Monday, November 15, 2010

A Tale of Two Kitties

get it? A Tale of Two Cities Kitties : )


So this little kitty when to the vet for a checkup that I've been putting off since February. I'm not sure if you've noticed but she's a little let's just say, temperamental. Her chart at the vet is flagged because she's (and I'm quoting the vet from the last time we were there), "one of the worst he's ever seen." Awesome. Well she started losing weight so I figured it was time to do something. They sedated her and I told them to do whatever they wanted while she was out--change the oil, rotate the tires, the whole enchilada! Turns out she has hyperthyroidism. So the treatments are a transdermal gel applied twice a day to her ear, surgery, or some kind of radioactive chemotherapy that means we'd have to separate her from us, the other animals, and especially Katherine for 2 weeks. Awesome. We've decided to try the gel although it does require blood work routinely. Not sure how that's going to go...

$362 on Monday at the vet for Kitty...


This little kitty went to the vet because she has oily fur and issues with excessive licking. She was an angel at the vet no matter what they did to her. ( And apparently vets don't have patient/doctor confidentiality because we saw the other vet with Pixie and he said while he examining her, "she's great, you should have seen the cat we had in here Monday." And I said, "I have, trust me. It was mine too.") Turns out she was negative for all normal causes of oily skin and grooming so we did blood work to rule out metabolic causes--also negative. So now we're trying a diet change to rule out a food allergy. The vet's suggestion: venison and green pea (or rabbit and green pea, we went with venison--yumm!). They should call it kitty gold at $32 for a six pound bag. If this doesn't work, he wants us to go see a dermatologist--awesome!

$282 on Wednesday at the vet for Pixie plus the $32 food plus $30 for Kitty's medication; and Robin and Charlie went wah, wah, wah all the way to the bank!

(don't you just the love the combo of some classic Dickens with a children's tale)

2 comments:

  1. Tipper was afraid of Kitty -- the cat came with a reputation and an attitude! Note the slits for eyes -- should give you an inkling of what's going to happen should you try anything with her!

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  2. Let's see... If we estimate the remaining lifespan of Kitty, it would probably be ~7 more years.

    If you have 2 vet visits a year at $300/each (with sedation) = $600/year x 7 years = $4200 total. Then add $30 for the thyroid gel (let's estimate you'll need 3 refills/year) = $90/year x 7 years = $630 total. Plus, additional bloodwork 5 times/year, estimated at $60 x 5 = $300/year x 7 years = $2,100 total.

    So overall, this hellcat will cost you approximately $6,930 over the next 7 years (give or take a few bucks).

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