April 3, 2004
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Bummer Days
You would never guess that Nike is missing his upper left canine this morning. When I took him a few weeks ago for his regular yearly shots and exam, the vet said he had broken off that tooth far enough down that it could get infected and it was either approximately $600 for a root canal (that might or might not work) or $400 to pull it. I won’t even break down the various costs that go into that astronomical figure. Of course, even contemplating that amount of money put me in Paranoid Picked-On Pissed-Off Unfair Outraged mode, but what choice do I have as a responsible pet owner? This particular cat is the sweetest, gentlest soul, one of the strays that showed up in my back yard and stayed. Boy, did he hit the mother lode. So anyway, after calling around a bit to other vets to compare prices, I decided to go ahead and stay with my vet of many years. So I took him in Thursday night so he could be kept foodless and picked him up Friday late afternoon. I hated the whole project so much (not only because of the price but because of him having to lose one of his major teeth) that I was the opposite of nice to the desk girls who checked him in. (Aren’t they part of the The Plot?) See, I had a couple of molars of my own pulled in recent years – they’re way in the back but I can’t replace them with anything because they’re back teeth, important teeth, teeth that I figured show when I grin. I think it changed my grinning capacity forever. I had to grieve that. So I had to grieve Nike’s canine, even if he didn’t probably. Anyway, he sailed through. Now he has to take antibiotics for a few days but he’ll probably do fine. And you’d never guess, right?
Deep Thought: Life is a constant battle between the heart and the brain. But guess who wins. The skeleton.
Today I am grateful for: Liquid cat antibiotics so you don’t have to stuff a pill down their throat
Comments (10)
Gorgeous cat!!! Those vet bills can be rather incredible, Can’t they?!! It almost makes pet insurance worth it when things like that come along. Sounds like they had to do it surgically like impacted wisdom teeth… poor kitty.
The things we do for the critters we love. I’ve been in the same boat with Bunzilla! and Solon, more than once! Ughhh… but it has been worth it. After the shock was over!
That cat is so cute. Yes, it is a balance of heart and body. Vets are so expensive. It is dilemna.
Thanks so much for your nice comment about speaking up about Bush. I have just found so many people are afraid to because they get jumped on by religious zealots. I believe in God but I would never infringe my religious beliefs on another person or make the government bend my way in governing the laws of the land. Thank you so much for saying what you did.
We have been fortunate that the three cats who were abandoned with us five years ago when their owner decided not to come back from Florida after having us housesit his place here “for the winter,” have had no health problems. On the other hand, we have the most expensive free puppy in the world.
I came here from your daughter’s site. She’s my latest subscriber. You and I have in common cats (our family feeds and in winter takes warm water everyday to a colony of feral ones across the highway from here), ideas about spirituality (“…everything you do… everything you say… etc.”), and the Hashbury, although my time there was spent mostly with Hells Angels and speed freaks. I’m sure there’s more and I’ll be around to find out.
Your “Friday five” caught my eye. After reading some of my memoir blogs, LuckyStars asked me how many places I’d lived. I did a rough count and came up with 108, I think, then added a couple later that I eventually recalled. Could that be right? …seems like too many. Maybe I can find the envelope I made the list on….
Okay, you’re finding out right now that I’m likely to blog in your comments box. I just want to add that we also have in common a quirky sense of humor and a fondness for good serial killer stories, although my favorites are true ones.
Hi. Stumbled across your site while randomly surfing.
Your cat is beautiful! I also love cats. I really like your site too, it’s nice! Come visit me sometime if you’d like.
Props!
Glad your kitty is doing better! He is a beaut. Pricey vet. My cat had an infected tooth and had to have one pulled and it only cost around $100.
Poor cat…I found out I need to brush Chinnie’s teeth. He lost a tooth from gum disease. Sigh….
Awww, what a sweet kitty. Hope he’s doing all right. My cat was a stray, too — she was found in a dumpster with honey all in her fur, so I named her Honey
He is a sweet looking cat. I’m sure he doesn’t mind nearly as much as we do.