Rough Ride

Well, our decision to use the "cat specialist" for Jack's lump removal turned into a nightmare.

For some reason, she released him to COME HOME less than one hour after his procedure.

I know this because I had asked Dave to call and check, and Dave texted back that Jack was having his procedure just then (it was 1:48 pm), and would be ready to come home around 4.

However, while I was on my break at 2:40, Dave texted to say he was being told to come bring Jack home!

I texted back "WOW... already?  He's not even awake yet!"  but Dave was already driving.

So.  Dave got there, paid the nearly $600.00 bill (thank God, we had some of our loan money left from the home improvements...just about $600.00), and was handed the carrier, with Jack already in it.

Of course, Dave was confident that all was well, or he would not be bringing Jack home already.

Well, all was not well.

Jack was still mostly sedated, and he was bleeding profusely.  He bled all over the inside of the carrier, and all over himself.....but Dave didn't/couldn't see that until he opened the carrier at home, and Jack stumbled out.

To Dave, it was horrifying.  Absolutely gory. He tried to wipe the blood off of Jack, but it just kept coming out....so, he easily got Jack back into the carrier, because he was lethargic;  cleaned the blood up off of the floor, and rushed him to the emergency vet where we took Louie to die barely over a year ago.

Yeah.  Lovely.

He got Jack checked in, they cleaned him up, and examined his wound.  They were able to stop the bleeding with some wound glue of some kind.  Their notes say there was a gap in the incision that wasn't closed by  one of the zillion staples.

They said he should be okay, but Dave didn't feel comfortable taking him home in that condition, and left him overnight, with my OKAY.

SO, when both Dave and I were home, we cried and ranted and got the emotions out.  Yes, Dave was in tears.

And then the vet called.  The emergency place had contacted her.  She was profoundly apologetic.  YA THINK?!  She kept asking what she could do to make it right.

Dave told her that he was not prepared to discuss reparations at that time, and that we would talk Thursday when the pathology results come back on the tissue sample she sent.

Why the HELL did she send him home while he was still in recovery???

Anyway, we called the emergency to check on him at about 10, and he was doing fine.  I took a quarter of a xanax., and we got some sleep.

We went to pick him up Saturday morning, and they had him completely cleaned up.  They threw away the pad that was in the carrier because it was completely blood soaked.  They'd given him two doses of pain medication through the night, and he was a little squirrely, but seemed okay.

The cone of shame that the surgical vet put on him was too big, so Dave went out and got a cool inflatable one.  We changed it out, and that made him a LOT happier by last night.  He'd been bumping into things and unable to eat or drink or see....with the soft collar, he can't reach the incision, but he could eat and drink, which he did most heartily when the drugs wore off in the evening.

Today, he's doing great.  We took the collar off, and he has not touched his incision.  He's back under the covers, resting.  There has not been one drop of blood.   He does have a little limp, indicating that he's in some pain, but he really seems fine.

(and, in related news, Annabel is completely fine...not going after him, just a little scared around him)

Anyway, the vet who did the surgery paid the emergency bill.  My comment to the e/r vet was "As well she SHOULD have!  We had to come here because of her!"

The rest of the story?  When we went last Saturday for our consult, I asked her how she chooses the level of anesthesia with an older cat.  She said "oh, we always do blood work first."  Okay. Great.  We agreed then that she would do blood work, and I commented to her that I wanted to see how his aging kidneys and thyroid were doing anyway.

That was when she asked me if I was in medicine.  I told her I had been doing medical billing and now ambulance billing, and had a solid working knowledge of medical terminology.

Anyway, apparently, Dave forgot that part of the conversation, and so when the doctor CALLED him on Friday, before the procedure, and asked if he WANTED her to do blood work, he said no.  He was merely thinking of the extra expense.

But, the point is, SHE FORGOT that conversation, too....she FORGOT that we had already agreed that blood work would be needed to determine his level of health before deciding on the anesthesia!

WHAT?!!  When he told me this Friday night, I was fit to be tied.

Let's see, what else....oh yeah.....when Dave picked Jack up, the only instructions given were to leave the cone on for 2 days.

No wound care.

No medications given.

Just that.

And the cone was clearly too big for him.

The emergency vet administered pain meds to Jack twice overnight during his stay.  Why were we not given pain meds to take home?  He clearly needed them.

The emergency vet told us how to care for the wound.  Why were we not given those instructions by the vet who did the surgery?  We clearly needed them.

So, all in all, our experience with the "cat specialist" went really, really badly.

I guess it's just too much to ask to find a good vet in OKC.

We are hoping that she will refund us the surgery cost.  I don't mind paying for the pathology, but she did such a horrible thing with Jack that I think we should get our money back.

And we will NOT be going back, except for her to finish what she started.