Cat Drama

Cat drama...but for once its not mine! :-) Tonight I learned that it IS possible to have more drama in a 1 cat household than in a 9 (10 for now) cat household. Around 8:00 tonight I got a phone call from one of my friends. She was a little upset and asked me if I would go with her to the emergency vet...which, for the record, is 45 minutes away in Mt. Vernon. Of course I said sure. I know she'd help me out with any cat emergency I'd have, plus I feel like rushing cats to the vet every now and then is a normal part of my life.

So why the emergency? Her cat ate some lilies. I didn't know until recently that lilies are HIGHLY poisonous to cats. This same friend told me that when a coworker of hers had a cat eat lilies. I'm thankful that I know this now because I have a few cats who definitely eat any flowers I bring into the house. After tonight I find myself wondering if I ever had lilies around them before, but I'm not sure. Apparently, even licking them can be toxic to them.

So my friend, Mrs. S got lucky tonight. She works at an animal hospital so after calling a friend of hers who is a doctor there, we ended up bringing poor little Gus to the vet right down the road, where she works. 2 of her coworkers came in to help her out so she didn't have to go all the way to Mt. Vernon.

Gus had not only eaten lilies, but he was covered in them. His white fur had turned orange, so somehow he managed to rub lily pollen all over himself and have it stain his fur. After Mrs. S was absolutely sure that she didn't leave any cheetos or cheeze-its laying around, she realized that in a few seconds of leaving a door open, Gus got into the flowers that she had locked away from him.

Gus is a cute little cat, but he has a big attitude problem (although, I guess most cats do). Not only did he just eat lilies, but a few months ago he also ate 15 hair ties (the thick ones) and a shoelace - all of which had to be surgically removed from his stomach. I think Mrs. S was hoping that the emergency issues with her cat were over with but apparently not.

So tonight I learned why vets don't always let you see what they do to your pet. Several years ago, when I was living in North Carolina, the vet I went to took me in the back to show me what she was doing to my Wendy. She also explained to me that they don't usually do that, because owners tend to freak out, panic, and get upset. I kind of understood that, but at the same time, I wondered how people can get upset when someone is just helping your pet. Now I see why. I was fine, and I probably would have been fine even if Gus was MY cat, but I can guarantee that some pet owners would definitely freak out.

Gus is not a very "good" patient. Between his growling and hissing, accompanied by his angry flattened ears, the vet managed to squirt 2 big syringes of hydrogen peroxide down his throat to make him throw up anything in his stomach. He wasn't happy about that at all. When that didn't work, she injected him with something that would make him throw up and also relax him. That didn't work either. He was given a final injection of something, and by this point he was seriously pissed off. It took my friend, the vet and the vet tech to hold him down. Next they had to shave his leg and insert a needle so he can get a fluid IV in him. He definitely wasn't happy about that. More growling, hissing and fighting ensued. Needless to say, the medicines that were supposed to calm him down and make him throw up, weren't doing either. They finally got his leg all set up and it was on to the next step - making him swallow a huge syringe full of charcoal. After a full blown cat fight ensued, even while 3 people were holding him down, they just let go of him. He freaked out, jumped off the table and ran around the clinic in a panic - all with charcoal dripping off of his face. They caught him, and another full blown cat fight ensued. The end result was one ANGRY cat, who was completely covered in charcoal, and 3 people who were also covered in charcoal. At this point they were done with everything they could do, so the put him in a cage, stuck the IV in him, posted a sign on his cage with his name and "Ate lilies :-(" on it, turned off the lights and left. I've never seen a cat look angrier or more confused than he did when we took one last look at him before we left him there for the night.

So my point is...apparently, this cat likes to eat everything in his sight and I think its quite possible that Mrs. S has had more problems with him than I have had with my cat farm. I also learned a good lesson as to why vets don't do things in front of clients. I am willing to bet that if everything that went on tonight was typical, then there is no way in hell anyone would let a client see that. I can just imagine the number of people who would cry if they saw their cat look like poor Gus did tonight. Its probably not very safe to risk assuming which clients can and can't handle watching that happen (and I'm sure this wasn't the worst thing thats ever happened...it seemed pretty calm when I really think about it...but maybe thats just because I know how much cats fight when you try to inject them with something or make them eat something).

On a happy note though, Gus should be perfectly fine. He's not going to be very happy since he is locked in a cage all night with an IV in him, but other than that he'll be fine. And my boring, uneventful night was livened up a little bit from this whole experience :-).