2 posts tagged “felicity”
Yesterday I took Felicity back to the animal shelter after watching her go through what I believed to be an asthma attack (although it could just be pneumonia or a really bad upper respiratory infection). I was just so angry about everything.
I met with the clinic director (who, suprisingly is not a vet) and explained the situation. I asked her why they were adopting out cats that weren't tested for the FIV/FLV. Her response, "Because they're assholes."
I knew immediately that we were on the same page. I explained the tooth abscess and the cost for treatment. She asked me whether I would still keep Felicity if they were able to find a vet who would either do it for free or if the shelter could cover the payment. I said it would also depend on whether she does have asthma and how bad it was.
She did a FLV test (negative, HOORAY!) and called my vet. She then drew some more blood and sent it off to an outside lab to do a full blood panel. Since it would be needed for surgery, she figured why not find out everything that could be wrong with Felicity, and not just the FIV. I should find out the results today. If she has the FIV, the shelter will take her back and I can have another cat (if I want). If she is negative, we will wait until she gets over the respiratory infection and then see if she really does have asthma. If not, then off to surgery and back home with me.
On one hand, I'm not thrilled about still having her here (and continuing to get attached to her) when there is the possiblity I'll end up having to give her back anyway. But on the other, how fucking awesome is all of this?!?!?!!!!!!!!!
Dash thinks it's awesome.
Well, not as awesome as her butt smells.
I must be a magnet for the downtrodden.
Meet Felicity:
So, low and behold, Felicity, age unknown but perhaps 2 years old. She came into the shelter pregnant, all of her kittens were adopted out and no one wanted her. She had been adopted out a month ago, but the person returned her because she just "hid under the furniture." But she's so loving that's hard to believe. She came to me barely weighing 7 pounds and with a chipped tooth and the sniffles.
So not ready for this.
So, I take her to my vet for a physical. She has a cold (common with cats coming out of shelter, no big deal). But she's also wheezing....could indicate asthma, x-rays will be needed. But, even worse, that's no chipped tooth - that's a completely rottted, abscessed tooth. That will need extracted. She has extensive periodontal disease, especially for a 2 year old cat. Estimated cost: $600. Six hundred FUCKING dollars.
I called around other vets. The lowest I could get was $300. To pull one tooth.
My vet asks whether Felicity was tested for Feline Leukemia Virus and the Feline "AIDS" virus. I assumed so, because why would a shelter adopt out a cat who was positive for that?
Ha. Because, testing the cat prior to adopting out would be the RESPONSIBLE thing to do, right? And of course, the shelter would KNOW that giving the vaccination for those viruses can be DEADLY to an FIV/FLV positive cat. Right?
Well, apparently not. Little Felicity was/is getting progessively worse. So, yesterday I took her back to the shelter for the "free" medical care I get for 30 days post adoption. After waiting over 6 hours, I learned the following:
1. They do not test the cats prior to adopting them out
2. Her tooth needs extracting, and the shelter will not do that because the free 30 day health insurance doesn't cover it, even though they adopted her out like that (hmmmm could that be the REAL reason the last owner returned her?)
3. It looks like she has the FIV/FLV. However, since they VACCINATED her without testing her first, the test will always show a positive result so there is no way to really know whether she has it or not. This is a problem because my parents have cats and if I ever go home I can't have them exposed to her, just in case she actually has it.
4. The severe periodontal disease and upper respiratory condition are indicative of her having the virus.
So, the vet tech does the test (even though it should come up positive), we wait an hour, and she tells us that it comes back "invalid." They give me an antibiotic and instructions on how much to give her, tell us to bring her back in 2 weeks to do the test. (It turns out that she put the WRONG dosage on the bottle - but I only figured this out AFTER I gave the first dose today, which was 3x more than what she should have received for her body weight).
She says that they will do the tooth extraction after all, but they want to find out if she has the viruses first (because then they'd just put her down instead).
Great. So I get to have her at home with me for another 2 weeks so I can get even MORE attached to her. I don't know what I wanted, but I just wanted answers and something done. I don't want to go through this again. God, I just had to put a cat down. I can't go through that again. But she is sick, really, really sick. I don't want her hurting, either.
Basically, I just don't want to deal with this. That's really what it boils down to.
She is so loving. She gets along great with the dog (she actually let him lick her belly). Although now I'm thinking sh's just SO sick she could care less about anything.
I've melted down over this several times now. Spending the money on the kind of treatment the FIV/FLV requires is out of the question for me, as is the money it would cost to extract the tooth should the shelter refuse to cover it. It's just not an option right now. But if she really has the viruses, I can't risk exposing the other family cats.
It infuriates me that they adopted her out in that condition and weren't honest about it.
So, after crying and going through a box of tissues, I've decided that my apartment is officially a hospice for this little kitty. For the next two weeks, I will put food in her belly and affection. If she is dying, and I honestly think that she is, at least it will be in my apartment rather than in that horrible shelter.
