Saw the specialists today....

leli

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So, I took Addie in to see the veterinary anaesthesiologist and a surgeon in Toronto. The good news? They say they can do her spay. Apparently, they do it fairly regularly and it shouldn't be a problem. The bad news? It's going to cost 1,300 and change. So....it'll be a while before we can get that kind of money together, especially since it cost me about $170 for the consultation today, counting parking and gas money.

I just wish we could catch a break on this!
 
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leli

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Addie is 13 months and has been in heat pretty constantly since the start of spring. She cries for hours on end, usually in the wee hours of the morning, and has an inappropriate peeing issue.

I expect the peeing thing will stick around even after the spay, since the behaviour is going to be ingrained in her brain now, but we can't really do anything to stop her until after she's altered. We're going to keep trying, but at this point we're just limiting areas of the house she's allowed in and have converted the dog's crate into a space for her when she's really in the throws of heat, to spare my couches as much as possible. We're probably going to have to throw out one couch once this is resolved, though.

The only good thing is that she's an indoor only with no means of escape (2nd floor apartment) and our 2 male cats, George and Sammy, are already neutered. So, it's really annoying and tries our patience, but at least we won't be bringing any more kittens into the world (though at 4am during an hour long cry, it almost seems like a good idea to go find an intact male lol just kidding!!).

Anyway, we're going to have to do some real penny pinching. A lot of people have said "you should just give her away". I said then I might as well kill her myself, because nobody would adopt a chronically underweight, inappropriately peeing, loudmouthed cat who has adverse anasthetic issues. The shelter would almost certainly end up putting her to sleep. We took her in when she was dumped, WE will deal with her issues as best we can. Even if it means she has to wait to be spayed and I have to wait to go back to school. Whatever, it's not HER fault. Why do people think a pet is only their responsibility until it becomes a hassle??

Anyway, that was a long post. I'm just a bit disappointed that it's going to cost so much. With George and Addie being rescues, we hadn't bugeted for their kitten needs, and then Max has had a vet heavy year as well. It's just going to be some time before we can save up enough. We'll just have to put up with Addie's problems a while longer.
 

pushylady

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Poor Addie! Sounds like a lot to go through. Good for you for sticking with her!
 

natalie_ca

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I'm confused. Why did you have to take her to a specialist? And why is it costing so much to get her fixed?! My Vet only charges about $100.00 to fix a cat.
 

rubsluts'mommy

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Do they have CareCredit up in Canada? If so, you might look into it. Maybe there's something similar... I dunno... it's a thought.

Or maybe that office has a payment plan available... with that kind of fee, they should! Heck, even when it costs a few hundred (like the two times Jack had to have oral surgery) I was tempted to set one up. If a vet told me it would be 1300, I'd ask about payment plans.

Just my two cents...
A.
 
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leli

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Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

I'm confused. Why did you have to take her to a specialist? And why is it costing so much to get her fixed?! My Vet only charges about $100.00 to fix a cat.
Sorry, I didn't cover back story.

We had originally tried to have Addie spayed through our regular vet several months ago. When they put her under, they had hardly had time to shave the site when her blood pressure and heartrate crashed. She almost died. They had to take her off the anaesthetic completely, use reversal drugs and monitor her closely. It took 7 hours before she was stable enough to come home (and they hadn't even made a single cut....this was all from the drugs).

So, to spay her, we need a veterinary anaesthesiologist to be on the surgical team. That's a vet who has specialized in putting animals under and monitoring their conditions during surgeries. Most vets are not specialized and do a bit of everything, from diagnosis, to treatment, to surgery, etc etc. This type ONLY deals with the care of an animal under anaesthetic.

There are only 2 within hours of us. We saw one yesterday. He can do it, but it costs more because 1) we pay for his time and expertise during the surgery, so it's a whole extra vet in the room and a specialized, costly one at that 2) she needs less common, more costly drugs because of her reactions before, 3) she will need closer and longer monitoring and post-op care, and 4) we pay for the surgeon....and because this isn't a regular clinic, the surgeon is specialized too....she is ONLY a surgeon, specializing in small animals. It's like going to a hospital for people, where you have one doctor for each thing, rather than when you go to a regular vet and he or she does everything.

These clinics are set up for animals with major issues, not for a spay. So they are more expensive overall, because they are equipt to deal with things that a vets office is not. Think of it like this: Regular vet is to specialized vets as family doctor is to cardiothoracic surgeon.

I still think it's too much, but what else can I do? (well, I'm going to get in touch with the clinic where the other anaesthesiologist works, which is a bit farther away, and see what their cost would be....).
 
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