We were just finishing up our final walk of the evening last night when Sharky suddenly reacted to some invisible something, literally jumping a good foot in the air and – presumably – landing awkwardly. He could not longer put any weight on his left back paw so Akemi carried him home. Once we were back inside, we noticed that he was barely able to walk, putting hardly weight on the injured foot. He was trembling and refused all treats – a rarity for him.
And so, to play it safe, we bundled him up in his taxi (sherpa carrier) and caught an uber to the emergency veterinary clinic where, upon arrival, he seemed to be doing somewhat better. Still, to be on the safe side, we had him examined. We passed on the $800 x-ray (figuring if the obvvious discomfort persisted), that we’d just take him to his regular vet and get it done for half the price. Anyway, one hour, a blood test, some prescribed meds, and $550 dollars later (!), we headed home.
The vet advised us to keep him penned up and only take him out long enough for him to do his business and come back inside.
Well, this morning Sharky was up and at ’em – and back to his old self. No limp. No trembling. Absolutely no hint that he was ever injured.
Except for my missing five hundred and fifty dollars.
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I totally get it. Our rush to the Diggie ER has been due to Lola sneaking chocolate cookies! $600 is a lot of money for a cookie!
Geez! That’s more than my PCP gets for giving me a physical from Medicare!
I’m relieved he’s better. Our pets are our family…
… and it would be easy for me to get on a soap box and rant about health care costs for all concerned… but I won’t.
I bet it was a feline devil who thought he’d be sneaky and take a swipe at Sharky. Sharky was too quick because he’s receptive to the unseen. The demon cat didn’t realize Sharky was blind and therefore wasn’t able to strike its hideous blood dripping claws across Sharky’s nose. Sharky got in the last laugh despite the unexpected physical discomfort. He’ll need to be especially careful since cats, under normal circumstances, tend to be territorial and spiteful. Next time the feline devil might not miss. 😈
😀
Ouch! Dent to the wallet, indeed… As a long-time subscriber and friend, I hope he’s well and that you check with the vet, just in case. I’d hate to speculate on what happened, Keep us posted on Sharky.
Poor baby! Glad he is okay. Maybe he landed wrong from his jump and pinched a nerve or something. Vet charges have gotten ridiculous! Wonder what he heard or felt that made him jump.
I’m very glad Sharky is okay and it was nothing serious. Welcome back home!
Approximately ten years ago, our black cat Spike had snuck outside to confront another kitty a third his size. Nine hours later, a whole lot of sleeplessness & terrifying cat screaming later, I managed to corral a terrified-feral Spike into his carrier, sped to the animal ER, & came away with a mostly-shaved cat doped to his teeth, covered in claw & teeth wounds, stitches & super glue… and a $2K bill. Yikes.
I like Sharky’s bill, & health outcome, much much better. ❤️
My best friend’s blind mini-poodle has had many more instances of getting stung by insects that she’s stepped on since she lost her eyes. I suspect the same might be true with Sharky. So glad he’s doing better.
2k!
Stung by insects he may have stepped on. I hadn’t thought of that!
I feel for you, several months ago I came home after being gone a couple hours and found our two dogs had vomited on the furniture multiple times. Found that they had gotten into a full package of ice breakers gum (with xylitol which is lethal to dogs) and eaten the entire thing. Took them to the emergency vet and spent $800 to have them induce vomiting and check blood sugar several times over a few hours. Fortunately they came through it ok.
Relieved to here they came through it alright. Reminds me of the time I came home to discover my pug Jelly had eaten an entire pack of Big Red cinammon chewing gum. She seemed perfectly fine. My pug Bubba, on the other hand, managed to get up onto the table and consume an entire bag of milk chocolate covered almonds. Cue explosive diarrhea.
Glad to hear he’s back to normal! Vet bills are sure expensive. When Zoie was sick, just one visit had a CAT scan, blood tests, fecal and swab analysis, and examination. Plus, there was the professional radiology analysis and five different medications (which had to be shipped from Ontario). And that was just one of the visits. Total was around $2K. I’d do it again in a minute though. I still miss her terribly.
The things we do for our little ones!