Budget Buster- Emergency Vet Visit

[Tinker Pam]

2 weeks ago my daughters future in-laws found an abandoned kitten at their new house and to make a long story short she ended up at my house. Well I got home from work last night and she was lethargic, unresponsive and couldn't hold her little head up so I called the vet who met me at her office. First thing she said was you need to be prepared for any outcome because when they are this little they can go down very quickly. They ended up doing blood work, checked her stool, and xrays, found she has some infection somewhere so gave her an injection of antibiotics, fluids, and anti-nausea meds and sent her home with antibiotics that she started on today.
She is doing much better today and we found out that she is indeed a little girl, is only 4 weeks old and weighs 1lb 2oz.
She's my little angel and I'm so glad she's doing better but the unplanned emergency visit really cut in to the Disney Fund.

 

[crisi]

Kittens can be so expensive. Mine managed to need surgery twice to remove a bowel obstructions - she'd eat anything. She also is prone to vaccine related sarcoma - which we found out because she got a tumor that we had removed. So her first year of life was getting spayed, two abdominal surgeries and a tumor removal. Fortunately, she outgrew eating things, and we only vaccinate for rabies and keep her indoors).

 

[Marionnette]

2 weeks ago my daughters future in-laws found an abandoned kitten at their new house and to make a long story short she ended up at my house. Well I got home from work last night and she was lethargic, unresponsive and couldn't hold her little head up so I called the vet who met me at her office. First thing she said was you need to be prepared for any outcome because when they are this little they can go down very quickly. They ended up doing blood work, checked her stool, and xrays, found she has some infection somewhere so gave her an injection of antibiotics, fluids, and anti-nausea meds and sent her home with antibiotics that she started on today.
She is doing much better today and we found out that she is indeed a little girl, is only 4 weeks old and weighs 1lb 2oz.
She's my little angel and I'm so glad she's doing better but the unplanned emergency visit really cut in to the Disney Fund.

My daughter's cat went from frisky to frail within a matter of hours last month. Of course, my daughter was distraught and even at the ripe age of 23, her teary eyes are enough to melt her daddy's heart. It cost us nearly $1K for the emergency visit, but we feel that when you adopt an animal you take on the obligation to provide for them. Thankfully, we have a pretty good emergency fund because we have 2 dogs as well and there have been other emergency visits this year for them.

Leo's doing fine now but it was touch and go for the first 24 hours. I hope your little kitty is improving by the hour.

 

[Tinker Pam]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement.
Our little Oreo went from pure spunk to barely breathing in just a few hours, I honestly didn't think we were even going to make it to the vet with her.
The vet was like the labs will be this and the xrays will be that is it ok, and we were like what ever she needs just please help her.
With her being abandoned so young she has claimed me as her mommy and I was as distraught yesterday as if it were one of my 2 legged babies.
This morning she ate (a little less then usual but that's ok), played and followed me around the house while I was getting ready for work.
She may have only been in our family for not quiet 2 weeks but we are Ohana and will do what ever she needs.

 

[elgerber]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement.
Our little Oreo went from pure spunk to barely breathing in just a few hours, I honestly didn't think we were even going to make it to the vet with her.
The vet was like the labs will be this and the xrays will be that is it ok, and we were like what ever she needs just please help her.
With her being abandoned so young she has claimed me as her mommy and I was as distraught yesterday as if it were one of my 2 legged babies.
This morning she ate (a little less then usual but that's ok), played and followed me around the house while I was getting ready for work.
She may have only been in our family for not quiet 2 weeks but we are Ohana and will do what ever she needs.

I'm sorry for your budget buster bill! But kudos to you for taking the little angel in and spending the money to save her. A lot of people would not do that. She is very lucky to have found you, and I'm glad she's doing better!!

 

[DizzyStitch]

I think the "found" kittens are often the most expensive. Folks dump them instead of having to pay a shelter to drop them off. We found a little one a few years ago that cost me about 1K in care. She is the sweetest little thing but was pretty beat up when we found her. Her tail is permenantly broken at the end. It was tough on the money end but I certainly couldn't just leave her and even when I had a cage for her at the local shelter I still couldn't give her up. Good Luck with your new baby

 

[ceecee]

Glad she's doing better and that she has a good pet parent! We found a little kitten in our yard (someone dumped it) and half of it's ear was gone from fleas and it was cold and had fleas and ticks all over it. We took it to the vet and he said he could try and save it but only gave it a 30% chance and the humaine thing would be to put it to sleep, so we did. DD was 9 at the time and she told me she prayed for a pet for her birthday and thought that was why it was dumped at our house ON her birthday, it was very sad. I have no patience with people who don't care for their pets and that includes the offspring if they are too cheap to spay or neuter.

 

[Judique]

2 weeks ago my daughters future in-laws found an abandoned kitten at their new house and to make a long story short she ended up at my house. Well I got home from work last night and she was lethargic, unresponsive and couldn't hold her little head up so I called the vet who met me at her office. First thing she said was you need to be prepared for any outcome because when they are this little they can go down very quickly. They ended up doing blood work, checked her stool, and xrays, found she has some infection somewhere so gave her an injection of antibiotics, fluids, and anti-nausea meds and sent her home with antibiotics that she started on today.
She is doing much better today and we found out that she is indeed a little girl, is only 4 weeks old and weighs 1lb 2oz.
She's my little angel and I'm so glad she's doing better but the unplanned emergency visit really cut in to the Disney Fund.

The stray kitten I took home only cost me about $500 in vet bills so I am feeling very fortunate now.

I couldn't leave him to just die and he was very sick. I don't really want to describe his problems as they were pretty disgusting. My vet was so nice. He adjusted his fees because he knew I was just trying to save the kitty - I think he discounted about $500 easily.

My daughter and I nursed him back to health and he had about 7 or 8 vet visits, 5 or 6 different meds and 2 minor surgeries.

I was going to put him up for adoption once he got better, but after all the care we gave him, he became one of our family of pets - we already had cats, 2 birds and 2 dogs.

Now he is doing just fine and is a beautiful kitten - and about 5 months old. Soon I will be getting him fixed and I think that will be full price!

 

[pixiewings71]

I've been where you are as well, we found 2 kittens, 1 didn't make it, the other has been with us almost 3 years now. He's the best cat, orange tabby, his name is Tigger. My DD nursed him, gave him meds, fed him with a syringe, he was very sick but now he's perfectly healthy. He cost us a few hundred dollars as well but he is worth it. If you've had your furbaby for almost 2 weeks and she's 4 weeks old then she was tiny when you found her, you really did save her. My fingers are crossed, keep us updated on how she's doing please.

 

[pigletto]

I found a kitten with his siblings on my parents farm. All of the siblings were dead but this little guy was still breathing. He didn't even have his eyes open yet. I bottle fed that kitten on a two hour schedule, helped him go to the bathroom, put him on a special heating pad, in a little towel nest, took him to the vet several times etc.
The first visit the vet wouldn't even charge me for and also told me to be prepared to lose him as he was sure he was about 4 or 5 days old.

Today? I have the most intelligent, animated, hilarious BIG cat. We are inseparable and he is a healthy, happy 3 year old!
It was expensive, and exhausting and also quite possibly one of the more rewarding experiences of my life.
I so understand the expense can be worrisome. But in my experience they are so very worth it.

 

[AuroraRora]

It makes me so happy to hear about you guys taking good care of your kittens! I foster for my city's animal control, and it breaks my heart to hear the stories of all the kittens. At the moment I'm fostering the two most adorable babies - they were left in a box on the street in the cold, starved. Would it have killed the person to spend $2 on a bus fare to take them to the drop-off?? Luckily they're healthy and they just need to get up to a good weight before they can go to the Adoption Center.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

We had 3 feral kittens that lived under our deck. They were itty bitty things. We made a house for them out of a rubbermaid tote box. Cut an opening in the end. Lined it with fleece fabric I bought at JoAnn's. And today I am happy to say two of them live inside with us and their siamese brother was adopted by my friends parents who lost their siamese 5 months earlier and were looking to fill the void. We have had them for 2 years and we tried to find forever homes for all of them and I can honestly say I am glad we kept these two. They helped get me though some sad days. The tabby loves to lick me..be it my legs, my feet or arm and I feel as though he is telling me, "mom we are so glad you took great care of us".

So I hope your little one grows stronger and that some day you will look back on this and your heart will smile!

 

[Tinker Pam]

Good Morning all. Thank you all for the encouragement and sharing the stories of your furbabies.
My little Oreo seems back to her old spunky self today, she spit up a little yesterday but I'm guessing she just ate a little to much. She is back to the little ball of energy she had been.
We were surprised when the vet said she's only 4 weeks old, I had guessed about a week older but after they did a thorough exam that is what the vet said. She is so tiny, and was even smaller when she was first found.
Aurora-Rora- thank you for fostering, I could see my family doing that if we had a larger place. I had never had any experience with cats/kittens until 6 years ago when my kids started feeding this little white cat that showed up on our porch half starved. They built a shelter for it and it came every day to walk my son to and from the school bus. Then one April morning I came out to discover that "Captain Jack" was Jackie and had delivered 6 kittens in her shelter. From day one she would push the kittens to us to handle, we moved all of them in and found home for 3 of the kittens, Momma and the other 3 ended up staying with us. Unfourtunately we lost one of them just before his second birthday due to a ruptured bladder. At that time I swore I was never taking in any more. My daughter has her own place and also has 3 rescued furbabies.
When Oreo was found, my son fell in love and I just couldn't say no to that little face (his or hers). My husband teases me that I've developed a furry growth over the last few weeks as if she is not tearing thru the house she wants up on my chest and is happy for me to carry her all over with me. She will follow me thru the house and uses her little paws to rub my face.
Unfortunately one of Jackies children (Starbuck) has alwasy been very jealous and is not accepting her at all. Everytime she sees the little one she hisses and growles. Jackie is trying to take Oreo in as her own, we have a few issues as it appears her birth mother must not have been very good to her so she was not accepting of Jackeis kindness at first. Jackie has been persistent and now Oreo is going to her and cuddeling with her although we've had to keep them separate for now due to her being sick. The other sibling Boomer is not happy shes there but is not being mean about it and realizes that she's not going away so she better get used to it.
All of my furbabies have been fixed and Oreo will be as well as soon as she is old enough. There are far to many unwanted little ones out there that never find their forever home.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

as far as the jealousy.. it will take time for the other cat to warm up to Oreo. From my personal experience it usually takes about 6 months. I know that sounds like a long time but it will happen.

Just don't forget to pay attention to your older cat as well. I know a kitten is fun and spunky to play with right now but its very important to also interact with the older one who might be feeling left out.

 

[robinb]

Aw! You are such a good person to take care of that little baby. Good wishes and pixie dust going your way for her continued good health .

PS: Sorry about the budget buster part of the whole thing .

 

[elgerber]

I'm so glad little Oreo is back to her spunky self today!! can we get a picture??? I love kitten pictures!

 

[pigletto]

So glad to hear she is feeling better. I bet you are so relieved!!

 

[AliceandAriel]

2 weeks ago my daughters future in-laws found an abandoned kitten at their new house and to make a long story short she ended up at my house. Well I got home from work last night and she was lethargic, unresponsive and couldn't hold her little head up so I called the vet who met me at her office. First thing she said was you need to be prepared for any outcome because when they are this little they can go down very quickly. They ended up doing blood work, checked her stool, and xrays, found she has some infection somewhere so gave her an injection of antibiotics, fluids, and anti-nausea meds and sent her home with antibiotics that she started on today.
She is doing much better today and we found out that she is indeed a little girl, is only 4 weeks old and weighs 1lb 2oz.
She's my little angel and I'm so glad she's doing better but the unplanned emergency visit really cut in to the Disney Fund.

We just got through the same thing with our new kitten, Delilah. Left for work Friday afternoon, came home around 10PM and she was unresponsive, lethargic, and foul tempered. Cue emergency vet visit #1- $300 some later, they still had no idea, but gave us pain meds to give her and said to 'wait if she died from rabies.' Which was incredibly cruel an unusual of them.

Took her back nearly two weeks later, obviously not rabies, and vet bill #2 came in- $375. Got x-rays, shot updates, and other bits, but they finally listened to me when I said her leg is off and guess what? Her leg was hurt and that's why she wasn't moving. Gave us more pain meds, told us to keep her in a small area so she didn't walk around, and that was it.

We took her in for a check up and some more shot updates last week, that was another $75.

So all in all, we did about $750+ on her in less than a month. Not going to lie, I cried, it did cut into the Disney fund so I picked up a few other jobs to help narrow that gap down.

 

[pixiewings71]

Well, we've had Tig for 3 years now (well, 3 years next month) and we have 2 other cats as well (sisters so they came to us at the same time, also rescues), Tinkerbell gets along great with Tigger, they play and groom each other but it took about 6 months to get to that point. Well, Mouse still hisses at Tigger but we figure it isn't that bad because she hisses at Tink as well. LOL The dog loves Tigger, she's a mini Doxie so he's bigger than she is but they play together and run around the house, they groom each other as well, it's pretty darn cute. So give it some time and the friendlier cats will come around, but the other one may never adjust. lol

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I just sort of mentally think I have about $1500 in reserve for our pets at any one point.

We were coming out of Walmart once and there were 4 three week old kittens that had been left in a box with the words "Free to good home" on it. We took them home, got them into a rescue group I volunteered with, bottle fed them every 2.5 hours, then every 3 hours etc. The bitty one got hypothermia and tried to die on us a few times. We had a little room all set up for them with a space heater, so we could keep the temperature at about 85 degrees for them and had an electric blanket turned on with rice bags set on top of it in a pet kennel, so they could get right on top of the heating pad, or just a bit away from it on the rice bag, or could lie off of it. I honestly think most of the usual bottle feeding foster moms expected our kittens to die when we took them in, but between DH and I taking off work and me leaving work to go feed them in a restroom (had the restroom set up as kitten room #2), we got them all big and grown, even the bitty.

Another time, we were taking the dogs hiking and saw two kittens abandoned on the side of the road. They both had an eye infection that was quickly mended, but left one of them almost completely blind. (She can see shapes in what little bit she's got of one eye, we think.) None of the rescue groups would touch them for love or money, so we raised them up and gave them to family. Those two cost me well, well into 4 figures, but were totally worth it as they're now grown cats and I get pictures of them sometimes.

Last year around this time a friend called me because someone had dumped a black kitten about 4 or 5 weeks old on her doorstep. I tried to get it into a rescue group, but even with my offering to pay for the spaying and neutering AND donating $200 AND fostering no one would touch it - it was a BLACK cat, after all, and those are too common, too hard to adopt. So I took him home. I'm so glad I did, as, he is, in DH's words, "a real momma's boy" who is big, sweet-tempered, loving, and intelligent. He's made friends with the dogs and loves playing chase with the border collie!

I don't have any real budget advice on this one. I just pay the prices charged when cats or kittens are involved, even if they're little scraps that just show up and require lots and lots of care.