WTF?
I’m very sorry about the loss of your cat, but this explanation is crazy. What do they mean “no longer paid for”?
If I called my vet with this problem and he refused to see my pet RIGHT THE F*** NOW I’d be livid, and I’d find another vet who did. Not dissing you, Mad Hermit, as I realize not everyone is as over-the-top nuts about their pets as we are, but man-oh-man this would piss me off.
I’m so sorry.
The fuzzies of our household (Smoky, Stormy, BB, Sydney, Dixon) all send their sympathies.
Aw no. I’m so very sorry.
Yes, it sounds crazy.
I didn’t have the time or inclination to discuss it with him. The cats have been healthy; they were fixed and had shots but we had no regular need to add vet bills, until an emergency came up.
The gist of is, as far as I understand, is that the vets were depending on a government funding source, and in response to the stoppage of money the cut their hours back to exclude emergency care. The nearest vet hospital was 40 miles away, but it’s closed and I would have to travel 60+ miles to get him care. The other local vets specialize in livestock, no cats or dogs.
I was livid, but didn’t take it out on the vet; he was the only option open to me. I was under the impression that in rural Pennsylvania there wouldn’t be a lack of veterinary care because of all the livestock, but that shows what i know.
hell, Im beating myself over the head with missing the signs until it was too late. We have 3 other cats; but this one was the one that adopted me. I feel like I let my best friend dwon when it counted most. Watching him suffer and being able to do nothing about it is the best definition of hell I have ever known.
Digging his grave in the yard on such a beautiful day is killing me.
Too late to edit in:
I have witten an article about Max on my City of Villains blog. Ignore the other stuff, it’s on top.
OK, that makes more sense; I didn’t realize you really truly are very far from civilization.
I’m so sorry to hear about your poor kitty; I had the same thing happen a few years ago. Cat seemed fine until one evening I find him curled up in a closet struggling to breath. Unlike you, we did have an emergency vet a few miles away; they kept him alive overnight, and in the morning we brought him to our normal vet. Still, he didn’t make it. Vet told us it looked like he had gotten into some poison of some sort.
So… even if you had found a vet, there’s no guarantees. Poor lil’ guy.
i’m so sorry.
Don’t beat yourself up about this. Max was lucky to have someone who loved him so much and you were lucky to have a great cat who loved you.
Don’t beat yourself up about it. There’s a good chance that there were no signs to miss. Cats are really good at pretending there’s nothing wrong. My sweet Minx and I were playing and mid running around the house she started throwing up and just getting sicker and sicker. By the next morning, she wouldn’t eat or clean herself or respond to her name. You probably couldn’t have known Max was sick until he was just too sick to hide it anymore.
Sammi and I send purrs and hugs.
There should be emergency clinics, and they generally are separate from the routine DVM practices. In my neck of the woods, I use Banfield for the routine stuff, and a separate emergency clinic (Cobb EVC) for the really bad stuff.
It’s one thing for your routine DVM to blow you off, but he/she should have referred you to a 24 hour clinic.
I’m so sorry. I am well aware how cats can touch our hearts.
Thank you, everyone, for you kind words. They have been a source of strength for me, while dealing with my loss.
We have 3 other cats: a male tuxedo named Charlie that we got to keep Max company; Cleo, a tuxedo stray we adopted which became Max’s “woman”, and Maggie, the one of Cleo’s 2 litters we kept. Maggie is a grey tabby like Max; we had “matched pairs.”
Maggie has been searching the house for Max for tthe last couple days, breaking my heart every time. Last night she went ballistic on Charlie, screaming and fighting, chasing him down into the basement. She’s still confused.
Charlie sat with Max from after he came back from the vet until we buried Max. He’s been a little more wanting of attention since. Cleo seems unaffected; I haven’t seen any major change in her behavior.
What can I do to help them get through this too? Am I projecting my own thoughts onto the cats are do they need extra attention?
The house just seems so much emptier.
We lost our 13-year old (also named Max; the sweetest cat you could ever meet) last fall, so you have my deepest sympathies.
This leaves his sister/littermate Tammy all alone, now. Don’t worry about “compensating”; if Charlie needs more attention, he’ll let you know. Tammy used to always sleep by our feet while Max slept on my chest. Now that he’s gone, she sleeps on our pillows between us. Just be accomodating to what Charlie shows that he wants, and don’t worry too much.
We’ve thought about adding another indoor cat to our household (we also have one outdoor, but Biggie & Tammy don’t interact at all), but our Vet said that Tammy may not miss a cat. She misses Max, so getting a new cat won’t necessarily help; though our intentions of having someone for her to play with while at work might be good, it could also backfire. YMMV but the last thing we’d ever want to do is give her any anxieties (she used to be nervous and can still get timid around unfamiliar situations) so far now, she’s alone more than we’d like, but houding us constantly when we’re there.
I’m so sorry for your loss.