TBT: Loki went to the vet today and I returned with him, alive so don't worry. I was there for 3 1/2 horribly boring hours! Evidently "I'll be back in just a minute" means 20-30. Argh. I am not good at doing nothing. And the only chair in the 8x8 exam room squeaks terribly too. I almost decided to curl up on the exam table... And the motion-detector ceiling lights go off every 10 minuted. I had a miserable time!
But Loki got the full treatment. I guess bored is better than probed and stabbed. The vet reported that he has a fever of 103.9, serious nasal congestion, and an ulcerated tongue. Each of those individually could cause him not to want to eat. His 2nd (3rd?) eyelid was infected as well. She cleaned his face thoroughly.
She forcibly pushed some Hill a/d wet food into his mouth and made him swallow it. Then took him into the lab are for subQ fluids, a mild sedative (Butorphanol?), a blood panel, B+ and B12 injections, Meloxicam and Convenia injections, and she gave me Mirataz (appetite) and Erythromycin (eye) ointments. She also clipped his claws.
Before doing the work, the vet said she would work up an estimate, but I told her I was going to say "yes" anyway, so just go ahead and do it. Considering all the work done and medications, I fully expected the bill to be $1,000. I was surprised to get out for less than $700.
And I have to say something about that. When I was looking for a new vet earlier this year, I checked Yelp and saw comments about high costs with this vet and that they didn't miss an opportunity to charge. I need to return there to offer a more positive review.
When I had to have dear Ayla euthanized at the emergency cat clinic in September, the cost was $800. When I had to have poor Laz euthanized by this regular vet 2 weeks ago, the cost was $55. And they clip claws for free. And while Marley's subQ fluid bag costs $40, they advised me that they would do the 2x a week injections at no cost. That doesn't seem like an office just looking for charges.
But back to Loki. The blood panel results were fairly good. A few of the results were a bit too high or low. But the vet said they fell within the range of a stressed cat and wasn't worried about any of them. And if she isn't worried, I'm not worried.
She was a little worried about his ulcerated tongue-tip and was not sure of the cause. She did say it wasn't from chewing on an electric cord because that would have been farther back on his tongue. It may be that he was so dehydrated and coughing that he was biting it. He was mouth-breathing and dry-swallowing. The vet didn't say that; it's just a guess on my part.
Another thing I liked was that she said "he has sticky platelets, but most cats do". When I related the tale of Lori's delayed spay operation, she was surprised. To explain, my previous vet refused to do Lori's spay 2x because of "low platelet count". But the 3rd time, she sent a blood sample to a tech lab, who told her about "sticky platelets" and that Lori's count was actually perfectly fine.
The look on my new vet's face made it clear I had made a wise decision to leave the previous vet. And there is more to it than that. I happen to drive past the previous vet's clinic routinely. There are almost never cars parked there now. My new vet's parking lot is almost always nearly filled. There's a reason...
Let's just say Loki was pretty thoroughly subdued by the time we left! But he is better already even before his 1st appetite ear gel application (once a day, alternating ears). And he is purring and wandering around the house again. When I sat on the edge of the bed last night to change my shoes for slippers (I do love my soft slippers), he came over and rested his chin on my leg!
He is "perkier". He drank some water. I pushed some food into his mouth and he swallowed it. Later, he actually ate some food on his own. Oddly some moistened kibble; but whatever he will eat is good. The vet said "stinkier" is better, so I will buy a can of sardines and/or tuna later today.
Lori is being a B****! Even after 7 days, she hisses and Loki and Bliq whenever she sees them even from the full length of the house. She even hisses at Marley sometimes close-up. Fortunately, Marley is calm about it. As are Loki and Bliq. Well, that makes sense. They wouldn't have been in the shelter community room is they weren't calm about other cats.
So Loki should be better in a few days. If not, I have an appointment for Binq to visit on Monday for a general exam and the vet said I can bring Loki in too if he is still having problems. So things are looking better.
Binq seems to be healthy and happy, so I am not worried about her. I just want her to have a general exam. Temperature, teeth, ears (check for mites), heart rate, etc. And claw-clips! She is a bit too enthusiastic with her claws. But even then, she is less so the past couple days. I had to tap her on the head with a finger a few times and she seems to have gotten the message.
Neither Loki nor Binq have slept on the bed with me yet, but I'm sure that will happen soon enough. I'm pretty sure they will both fit in well in another week or so. I don't blame them for hesitating. Shelter life can't be easy.
The shelter people told me what they knew about both. There are some medical records and both are up-to-date on shots. They didn't know much about Loki. He just seems to have "arrived" one day and is about 4-6 years old. Weighed 8.9 pounds. And they didn't even have a name for him. But he was orangish (actually more ginger), so they named him "Pumpkin". HAD to change that.
Bliq came in with 2 siblings. Apparently, the family had a "surprise litter". They didn't know their new female arrived pregnant. The guy showed up and said "we have too many". So at least the shelter knew something about her. She is 2 years, 2 months old. 7-8 pounds, but I'll get an official weighing Monday. I would weigh her myself, but she fights about being picked up. I have too many scratches to force i myself, LOL!
But things are looking positive. Now I just have to get Lori calmed down...