First I must make an apology to the PWB Peeps for not being around last evening to post the Monday evening diary. At the time, I was tending to a real-life crisis with one of my two pooties… Tiger (in pic above).
I had been feeling poorly all weekend long. Either I’m suffering the early effects of allergy season, or I picked up a bug somewhere, because along with my ongoing leg wound and chronic pain, I had a killer headache, congestion, no appetite to speak of, and could barely keep my eyes open most of the time. I was even starting to fear that I might be getting septic again, but after my wound clinic visit on Monday, that was ruled out. It appears it’s just a virus/cold, allergy or sinus infection (they weren’t sure).
I got home around 5pm, exhausted as always, and after a quick bit of soup, tried to take a nap. I had been lying down only about 30 minutes or so, though, when I heard a sharp yowl come from my tiny bathroom, where the litterbox is located. Since Smokey was lying next to me on the bed, I knew that sound was coming from Tiger. I jumped up, thinking he had somehow gotten hurt or caught a mouse or something. Instead, he was using the litterbox, but obviously having a difficult time.
When he finished, I checked his rump, which looked swollen and irritated. Then I checked the box itself, and found his “deposit. Worse, I found it streaked with blood.
I must admit, I panicked a bit. Not only is this the first time he’s had any kind of health problem since I rescued him as a 4-day old kitten (almost 10 years ago), but my past experience with bloody stools (with my late husband) was that it was an indication of a gastric bleeding episode. So I was terrified there was something seriously wrong with Tiger — possibly even life threatening.
Since our previous vet had moved his practice to another county, I had been looking for a vet already, but this was urgent, and it was now well-past business hours for most vets. There was one emergency vet clinic, however, so I called them and explained the situation, and they advised I should bring both Tiger and the stool with me right away.
Of course, due to my financial situation, I had to ask about fees. Because it’s an emergency center, they require payment in full at time of service, and can’t really estimate the costs until they see the animal and what may be needed. So I basically had to pull cash from the moving fund to hopefully cover the costs.
Thankfully, it turned out that it wasn’t something as serious as internal bleeding. It took nearly all night (they do their own testing so you get lab results faster), but in the end they determined that Tiger was constipated, and also had a small fungal infection around his “exit” hole… likely caused by failing to clean the area thoroughly enough. They said this is likely because Tiger is a bit overweight and probably can’t reach it as well as he did before — nor does he let his sister anywhere near his “private” area.
They gave him some fluids, as well as medicine to help soften his stools. They also gave me a special antiseptic to apply to the “exit” area, which I also have to clean with a warm/damp cloth twice a day to help the infection clear up.
As for the constipation, since its the first time he’s had that problem, they don’t think it’s chronic. They suggested that I add a couple of drops of vegetable oil to his dry food, and give him at least half a small can (Fancy Feast size) of gushy food daily until his rear clears up and he seems to have no more difficulty in the litter box. They also said that small streaks of blood (they didn’t look all that “small” to me at the time!!) are not a major concern, as it may just be the result of straining… but if the amount increases, I must bring him back asap.
They did NOT give him his regular shots, both because they said it should wait until this issue is cleared up, and because they don’t do regular vet care — only emergency care. So I still have to find a regular vet as well.
By the time Tiger was ready to come home (around 6am), the bill was up to $389 (including tax). All that without even a surgery or anything… just the IV, tests and meds. Even though I may have overreacted a bit at first, I’m not sorry that I took Tiger in right away, as waiting even for the next day to get a regular vet instead of the emergency vet could only have resulted in him having more pain and discomfort all night long.
However, at this point, I am desperately in need of funds. Even without replacing the money that had to come from the moving fund, I have almost no cash of my own left as well. I have actually been broke since last week, but I was too sick over the weekend to post a diary, so I borrowed $50 from the moving fund to get me through until Monday — never realizing that I’d have to end up dipping in even further to pay for Tiger’s medical emergency.
I don’t want to dip any further into the moving fund, as if I keep doing that, I’ll never be able to move. But even without replacing the money already borrowed from it right now, I still have to get through the rest of the month. I still have some money left on the Pet Smart gift card I was sent, so I can get the gushy food and all… but I’m running out of human food (food stamps are gone until next month), I need to put gas in the car (gas prices are back to nearly $3/gal here, so my 10 gallon tank is a nearly $30 charge), and I have to do that tomorrow to get to the wound clinic.
I know I should have posted this earlier, but by the time I got home with Tiger this morning, cleaned and treated his rear section, fed him some gushy food, and got something to eat myself, I absolutely HAD to go to bed, and I was so exhausted that I didn’t even wake up from pain (as I usually do every 3-4 hours) until mid-afternoon, then had to go right back to bed as soon as I took my meds, because I could barely keep my eyes open that long.
When I finally woke up again, I had to eat something myself, take more meds, treat Tiger’s rear once more, and check on Smokey to make sure she wasn’t catching whatever fungus he has (they do share the litter box). So far, she appears to be fine though (thankfully!!).
So I am very much in need of some financial help right away. At the very least, I need about $200 to get through the end of this month, for the combination of human food, gas for the car, and the medical supplies I can’t get through Amazon (the large surgical pads especially — I did recently get some gauze rolls and Neosporin cream sent to me, so that helps).
Ideally, I’d need to raise $650 to cover both my current financial needs and to replace the money I had to borrow from the moving expenses fund to cover Tiger’s vet costs. But at the very least, I need to get through the next week (and then there’s May). That’s the most urgent goal.
If you can help, my Paypal is: MOELOE1126 at AOL dot COM
Also, here’s the link to my Amazon wishlist, where the items I need most right now are the Advil and aspirin (Advil especially, because of the cost).
If you cannot help financially, then I only ask that you share the link to this diary with others who might be willing and able to help. Every little bit counts.
Thank you all, so much!!