Poor Ink, Part 2

Under loud protests, The Young One and I wrangled Ink into the cat carrier for the trip to the vet. Ink meowed his disapproval for the entire 5 mile trip to Banfield Animal Hospital in the Petco at the mall.

The store had just opened and there was no waiting patients at the vet reception desk. I explained the situation to the receptionist. She asked if we had an appointment. No. The only vet on duty was in surgery which would take several hours.

Seriously? Only one vet on duty in surgery for several hours and no one else to at least triage? Ink is overdue for his shots so the receptionist said she couldn't even keep him there to wait for the vet. Ironic that you can send your kids to school if their vaccinations aren't complete, but your pet can't even wait at the vet's.

I made an appointment to go back on Monday afternoon. I wasn't too concerned. His injury didn't seem too serious. He was still limping, but not as badly as the night before. I could have taken him to Tufts Veterinary School of Medicine, but they are horrendously expensive.

When Mitty got hit by a car 19 years ago, we ended up at Tufts. It was a Sunday and all the area vets were closed. Mitty was put in intensive care to be evaluated overnight. The following day, I made the sad decision to put him down as his injuries were too extensive. His one night stay and euthanization was almost as much as the C-section I had when The Eldest came along.

I also didn't want to make the trip to Tufts just to be told there was nothing seriously wrong and time would heal Ink. Cha-ching, please.

So with Ink screaming at us the 5 miles back, we headed home. On a whim, I stopped at the vet in town where we used to bring Ink (left due to rising costs and unnecessary tests) I thought the vet would be closed, but there were cars in the parking lot. I left the kids in the car and went into the office.

Again asked if I had an appointment. The vet technician  after listening to my story, said the vets were booked and there wasn't a time to squeeze Ink in to be seen.

Sandy had commented yesterday about her cat: Chuck used to always be jumping down from somewhere and would occasionally land wrong. He'd limp around for a day or so then be fine.

The vet technician said the same thing as Ink's injury didn't sound like a real emergency to him. And I agree. Ink is eating, drinking, and using the litter box. He jumped up on the front window to watch the birds and squirrel at the feeder. Later in the evening, Ink cuddled with us while we watched television. Not much change in his behavior.

So, thank you all for the kind get well wishes for Ink. We'll be keeping the Monday appointment to get Ink's shots up to date and to have his paw looked at.