How much do you spend on a cat

House pets are special. They share your home and in our case the master bed. They are abused and adored by the children. They tolerate much. They bring me gifts of dead and living animals seasonally as available to show their love and devotion.

I feed them and pet them to show my own appreciation. I take them to the vets when they are sick. Most of the vet visits run around $200, the visit plus what ever medicines we are sent home to administer. I prefer liquid syringes as getting a pill down a cat is not easy. They fight and claw.

This last visit to the vet was due to Peach having an injured paw. It wasn't broken, but he wouldn't put any weight on it. He was without energy and lethargic. He nibbled his food. I gave him a treat of canned food to stimulate his appetite. He ate a little but not much. Normally he would have consumed half the can.

Trevor helped me capture the cat and carry the case to the vet. Not that the cat put up much resistance, he was waiting for us at the door next to his carrier. The cat's temperature was 104 degrees. The vet said that was high. I don't know what is normal for a cat, but that seems high to me. Peach was not dehydrated, but there was something definitely wrong with the leg. The vet thinks an abscess caused by another cat biting him in a fight.

The neighborhood is in a territory battle right now. There must be eight or ten cats trying to establish their boundaries. Every home has a cat. The occasional cat fight can be heard out the window at night. It isn't so bad with the rainy weather. I used to watch a couple of cats that liked to walk the top of our fence. Peach would walk the top of our fence. It was definitely a strained relationship around the cat neighborhood.

It seems that Peach did not come out of one of his altercations unscathed. The vet says he needs surgery to drain the abscess in his leg. She tosses in a teeth cleaning and extractions as needed. The estimate is for $576.00.

The day Tom noticed the limp and said "take the cat in to the vet", I had warned him it would cost us. I said "Any visit will be at least $120". It is even worse than that. With Trevor with me trying to choke back tears over the sick cat, I agree to the surgery. I tell the vet I have a ceiling of $1000. I will not pay more than that regardless of what they find wrong. It still seems extreme for a cat. But he is a member of the family. He is a great mouser and has often defended his home from infiltrators and unwanted guests.

This is also his first trip to the vet since infancy. He has been extremely healthy up until now.
Tom looks at the estimate when he gets home. He says no teeth cleanings or extractions. Do just the minimum. He makes the comment that he could accidentally lose the cat on the way to surgery, or there is that "other option", Peach is a family member. Trevor would be devastated if we didn't at least do the minimum effort.

So Peach is going to get his chance. He will be using up one of his proverbial nine lives. The doctor is going to open up his leg and drain what ever puss or infection is bothering the cat. It will be an out patient experience. We are to drop him off at 8:30 am and pick him up at 5:30 pm. Then we will probably have to administer syringes of antibiotics over the next week and keep him from being over active while he recovers. Cats and dogs though are pretty good at knowing their limitations as long as they are not encouraged to go play. Peach is 9 years old. He is a smart cat. He didn't run off and hide. He wants us to make him better.

Pets can be so expensive at times. We picked him out at PAWS, which is like the humane society. He was a kitten we brought home to entertain the kitten, Tiger, we had brought home a few days earlier. Tiger wanted to play all night and wouldn't let anyone sleep. We hoped that by bringing home a playmate the first cat would not wake us up all night. They fought. I was afraid one would kill the other, but in the morning of the first night we found that they had become the best of friends.

Peach turned into our adventurous hunter and Tiger was our timid afraid to go outside cat. Tiger had flea allergies. Forget to give him his flea meds and he gets huge scabs all over his body. He has had several vet visits for his rashes. He pulls his hair out to get to the fleas.

Peach could care less about fleas. The vet found several fleas on Peach. We gave him an updated dose of flea meds when we got home. Now we are about to gather him up again and deliver him to his surgery. We use an old decrepit green carrier with bent clasps. It has held many of our cats over the years. I think it is original to my first cat Rascal.

Rascal only loved me. She knocked my sister's hamster cage to the floor killing her pet. She was half Siamese with a voice you could hear for miles. Peach really never howls. Tiger wakes the dead. I think that is why I love my cats, they have personalities. They are devoted to their good owners. It is something of a test. A cat will abandon a bad family. He will go off and find a new home if you make him mad enough. They have an independent streak.

Peach came to me with his limping paw. How could I let him down, especially with Trevor there to judge me. A pet is a member of the family. Pets are the ones that teach our children their first experiences about life and death and kindness. So I am off to the vet again and a really expensive vet bill.