Letters to the Editor
-
vets cut costs?
After running through several letters posted, it's clear to me that no one yet is asking if it is necessary for the vet to charge so much for costs. The cost of care may well be high, but it's just as clear to me that (aside from the decent vets, and there are decent vets) there is a tremendous degree of sheer greed and guilt-tripping out there, masquerading as care and concern. Also a considerable degree of guesswork masquerading as science. I wonder just what the results would be if one were to do a cost-effectiveness study of selected veterinary practices? Shocking, I'd guess. As for me, I'll struggle to pay for my pet, but not the doctor's Porsche.
Somewhere I'd guess there is a handbook that tells the unscrupulous vet how to load on the tasks and the charges when it's clear a pet is going to die, or maybe it's on the job training. At those moments, or really at any time, one needs a second opinion, either a vet or a convenient reference manual. For a manual, I'd recommend something called the "5 Minute Veterinary Consult" which is a reference book on a wide variety of diseases for generalist vets that is relatively comprehensible to the layman armed with a medical dictionary. At least it offers you the opportunity to consider alternative diagnoses and to ask probing questions.
-
Ever been to a third world country?
Even though some on this board seem to make suppositions that human life is always on a different level than an animal's life, a trip to India might change that. Human labor is a commodity, and children work construction sites. People are starving and dying in the streets. They can live their daily lives by believing in Karma.
My wife and I have 3 cats. Anyone who knows cats realizes they are distinct personalities. They sulk when scolded, and bond with humans they like. When we got our last two, we got home and they immediately came down with distemper. We almost lost them. A trip to Tufts and thousands of dollars later, and they are healthy and happy and invaluable companions.
I understand that sometimes a choice has to be made. Years ago we had a cat with chronic renal failure, and decided not to spend thousands on a new kidney for him. We let him go and that was the humane thing to do.
If you feel that you are choosing between a big screen TV and paying to treat a cat who can recover his/her health, go ahead and buy the big screen TV. Give your cat to a better person, it deserves it.
I recommend William S. Burroughs "cat inside" to those who really appreciate the feline species.
-
Wet Food
You make good points. I try to leave vets out of it as much as possible. Mutts are made of strong stock and can usually handle human remedies for small things.
Wet food for male cats - I know, not very glamorous. Seven years ago my parent's cat had the same condition and it was a huge scare. They paid for it, but swore never again. The cat is now 14 with no end it sight and on a wet food diet, and it's nothing fancy, just Friskies. It reduces the sediment that dry food leaves that leads to the blockage.
-
I have two cats and two dogs so
my vet bills are fairly substantial each year anyway. I recently spent $400 on a stray dog. $400 I didn't really have. Luckily, my vet worked with me. He discounted his services by 20% (the original bill was $500) and I paid the rest in installments. And together we saved the dog's life. He had been hit by a car and had a broken hip. The vet said ideally he needed orthopedic surgery which would run about $2500. I couldn't do that. But the dog was young (we think about 10 months old) and he healed, and now doesn't even limp.
He was just a puppy and he was so brave, I couldn't be the one to decide to end his life. But I understand people who don't choose to spend hundreds on animals. And I don't judge them. Animals aren't people.
Another thing, everyone doesn't spend hundreds of dollars on lattes a year. Everyone doesn't have extra piles cash lying around. Most people I know live paycheck to paycheck and are actually pretty frugal. I can't afford to pay $300 for pet insurance for each animal. I budget annual vet visits and shots and I deal as best I can with whatever health issues arise.
-
Dexter
My cat Dexter fell from a 3rd floor window when he was a young cat. The bone in his right foreleg was shattered. Surgery and recovery eventually cost over $2000. But he was my cat, my pal, my writing buddy, who sat atop my desk in the sun as I worked and sometimes climbed into my lap to help. We sometimes sat in the afternoon sun watching squirrels play in the tree outside my window. At night he curled up next to me and slept until morning.
Dexter later developed the classic male urinary tract problem. It recurred several times throughout his life, eventually accumulating well over another thousand dollars in expenses. More than once he came close to death, but he always recovered, often exhibiting more strength and vitality than before. This recurrent problem weakened Dexter's kidneys so that, at the relatively young age of nine years, he passed away from a kidney infection.
There were many times I faced the option to end his life. Something always compelled the choice of life over death. Finally, as he lay suffering from the failure of his body, I had no choice. All the previous times meant nothing at that moment. At that moment I knew the thousands had been worth it. As I held him in my arms, listening to his breath become shallow and feeling the life seep out of him, I knew that I hadn't paid thousands to save a cat or a pet, but had instead saved a friend, a friend who was now leaving me. He had been a source of much joy and laughter and warmth in my life, which is (as all our lives are) all too often bereft of such things.
The empty place in my heart that echoes now with the absence of his presence tells me all I need to know. Love is worth every penny. Every penny. Anyone who puts a price cap on love is a fool.