I Feel Like I Lost My Best Friend Yesterday Because I did

[Guest guest]

I am feeling very sad today. Yesterday I cried buckets and couldn't stop for

very long.

I had to have my beloved cat Butchie put down yesterday after being with me for

eleven years and two months. He would have been 13 years old in October.

It was a roller coaster with him all week. On Monday he wouldn't eat anything

and was lethargic. He was walking around a bit from room to room, but he wasn't

at all even interested in chicken baby food which he always loved and would come

over and meow for even before I opened the jar!

He was the most affectionate, loving boy a " Mom " could ever have! He was always

there to cheer me up no matter how sad I got or how I cried all those years.

He chose ME at the animal shelter - I didn't choose him as I look back at that

day so fondly. He was so thin but had such beautiful eyes. I wasn't there for

a cat - my friend was. I had taken her there because I knew how to get

there and she didn't. Anyway she took him out of the cage to see how he reacted

to her as we sat about a foot apart. He leaped off her lap and put his tiny

paws around my neck rubbing my face and purring like a purr engine. She said

" he wants you and he's SO cute! " I said yes but I have two dogs or did you

forget? I don't DISlike cats and I love all animals as you know but you're the

one here for a cat, I'm not.

Well I melted and I took him home. She, on the other hand, found no one. It

was fate.

He loved my dog Sandy immediately (a 32 lb. terrier mix and sweet as sugar).

He did NOT like Rosie who was a 36 lb. Australian Shepherd Mix who was feisty

but also sweet. He went right over to Rosie first and swatted at her as if to

say " keep your distance - I don't like you " and then he went over immediately

and got up on his two hind legs and licked Sandy on the nose! He then motioned

towards the dog bed and they went to lay down back to back. This was highly

unusual for a strange cat to two dogs immediately! I was told at the shelter

that 99% sure he would hide!

I was so happy with him all those years. I prayed for him to gain weight and

with the baby food I started giving him every day and wound up giving him for

three months, he DID gain weight within a week and it was very noticeable!

Anyway I took him to the vet Tuesday who did a blood test and urinalysis and

called me later to tell me he had diabetes and his blood sugar was so out of

wack that I needed to bring him back there for hospitalization for 'a few days'.

This from the vet herself. I was told he would be 'fine' after a few days of

hydration, intravenous and after a day they would give him insulin and then I

could take him home in 2 or 3 days. It cost me $308 a day! The receptionist

was a bit curt to say the least and demanded $616 immediately! I had always

paid them for years and never bounced a check so I was shocked at being treated

so. I told her I could only give her $308 as the bank closed at noon on

Tuesdays and I couldn't transfer the $308 from my other account 'til the next

day. She said 'be over here first thing tomorrow morning with the $ then! Oh

and by the way both of your cats need rabies shots! We won't charge you for

another thorough exam on Butchie because we just did one on him but we will on

Shadow. I know they're inside cats but it's the law that you need rabies shots

for them because the state requires it AND licensing! " . No it is NOT the law

you need rabies shots for cats in Maine nor do CATS need licensing! Those were

lies. You need that on DOGS even if they are inside dogs but not cats. No such

law. I told her who was going to bite them since they are 100% inside cats and

have NO contact with any other animals.

I called the vet the next morning after a fitful night of not being able to

sleep worrying about him and my other cat Shadow who has been his 'sister' for 2

years now as a friend for Butchie as my 2 dogs have long since passed (one

dying at 16 1/2 years old in my arms with no warning she was even sick - old age

I think) and the other dog had to be put down with cancer at 18 1/2. So anyway

Shadow kept looking for Butchie and it was heartbreaking to see her moping

around and so sad.

The vet said the next day that he was 'holding his own' but it 'might take

several WEEKS for him to get better'. I told her at $308 a day I could NEVER

afford that. She said 'how much CAN you afford " ? I said " three days " and she

said 'okay then'.

The next day he was a 'bit better' and had tolerated insulin when they gave it

to him but still was not eating and was on intravenous still. I continued to

worry and pray for him.

Then the nasty receptionist called me. She said, " We want you to transfer him

to Scarborough Animal Hospital on Friday night for the holiday weekend as we

won't be open " . I asked her why the game plan had changed and she said " he's

holding his own but we need a few more days of hospitalization to make sure he's

a bit better before we send him home " . I asked her how much that would cost and

she said she 'didn't know' but it was 'more than I was paying there as this WAS

considered an emergency hospitalization'. Huh?! Well she called me back to say

$500 a day for two days! I told her I can't afford that and I was going to take

him home. She then said, " If you do that, you are taking away his hope and

there IS no hope! Why don't you just kill him right now and be done with it! "

I was livid! I told her I loved him and I was taking him home. She then said

" we won't charge you for Tuesday since you didn't bring him in until 4:00

because we didn't have the test results 'til then so he's good until Thursday

and then you can give us another $308 and then think about the other hospital,

okay? " I said I would be picking him up Friday afternoon period. I knew he was

too sick to move take him home yet and they had me over a barrel.

I called yesterday morning to find out that he was still 'just holding his own'

and 'still not eating anything' and had went into diabetic shock when they tried

to give him insulin in the middle of the night the night before! I cried. I

knew at that point there was no hope and he was dying. They didn't TELL me that

but they didn't have to. I swear in the middle of the night that night he had

visited me. I was wide awake and I saw him! It wasn't solid but he was there

alright. Anyway I cried hysterically and told the office manager I had decided

either to take him home to pass with me or have him euthanized. She said that

he may last several DAYS here suffering and not eating or drinking and did I

WANT that?! I said no of course I didn't want him to suffer. She said,

" Because we already charged you for a bag of intravenous you won't be using, the

cost of putting him down will be $150. I said okay - what else could I say?

When I got there the receptionist who had been such a rotten person to me

already said, " before we do anything, that'll be $185 and that does not include

cremation. Do you want a mass cremation for him - that will cost you $158 more

or a private cremation that will cost you $232 not including the $185 for

putting him down. " I was in shock! I had asked to speak to the office manager

since she had told me it would be $158 total and she said " she goes home at 3:00

so forget about what she told you " . I wanted to talk to my cat's vet but she

told me it was 'her day off'. I reluctantly paid $185 but told her I was taking

Butchie's body with me. My friend who brought me there (my car is being worked

on and I have no car 'til tomorrow night) just shook her head.

They brought Butchie to me hooked up to the IV and placed him on my chest to say

goodbye. The vet's assistant was the one who had taken care of him the whole

time. She said he was a very sweet boy and the perfect patient. When I saw the

IV, I told her " you were basically keeping him alive on a machine! You KNEW

there was no hope from the beginning didn't you! " She admitted without a doctor

around that they knew his body was shutting down from the tests and yes that's

what they had done. I was taken! I was in such grief that I just cried and

held him for the last time. He wasn't responsive much at all to me and only

lifted his little head up a few times to look at me. He was almost lifeless. I

was so hurt. I was so sad. I still am. I told her I only wanted 10 minutes

with him and for this to be over for both of us. She didn't come back for a

half HOUR! I held his lifeless body and sobbed. Finally a doctor came in,

introduced himself as Dr. Lee, said I'm sorry for your loss and wish we had met

under better circumstances " and left saying he would 'give us a few more

minutes'. I told him no - I had had a half hour and I wanted this over. He

walked over and stuck a needle in the IV and said " it's quicker this way " . It

took another half HOUR for him to almost pass while I sat there and finally he

started shuddering and was having difficulty breathing. It was horrible to

watch with him laying on me making it worse even still. The doctor came back in

and took him off me and he was still alive but barely! The doctor took out his

stethescope and said 'two minutes or less now'. The vet's assistant came back

in and said " would you like me to wrap him in an old towel and put him in the

cat carrier? " I shook my head yes.

I walked out to my friend who was waiting and she told me a horror story of

another woman there who was visiting her daughter for the week from Mass. whose

dog had a stomach virus it turned out. They charged HER $400 just for a blood

test, urinalysis, x-ray and antibiotics! He didn't even NEED hospitalization!

She said she was in shock about the cost there! I had always gone to that vet

but the vet I had had left about a year ago and he was decent. They never

treated me like these people there did. My friend told her what they had done

to me and she said it was outrageous, which of course it was. Obviously I am

not taking my other cat Shadow EVER to that vet again.

Butchie lies in the pet carrier in my tub at the moment until the animal control

officer comes (I called the dispatcher last night and lied telling him that I

went out to dinner and came back to find Butchie had died on my bathroom floor,

had placed him in his pet carrier with a towel and he said he was sorry for my

loss and would have the officer pick up Butchie's remains this morning. I kept

the door to the bathroom closed last night so that Shadow couldn't get in there.

I don't like to lie but I could NOT afford cremation! They take him for free!

I live in an apt. and I have no place to bury him here and my friends all live

in apartments as well except one and she lives in a mobile home park so she

can't bury Butchie there as she doesn't own the land.

I get my car back tomorrow night. I plan on driving myself to the animal

shelter Saturday morning and getting a new sister or brother for Shadow. They

have so many cats 1 year old or older that they are giving them away for free

including an exam! I am not taking whoever it is to that vet! I will seek out

the vet that used to work there who would volunteer many hours at the animal

shelter or use the vet my one friend uses for their cats but that's 10 miles

from here.

What do you think I should do about this vet if anything? I am tempted to go to

the Better Business Bureau about this.