Edward's Vet Bills

I visited Edward this morning with a can of his favorite food. Mister picky-eater had been offered one of each kind of food the pet clinic keeps on hand, and was only marginally interested in those. I can understand, I guess, since I'm not a fan of "hospital food" myself.

Well, with "mommy" by his side holding a dish of his favorite food, Edward ate it! He literally scarfed down about 1/4 cup of wet food in 15 seconds. Feeling encouraged, I left another can of food with the nurses, who told me to call back later once the vet had a chance to evaluate him.

later today: I called back and Ed ate more food, enough that they took him off of IV and gave him a little litter pan to try out. (Can't go in a litter box with an IV on your leg, really) I've never been so glad to hear that my cat POOPED! A little turd, apparently, and somewhat soft, but a sign that food is now passing normally through his digestive system.

So Edward is coming home! I'm off to pick him up in about an hour, and stock up on that yummy favorite food for him. The house has been thouroughly cleaned and cat-proofed (as much as possible) and ready for his return.

The best news: The clinic is using their charitable fund to cover whatever costs of Edward's surgery and week-long hospital stay I can't cover. Thanks you you all, I'm able to pay off the $300 I already spent at the clinic and still pay them something, so that the charitable fund can help someone else this year. (I'm also in communication with my credit card company to dispute the charge at the mc-pet-clinic I went to first that did useless tests [seriously, a leukemia test was needed?] and sent home a seriously ill kitty.)

If you live in Tucson and have pets, I cannot more highly recommend Santa Cruz Vet Clinic - they are true miracle workers, and put compassion for animals and owners above profits. I do love them, but I also hope that we won't have to be back until a year from now, when Ed comes back for his 4th birthday and annual check-up! :)

If you have time, please read Edward's story below. (posts are in reverse chronological order - the latest updates are at the top, and the beginnings of his ordeal are towards the bottom)

The longer Ed is in recovery from his serious surgery, the more these bills start stacking up. I want to thank everyone who has chipped in, as well as those unable to help financially who have sent well-wishes and reassurances and passed this link along on their own website or myspace. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I know Edward thanks you too. :)

one week since Edward started vomiting and being seriously ill, he's still at the vet. poor kitty.

latest update: I just got off the phone with Dr. Riley. Edward's fever from Wednesday has gone down, but not all the way. (he's still running 0.9 degrees F over normal) it's good that it's not super high now (normal for kitties is 102F, Wednesday Ed was over 105F (not good!) and now he's pretty consistent with the 102.9 since yesterday) but still isn't ideal.

Dr. Riley keeps reminding me that we're "not out of the woods yet" and that he's still concerned that Edward's appetite hasn't returned. Apparently the vet tech brought him some "cat food soup" this morning (can't eat anything crunchy yet) and all Ed did was look at it, sniff it, and then sit back down. Oh, Edward! Now is not the time to be a picky eater! The doc says it isn't necessarily a bad sign that he isn't eating yet; considering the extent of both the damage and the surgery, it's understandable that Edward's recovery will be slow, but the longer he goes without eating the more concerned we all are.

Thank you all so much for your thoughts, prayers, and support. Keep passing this link along, and keep pulling for Edward - I know he can make it! :)

latest update: Well, we weren't expecting Ed to be recovered from his major major surgery after only 24 hours, so I can't be too worried, but he's running a little fever (which can be normal after a surgery) but as an overprotective kitty-mommy I'm obviously worried. He also threw up a little this morning. I'm hoping this is just because his stomach is pissed off from being opened up, and he should be regulated and healing again tomorrow.

By the time I got off work and could call today Dr. Riley was already out but I talked to one of the pet-nurses who has been watching him, and she said "he's just hanging out in the back, taking it easy, trying to rest." (as well as relaying the info about the fever etc) - I was thinking about going to visit him but I worry it might stress him out a little to think he's going home but still have to stay and get his rest in the kennel, not to mention stressful on me to see him half-shaved and on an IV drip.

So he has to stay at the clinic until he can eat (and poo) solid food again, at which point he can come home and be on "bedrest" here as he continues to heal. I'm taking advantage of the time he's out of the house to clean EVERYWHERE - especially those places behind large furniture that rarely get vaccuumed, because I'm NEVER letting him eat anything stupid like that string again! Let's hope in his remaining 8 lives he keeps away from string. :)

Thanks so much for your support and for passing along this link. I'm working on getting the thank you letters out as soon as possible. love you all!

24 March 2009 6:01pm

A brief look back at the last 24 hours - last night Ed had started on the barium series; as of last post the barium was halfway through the cat, moving at a somewhat normal rate, but may have shown something in the esophagus, though it wasn't clear what. at least another 12 hours of observation / hourly x-rays was needed.

Today at noon - news that the barium spent nearly half a day in Ed's stomach, then he threw it up. not good. Clearly, something is very wrong. Exploratory surgery is suggested; on my lunch break from work i give the vet the OK to "open up the cat" and look around.

Results - Apparently, Ed had somehow managed to find a string about 2 feet long, and swallow it. but not from one end or the other - from the middle. In doing so he got the string looped around the back of his tongue, but swallowed the other two ends, each about a foot long.

Now, the esophagus and bowel have muscle contractions that serve to squeeze food down along the path, like an inchworm inching, figuratively. Since the string was wrapped around Edward's tongue, though, as the muscles tried to pull the string down, they instead essentially "climbed up" the string. Dr. Riley said his esophagus and bowel looked like an accordion. They had been pulling at it so long that in some areas the string had cut into his esophagus and bowel; where the cuts were relatively "clean" they could be closed up; a good portion of his bowel was so damaged, it had to be removed. This means my cat now has a slightly shorter intestine. And because the string binds into the bowel, it can't just be pulled out - he had to make 3 different incisions to get the string out in pieces.

One place where Ed's intestine was damaged was adjacent to the pancreas; Dr. Riley didn't try to remove this section of the intestine due to its proximity to the pancreas, an organ which shouldn't be messed with if not absolutely necessary.

Of course, Edward will be staying at the clinic for a few days, on IV fluids because he can't eat yet, and keeping under observation to make sure things heal up properly and don't leak. I was reminded that we aren't out of the woods yet; recovering from such a major surgery is difficult. I have no idea how much this is going to end up costing us; I'm starting to put in some of these applications for grants and foundation funds ASAP, but who knows (in this economy) how much these charities will have available. All I know right now is that Ed is alive, but not out of the woods yet.

I want to thank everyone who has chipped in to help out, and those who have been able to pass this link on to friends or re-post it on their blog or myspace or etc.

In less than 3 weeks, Edward will have his 3rd birthday. Let's hope that there will be many many more to follow.

So we don't even have a confirmed diagnosis for what's wrong with Edward yet, but I was able to get a referral to a different vet, this clinic in South Tucson that has really low prices, and the doctor and nurses there really seem to know what they're doing. I begin to wonder if all the tests we did Saturday were silly - the new vet pointed out how oral medications probably won't help much if my cat is throwing up (duh); I probably should have gone to Santa Cruz Vet Clinic first, but I didn't know about them until this morning.

Anyway, Ed's case is looking like a possible bowel obstruction- the first two x-rays didn't show anything hard (metallic or bone) but that doesn't rule anything out; it could very well be something like cloth or paper or string causing a blockage or even entangling his intestines.

If it was something that would pass naturally (like hairball or constipation) then it would have already passed by now, or Ed would have at least started eating something. But since Friday night, no appetite and no food consumed, as well as nothing passing through.



So what they're doing now is a barium series - essentially they get the cat to swallow barium, which shows up on x-rays, and they take a series of slides every 20 minutes or so and follow the barium along its path. If it stops somewhere before going all the way through they'll know where the blockage is. at which point we can start to figure out what to DO about it. and that's where the big-ticket surgery comes in.

So I've left my cat (and a $300 deposit) in South Tucson. Possibly overnight. Poor Sweetie. Thank you again everyone for donating and for passing this on. You have no idea how much this means to me. Thank you thank you thank you. And I am sure that Edward thanks you, too.

Those who follow me on facebook or twitter or who i obsessively text about the ongoing events of my day will likely know that my beloved cat Edward has been very sick lately; Saturday we spent 3 hours at the vet and $235 - the original estimate was $478 but I don't have enough available credit on any card to pay for that - so we postponed the X-Rays and made the best guess from what tests the vet did perform; It's been a little over 24 hours and Ed is still not getting much better - it's looking like we'll be going back to the vet first thing in the morning, maybe getting those $250 x-rays after all, and we'll find out what else is needed after that.

I've never really felt so incredibly responsible for another life until now - now that Edward is really sick I realize how totally dependent he is on me, and how I would do anything in my power to make sure that he is alright - tragically, my partner Alex was laid off from one job in November and just lost another job earlier this month. I applied for and was denied "care credit" - the major credit card / payment plan for veterinary and medical bills, probably because I have too much debt already, just from trying to survive the past few years of joblessness and financial hardship.

I've been trolling the internet all night looking for organizations and charities that offer grants for animal medical care, and I'm applying to as many as I can, but just as many sites also listed ChipIn as an option - some grants even REQUIRE that applicants also do their own fundraising to help pay the bills.

I've asked everyone in my family for help, and they're doing what they can, but everyone is suffering financially right now, and they really can't promise much, if anything.

So here I am, sucking up my pride and asking friends, acquaintances, total strangers for help. I feel so bad about it, but I have no idea what else to do. Really, don't feel obligated or guilty about contributing, but if you have $5 you could spare or you'd be willing to buy me a drink to cheer me up, put that $4 drink in the fund instead.

Thank you, all of you, and here's hoping both that this fundraiser works, and that whatever further treatment Edward needs makes him once again happy, healthy, and whole.