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Saturday, November 13
Nov. 14th, 2021 01:44 amToday I am grateful for:
Not so much gratitude: Sometimes I do wonder if I'm over reacting, or if my responses are appropriate. Our kitty Sprite had something going on with her eyes today. The third membranes in both her eyes were staying over part of her eye, you know how sometimes they do that if they were sleeping? Well, hers were staying partly over her eyes. Both eyes. She also seemed a bit lethargic. So, looking up on the internet, apparently it could be a whole range of possibilities, from just an irritated eye, feeling a little under the weather, to having something REALLY wrong with them like a serious intestinal issue or internal infection. Several different sources said "take them to the vet!!!".
I called the clinic, spoke to a vet, and she kind of went "meh, if she's eating okay, you can likely just bring her in Monday" (they're closed Sunday, unless it's an emergency". "However, if she seems more lethargic or anything else, bring her in". The vet agreed that sometimes it CAN be something pretty bad, but maybe she was just a little sick?
The ambiguity wasn't something I could deal with. The eyes seemed so weird, so I called the clinic back and said I would just bring her in, and I didn't care if they charged me for after hours (they had said that today was booked and had no room the first call). I got in before they closed, they chose to see her and didn't charge me extra.
The vet said her vitals all seemed normal, but after doing a test (some liquid that pools in scratches) she said there was a little scratch on one eye. So we got some eye drops. I am hoping that this is all it is, and that the weird membranes will calm down (they do look disturbing).
So, I ended up feeling a bit like a "crazy cat lady", but truly the possible issues that MIGHT have been happening seemed like something that shouldn't wait. This set off all of my fight or flight responses, and it was a lot for me. I know that a lot of vets/doctors probably hate it when people look things up on the internet, but I do that all the time, and often it really helps me to understand what is going on with the animals. It doesn't replace the vet, but there have been times when it did lead to valuable insight to helping them that I didn't really get clearly from the vet.
Anyhow, I really feel a mix of embarrassed that maybe I freaked out too much, but then again, there has been more than one occasion where I have taken animals to the vet just because they were a little lethargic and it was very serious. One was a cat who ended up dying very quickly from kidney failure, another was a goat who died from having urinary stones blocking his urethra (and a vet who saw him said there was absolutely nothing wrong with him two days before he died at another clinic).
I kind of have PTSD when it comes to my animals, and a bit of a hair trigger for getting them seen by a vet, but I guess there are worse things to be.
I got groceries at least, to make good use of me being in town.
I haven't done anything particularly useful or productive since I got home. I felt pretty emotionally drained.
I am grateful not to be charged an after hours fee. I am glad that Sprite seems (besides the little scratch) okay, and hopefully those weird membranes go back where they belong, and I'm glad I COULD take her to the vet.
Not so much gratitude: Sometimes I do wonder if I'm over reacting, or if my responses are appropriate. Our kitty Sprite had something going on with her eyes today. The third membranes in both her eyes were staying over part of her eye, you know how sometimes they do that if they were sleeping? Well, hers were staying partly over her eyes. Both eyes. She also seemed a bit lethargic. So, looking up on the internet, apparently it could be a whole range of possibilities, from just an irritated eye, feeling a little under the weather, to having something REALLY wrong with them like a serious intestinal issue or internal infection. Several different sources said "take them to the vet!!!".
I called the clinic, spoke to a vet, and she kind of went "meh, if she's eating okay, you can likely just bring her in Monday" (they're closed Sunday, unless it's an emergency". "However, if she seems more lethargic or anything else, bring her in". The vet agreed that sometimes it CAN be something pretty bad, but maybe she was just a little sick?
The ambiguity wasn't something I could deal with. The eyes seemed so weird, so I called the clinic back and said I would just bring her in, and I didn't care if they charged me for after hours (they had said that today was booked and had no room the first call). I got in before they closed, they chose to see her and didn't charge me extra.
The vet said her vitals all seemed normal, but after doing a test (some liquid that pools in scratches) she said there was a little scratch on one eye. So we got some eye drops. I am hoping that this is all it is, and that the weird membranes will calm down (they do look disturbing).
So, I ended up feeling a bit like a "crazy cat lady", but truly the possible issues that MIGHT have been happening seemed like something that shouldn't wait. This set off all of my fight or flight responses, and it was a lot for me. I know that a lot of vets/doctors probably hate it when people look things up on the internet, but I do that all the time, and often it really helps me to understand what is going on with the animals. It doesn't replace the vet, but there have been times when it did lead to valuable insight to helping them that I didn't really get clearly from the vet.
Anyhow, I really feel a mix of embarrassed that maybe I freaked out too much, but then again, there has been more than one occasion where I have taken animals to the vet just because they were a little lethargic and it was very serious. One was a cat who ended up dying very quickly from kidney failure, another was a goat who died from having urinary stones blocking his urethra (and a vet who saw him said there was absolutely nothing wrong with him two days before he died at another clinic).
I kind of have PTSD when it comes to my animals, and a bit of a hair trigger for getting them seen by a vet, but I guess there are worse things to be.
I got groceries at least, to make good use of me being in town.
I haven't done anything particularly useful or productive since I got home. I felt pretty emotionally drained.
I am grateful not to be charged an after hours fee. I am glad that Sprite seems (besides the little scratch) okay, and hopefully those weird membranes go back where they belong, and I'm glad I COULD take her to the vet.
