Bassetluv
Well-Known Member
Thought I'd start a new year with a new blog for the dynamic bunny duo. I've included a link to their old blog here (though I can't for the life of me figure out how to hide the actual url).
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=28182&forum_id=6[Yofi and Anna 2009]
Anyway, starting off 2010 with a few pictures of His Royal Hareness and Queen Anna, and also one of my cat Fritz, and a story (well, more of a rant, really) of what happened with him this weekend.
First, the pics:
This one needs a bit of explaining. I was trying to take a nice shot of Anna, and had waited patiently until she was looking at the camera - which took a while, as Anna tends to move here and there quite a bit (I'd swear she has ants in her bunny pants at times). Anyway, just as I got her in the viewfinder, I hit the button to take the picture...and at that very same moment, Yofi decided he wanted all of the attention. He had thrust his head right at me, knocking me off balance, cutting Anna half out of the picture, and totally ruining the shot. Oh, but we do get to see a lovely photo of Mr. I Want To Be Seen's whiskers. Sheesh.
The Dastardly Duo, hangin' out at the doorway to their room.
'Hai Mom!!'
"The Kiss"
And here's one of my cat, Fritz:
It's a long story, but this weekend cost me $500 because of Fritz. I came home on Friday night - arriving rather late - and as soon as I got in I went to the kitchen and put food down for Kaya and Fritz. Fritz, who was curled up in Kaya's bed - very unusual for him, as he always lies on his perch in the window - got up to go and eat. He stepped out of the bed and fell over. Got up, took two steps, and fell over again. Got up again, staggered across the room to his food dish, and fell on his side. Then he thrust his head into the food dish and began to eat.
I was horrified. I'd left for work that morning with Fritz wandering the house quietly, but normally, and then settling in for his morning snooze. And now here he was, just hours later, barely able to stand? What had happened to him? The first thing I thought of was that he'd somehow fallen off his window seat and had hurt his back. Then I thought that maybe he'd had a stroke. After all, he was 15...getting up there in years for a cat. Yet he was eating, purring, and acting perfectly normal...except for the fact that he was walking like a drunken sailor...a pretty tired one at that.
Unfortunately all of the vet clinics were closed at that time of night, save for the emergency clinic out the west end of the city. Having no car, and living in a city that is so behind the times it won't allow a pet in a carrier on the bus...and taxis won't allow them in their cabs...I had no way to get him out there. I called my sister, but she had her kids with her and couldn't go; I could have tried my brother, but knew he probably wouldn't pick up the phone at that time of night. So I reluctantly decided that since Fritz was not in any obvious pain, I'd wait until morning and get him to a clinic near me then. At bedtime he curled up next to me, his rumblepurr loud and clear, insisting that he too sleep under the covers.
The next morning I called not one, not two...but three vet clinics in my area, telling them that my cat was having a great deal of difficulty walking, and could someone please find a way to see him without an appointment. All three reacted the same: "That sounds pretty serious...he needs to see a vet right away." (I agreed.) "But he doesn't have an appointment, so sorry, but we can't see him". After the third time being told this, I was getting quite upset. Finally I called my brother in desperation and asked him to take me to the emergency clinic, which he did...and we then spent the next couple of hours there, waiting to see a vet. Finally I got Fritz into a waiting room, and the vet walked in and examined him. She couldn't reach any conclusions with just an exam, but suggested he be admitted for tests; she didn't think it was a stroke, but suggested things like cancer, a pinched nerve from a fall, or a neurological disorder. Then she tallied up how much it would cost for IV, an overnight stay, blood tests, etc., and she showed me the total: $990. And this was just for tests...who knows how much they planned on charging for treatments, if any was warranted?
I opted instead to have them do bloodwork and urinalysis as a starting point, and I took Fritz back home with me. The vet assured me that they would have the results by late afternoon, and she'd call me to let me know what they showed. So I waited. And waited. And waited. And didn't get a call. Finally I decided to phone them instead as I was tired of waiting to hear, but when I did...they were closed. So this morning I tried them again...only to hear that same recording. Closed. Again. So now I have to wait until Monday morning to try and get in touch with the vet, to try and see if they found out anything. And what angers me in all of this is that every clinic that refused to see Fritz told me to take him to the emergency clinic - the one that charges you $130 upfront just to walk through the door, even before you see a vet - because they guarantee test results right away, which could potentially be crucial to the recovery of an animal. Not only did I not get any results, but was charged $489 for those two tests. arrgh!
However, the one good thing in all of this is the fact that Fritz is definitely looking better. He's no longer staggering around, he's eating his food and is much less lethargic. I still have no idea what it was (or is), and am still hoping to find out it was minor. But for now, he's still my happy, purring cat, insisting on taking up half of the space in my bed at night, and continuing to be my goodnatured rumblecat.
P.S. Will have more Anna and Yofi stories later, promise!
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=28182&forum_id=6[Yofi and Anna 2009]
Anyway, starting off 2010 with a few pictures of His Royal Hareness and Queen Anna, and also one of my cat Fritz, and a story (well, more of a rant, really) of what happened with him this weekend.
First, the pics:
This one needs a bit of explaining. I was trying to take a nice shot of Anna, and had waited patiently until she was looking at the camera - which took a while, as Anna tends to move here and there quite a bit (I'd swear she has ants in her bunny pants at times). Anyway, just as I got her in the viewfinder, I hit the button to take the picture...and at that very same moment, Yofi decided he wanted all of the attention. He had thrust his head right at me, knocking me off balance, cutting Anna half out of the picture, and totally ruining the shot. Oh, but we do get to see a lovely photo of Mr. I Want To Be Seen's whiskers. Sheesh.
The Dastardly Duo, hangin' out at the doorway to their room.
'Hai Mom!!'
"The Kiss"
And here's one of my cat, Fritz:
It's a long story, but this weekend cost me $500 because of Fritz. I came home on Friday night - arriving rather late - and as soon as I got in I went to the kitchen and put food down for Kaya and Fritz. Fritz, who was curled up in Kaya's bed - very unusual for him, as he always lies on his perch in the window - got up to go and eat. He stepped out of the bed and fell over. Got up, took two steps, and fell over again. Got up again, staggered across the room to his food dish, and fell on his side. Then he thrust his head into the food dish and began to eat.
I was horrified. I'd left for work that morning with Fritz wandering the house quietly, but normally, and then settling in for his morning snooze. And now here he was, just hours later, barely able to stand? What had happened to him? The first thing I thought of was that he'd somehow fallen off his window seat and had hurt his back. Then I thought that maybe he'd had a stroke. After all, he was 15...getting up there in years for a cat. Yet he was eating, purring, and acting perfectly normal...except for the fact that he was walking like a drunken sailor...a pretty tired one at that.
Unfortunately all of the vet clinics were closed at that time of night, save for the emergency clinic out the west end of the city. Having no car, and living in a city that is so behind the times it won't allow a pet in a carrier on the bus...and taxis won't allow them in their cabs...I had no way to get him out there. I called my sister, but she had her kids with her and couldn't go; I could have tried my brother, but knew he probably wouldn't pick up the phone at that time of night. So I reluctantly decided that since Fritz was not in any obvious pain, I'd wait until morning and get him to a clinic near me then. At bedtime he curled up next to me, his rumblepurr loud and clear, insisting that he too sleep under the covers.
The next morning I called not one, not two...but three vet clinics in my area, telling them that my cat was having a great deal of difficulty walking, and could someone please find a way to see him without an appointment. All three reacted the same: "That sounds pretty serious...he needs to see a vet right away." (I agreed.) "But he doesn't have an appointment, so sorry, but we can't see him". After the third time being told this, I was getting quite upset. Finally I called my brother in desperation and asked him to take me to the emergency clinic, which he did...and we then spent the next couple of hours there, waiting to see a vet. Finally I got Fritz into a waiting room, and the vet walked in and examined him. She couldn't reach any conclusions with just an exam, but suggested he be admitted for tests; she didn't think it was a stroke, but suggested things like cancer, a pinched nerve from a fall, or a neurological disorder. Then she tallied up how much it would cost for IV, an overnight stay, blood tests, etc., and she showed me the total: $990. And this was just for tests...who knows how much they planned on charging for treatments, if any was warranted?
I opted instead to have them do bloodwork and urinalysis as a starting point, and I took Fritz back home with me. The vet assured me that they would have the results by late afternoon, and she'd call me to let me know what they showed. So I waited. And waited. And waited. And didn't get a call. Finally I decided to phone them instead as I was tired of waiting to hear, but when I did...they were closed. So this morning I tried them again...only to hear that same recording. Closed. Again. So now I have to wait until Monday morning to try and get in touch with the vet, to try and see if they found out anything. And what angers me in all of this is that every clinic that refused to see Fritz told me to take him to the emergency clinic - the one that charges you $130 upfront just to walk through the door, even before you see a vet - because they guarantee test results right away, which could potentially be crucial to the recovery of an animal. Not only did I not get any results, but was charged $489 for those two tests. arrgh!
However, the one good thing in all of this is the fact that Fritz is definitely looking better. He's no longer staggering around, he's eating his food and is much less lethargic. I still have no idea what it was (or is), and am still hoping to find out it was minor. But for now, he's still my happy, purring cat, insisting on taking up half of the space in my bed at night, and continuing to be my goodnatured rumblecat.
P.S. Will have more Anna and Yofi stories later, promise!
