandage, to keep the thumb tight against the wound. I could tell it was too deep to heal on its own, that I’d need stitches.
So, I drove to the nearest ER, where they gave me a tetanus shot and closed the cut with five stitches. I was in and out in less than an hour. I don’t have health insurance, so I can’t wait to find out how much this is gonna cost me.
They told me to take Ibuprofen “as needed” for the pain, which helps, but not enough. But I found a container of Darvocet in the medicine cabinet, and have just taken two of them. It won’t be long before they knock me out.
So far, the only downside to this is that it’s a real bitch to wash dishes with one hand. And yeah, opening cat food cans too.
You know that if you slack off on feeding the cats, they’ll just start gnawing at your wound.
You mean there’s something worse than cleaning up hairballs and finding them at 3:00 in the morning in your bare feet? Crap. Yup, better keep those food bowls full. I don’t want to end up missing an appendage because the ladies have somehow managed to spot the bottom of an empty bowl. Got to go now, MEOW! MEOW!
Ha. I “rescued” a “free cat” last week. It went to the vet last Wednesday to be de-balled and de-fleaed and de-wormed and such - $200. For my pains, it acquires explosive diarrhea all over my house. So I get poop AND and extra $80 vet bill. I can’t wait to see what happens when we go back for Deworming 2: Electric Boogaloo.
To recap - so far, “free” cat costs $280, poop free with purchase.
Yeah, don’t you just love those “free” kitties??
Last time I ever have two margaritas and go to the pet store. (I intercepted a kitty that the store wouldn’t take and couldn’t possibly leave the last kitty the store had who was hanging both arms out of the cage up to his neck.)
I’ve had them for three years. What can I say? The dogs love them.
Also, try explaining the injury to the kitty’s eye from a Christmas ornament hanger. As I recall, that set me back about $200.
Heh. Gotcha all beat. Bet none of you can say you went on an 864-mile (round trip) road trip just to get a cat.
Some of you may recall from discussions last spring on the boards my road trip with my girl posse from Indianapolis to Chattanooga (right around now, in fact) to pick up a certain feline overlord by the name of Speck? Several weeks earlier, I’d had to have my beloved Murphy put to sleep because of advanced kidney disease. Doing so just about did *me * in. I cried for days, and still do from time to time. He was quite a boy.
Anyway, when I learned about Speck, formerly of Atlanta, GA, here on a Doper board, nothing would do but I had to have her. My girl posse thought I had taken leave of my senses, but they shrugged, closed ranks and said, ‘cool. Let’s motor.’
And we did. All the way from the far north side of Indianapolis down to the halfway point otherwise known as Chattanooga, TN, where we met up with Speck’s caretaker, who had driven UP to meet us. Crazy cat ladies. Nah. Just cat lovers. All of us.
My portion of the gas for the road trip from Indy to Chattanooga and back: $60.00
(A very good bud and hubby to one of the girl posse, graciously loaned us
his SUV so we traveled in style and comfort.)
Overnight in Chattanooga: $35.00
(We split the hotel bill between the three of us)
Primary vet visit: $145.00
Eventual spaying just a few months ago: $125.00
Total expenditure for my free cat: $365.00
Having her in my home… Priceless 
nuts. missed the edit window.
actually it’s $445.00.
I forgot about a third trip to the vet’s for stubborn ear mites: $80.00
A friend had called me the Sunday before last; she had found two kittens under her trailer, apparently too young to eat solid food. So I agreed that she could bring them over and we took them to PetSmart, which has a vet on duty on Sundays. $80 later I have confirmation that they both seem to be free of infestation and appear to be in good health, and I have instructions and supplies for bottle-feeding them. Fortunately, they began showing interest in solid food a few days later, which necessitated another trip to PetSmart to stock up on kitten food and toys. Today I took them to my regular vet, where I spent another $120 for shots, deworming medicine, and info on having them tested for Fe-Luke (another $50 each, which I can do now or later, and might also have to have done to my older cat just to be on the safe side). And of course later I’ll have to have them both neutered.
But they’re so cute when they climb up my legs and nap in my lap.
Daniel the Terrible w/ an UTI. :eek: Bloody puddles all over the bathroom and absolutely miserable kitty flopped over.
ER vet on a weekend for ‘stopped up cat’ instead of a rare hair appointment, mucho dinero.
Another regular vet visit during the week for a fluid push and lots of pills and painkiller for a week. Mucho dinero.
Permanent addition of UTI gooshyfood to diet, mucho dinero.
I’d pay it again in a trice.
But you people are out spending money . . . panache45 had to spend bucks and gashed up his hand!! How’s it healing, panache?
When my cats want me to bleed, they handle it themselves. None of this pansy letting a can opener do it for them.
Let’s see, last time was when I was sitting in my computer chair talking on the phone, and Tom decided that since I wasn’t moving, I could be petting him. So he jumped up the back of the chair, and stepped onto my shoulder. Only I was leaning forward, so when he stepped off the chair he started sliding down my back, and we should all know what cats do when they start sliding. I apologized to my dad for screaming in his ear, and told him that I was going to go murder my cat and that he didn’t hear nuthin.