Cat emergencies, and some people should not work in sales
Today was kind of a doozy - this morning I was just sitting in the living room, minding my own business, when I heard this blood-curdling cat scream coming from the other end of the room. I jumped up to investigate, and I see the cat sitting on one of the dining chairs (a normal place for him), and his claw seemingly caught on the upholstery (another normal occurrence).
But, something was odd. I went over to help him get his claw out of the chair, and then he jumped down on his own. And seemed startled as he found himself unable to walk on his right paw. I tried to stop him so I could see what was wrong, but he limped/ran down the hallway into his hidey closet place. When I got him out of there and sat him down his leg just looked.... wrong. All twisted in the wrong direction, and he yowled whenever I touched it. It looked quite likely that it was broken.
So plans for the day were put on hold as we rushed the cat into the vet for an emergency exam. Joey had a gig at Folklife that he had to back out of. I didn't have the phone number for the window guy who we were going to meet up with. But, we were rather consumed with the cat's health, and without internet access I couldn't get the guy's phone number from my email.
It turned out the leg was not broken, but kitty has a hyperthyroid and thickening heart walls with a heart murmur, and it's almost certain that the leg symptom was caused by a blood clot that shot into his leg (and causing the scary painful yelp). He's still a little gimpy now, but doesn't look like he's in much pain - though unfortunately the vet said that today was probably a "near miss" and once this heart condition is diagnosed the "patient" probably has a year - at the outside. We can give him an aspirin every few days, but short of a long expensive treatment regimen there's not a lot else we can do. It sucks to say it, but he's a 15-year-old cat who's had a really good run, so we just want to make the rest of the time he's got really good. Lots of sitting in the sun, catnip, and love.
On the way home from the vet, window guy called, and I explained our pet had a medical emergency and I was very sorry that I couldn't have called to let him know. He sounded really pissy about it, and though I was very apologetic and explained the circumstances it didn't really help. Then when I get home I've got an email from him talking about how he "understands emergencies, but I also respect other people's time" and pretty much laying a guilt trip on me. The hell? Emergency situation (granted it was for a pet, not a person, but still), no contact information -- there really was nothing else I could have done. He made me feel like crap for doing what any caring pet owner would have done in the situation. The last thing a business person should do is lay a guilt trip on a potential customer. What purpose does that serve? I'll just get my windows from someone else, thank you.
But, something was odd. I went over to help him get his claw out of the chair, and then he jumped down on his own. And seemed startled as he found himself unable to walk on his right paw. I tried to stop him so I could see what was wrong, but he limped/ran down the hallway into his hidey closet place. When I got him out of there and sat him down his leg just looked.... wrong. All twisted in the wrong direction, and he yowled whenever I touched it. It looked quite likely that it was broken.
So plans for the day were put on hold as we rushed the cat into the vet for an emergency exam. Joey had a gig at Folklife that he had to back out of. I didn't have the phone number for the window guy who we were going to meet up with. But, we were rather consumed with the cat's health, and without internet access I couldn't get the guy's phone number from my email.
It turned out the leg was not broken, but kitty has a hyperthyroid and thickening heart walls with a heart murmur, and it's almost certain that the leg symptom was caused by a blood clot that shot into his leg (and causing the scary painful yelp). He's still a little gimpy now, but doesn't look like he's in much pain - though unfortunately the vet said that today was probably a "near miss" and once this heart condition is diagnosed the "patient" probably has a year - at the outside. We can give him an aspirin every few days, but short of a long expensive treatment regimen there's not a lot else we can do. It sucks to say it, but he's a 15-year-old cat who's had a really good run, so we just want to make the rest of the time he's got really good. Lots of sitting in the sun, catnip, and love.
On the way home from the vet, window guy called, and I explained our pet had a medical emergency and I was very sorry that I couldn't have called to let him know. He sounded really pissy about it, and though I was very apologetic and explained the circumstances it didn't really help. Then when I get home I've got an email from him talking about how he "understands emergencies, but I also respect other people's time" and pretty much laying a guilt trip on me. The hell? Emergency situation (granted it was for a pet, not a person, but still), no contact information -- there really was nothing else I could have done. He made me feel like crap for doing what any caring pet owner would have done in the situation. The last thing a business person should do is lay a guilt trip on a potential customer. What purpose does that serve? I'll just get my windows from someone else, thank you.