I think I found a good vet

Growing up, we had a farm vet that would come out to our place and treat all our animals. The horses wereusually the main reasons for his house calls, but while he was there he would vaccinate our dogs and cats, and provide medication if we needed them for the smaller animals.

When we moved up here, we switched to a clinic that only treated horses. Our dogs and cats didn't really get looked at as much. The vets would give them rabies shots, but that was about it. If there was an emergency with the dogs, they were taken to a vet clinic in the city but our cats never really seemed to have any health problems, The only time they saw a vet was to get their reproductive rights taken away from them.

While I was away, my mom brought home three kittens. They're roughly two months old and their mother was hit by a car on August 13th (Go figure). When I came home, I noticed that were were sniffling and sneezing. After this has gone on for a week and their eyes started to get gunked up, I decided to consult my cat savvy friends and ask them their opinion. Internet searches were worrisome. Two of the little kittens had eyes swollen shut and two had little runny noses.I was quoted $70 for a consultation fee and maybe $30-40 for medication. I mulled it around a bit. I have spent $100 easily on clothes, surely I can afford to make sure three precious lives are taken care of. I booked an appointment for Sunday.

Today I snuck them out under a guise of helping my friend in the city with her cat (in case I was questioned about putting the cat box in my car). After what felt like a long wait (dogs kept jumping the que for emergencies I guess), I finally was seen by the vet. He looked at my kittens and told me that they were beautiful. Once he looked at all their eyes, ears and noses, he showed me one with a slightly runny nose. The discharge was clear so he wasn't too worried. he said what the rule of thumb was as long as the muscus wasn't green and pus-y, there was no need to put them on antibiotics. He did suggest I use eye cream because their eyes were gunky. The eye drops were only $15. He told me that if I saw them getting worse, I could just call and they would set out some medication for me, and I wou;dn't have to bring them in or get charged a consultation fee. He also did not push vaccinations on me, because the kittens were sick. He said it would be better to wait and bring them back in for them. He also confirmed that they were all little girls, so now they can have names! One has already been dubbed Tobi by my mom, but the other two are up in the air. My mom wants to call one Muffin. SIGH.

I really enjoyed going to a vet office where my bill was still under $100 and unnecessary services were not pushed on me for the sake of making a buck. I can't wait to tell my mom who said she 'knew vets' and they would push pills onto me

Scarf Update

I have completed three scarves in a week. Two of them I did in one day each. I'm taking a break from crocheting. I have a couple of large posts in mind, but I'm not 100% up for writing a lot right now after working my fingers for so long!

Today on the news they were advertising a free spay and neteur clinic for feral cats in Scarborough. The aim of this campaign is for people to bring in stray cats roaming the GTA and help cut down the cat colony population. They stated many times during the promo that this clinic was NOT for anyone with a cat, but feral cats only. The operations were being provided for by donations and money from intrastructure.

It's a good start but it doesn't address the real problem with people not spaying or netuering their cats. The real reason behind the huge feral cat population in not only the GTA but every city in the world is that the cost for spaying an animal is way too expensive.

I know some people will say "If you can't afford to properly take care of the animal, including medical expenses, you are not responsible enough to own a pet" but people do anyways. Small animals like hamsters, rats and gerbils are cheap. You can pick them up for under 10 bucks. Why would anyone spend $100 for medication for these small animals when they get sick, when you can just get another animal for a cheaper price, especially when the life span of these animals is so short?

People will not justify paying $100 to alter small animals so they don't end up with accidental litters, which they then need to get rid of, or become over run with animals.

The fact is, pets are cheap. If you don't want to spend the money on a pedigree animals, you can pick up one cheap or for free on Kijiji or Craigslist. Anyone can pick up a kitten anywhere for free.

Back to the cat epidemic; there are way too many cats roaming the streets because people dump unwanted kittens after deciding it's way too expensive to spay Fluffy and she never goes outside anyways, so why spend the money, yet someone she escaped when someone left the door open too long. They dump them in the city, them dump them in the country. These cats then run around and breed, and it's a vicious cycle. Most of these cats in the country find homes at farms where they hunt for mice. Farmers are welcoming to have cats on the farm to protect the feed for their livestocks, but they aren't going to pay to get each one of those cats fixed. The barn cat population either naturally keeps itself in check, or it explodes. There are many reasons why the barn cat population can keep froming becoming an epidemic. There are many hazards for a barn cat. They are not vaccinated, they are not medicated when they get sick, they are prey to wild animals and they sometimes get kileld by farm equipment and machinery. If none of these factors are in place, then it can be over run by cats who will eventually starve unless they are humanely put down.

The news today reported that a spay or neteur can cost anywhere between $200 and $400. The cheapest I have heard for a spay is $95 which is slightly more reasonable than $200, but I still feel that even $95 is too much. I realize that vets need to make money, and that the drugs used in the surgery are part of the cost, but I think the price must be very inflated.

If Bob Barker wants us to take his advice, the vets need to lower the cost or else it's just going to continue, especially in this economy.

Open Letters To My Cats

Dear Simon

As the cat with the longest time on the farm, I figured by this time you would know that I only set out cat food in the barn in the lower west paddock. Why you come over to the upper east paddock, I don't know. The ponies there like to try to stomp you. Since you are the oldest, the other cats like to follow you. While I am glad that you mostly direct them to the barn, bringing them up to the house is unnecessary and usually you'll get things thrown at you by the guy who lives on a farm and hates hates, but doesn't realize that cats are vital to farms. Also, I was disappointed I had to pick you and Mowgli up to put you inside tonight.






Dear Mowgli

I don't understand you. You act all shy for the most part, but then you stand there and meow for attention. When I pet you, you look at me vacantly and refuse to purr, so I don't know if that is what you want from me. A lot of the times you like to run away, but every other night, you lay down and stretch yourself out, belly in the air, waiting for scratches. Make up your mind.



Dear Sybil the Tribble

You're the baby, and you've done very well with your new freedom. I apologize for keeping you locked up in the barn for almost two months, but when you came on the farm, you were so little you couldn't jump up to the windowsill. Since we can't leave the doors open, the windows serve as your in and out to food and shelter. Because you were so little, and absolutely adorable and we live behind a subdivision, it was our fear that you would be snatched up by neighborhood kids as a new pet. This has happened in the past, and being a barn cat, you are collarless. There is no point in putting a collar on a cat that roams around bushes and under fences for it could be a strangling hazard. When you escaped the barn a few weeks ago, and disappeared for two days, we were devastated. Thankfully you learned well, and knew where to come home for supper. You were kept inside for a few more weeks until I decided you looked like you were big enough to take care of yourself. I let you out Tuesday with the other cats, and that night you returned. You were also around in the morning and again tonight. I am proud of you!