Bad cat
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Cutie, the adopted cat
My daughter Sophia loves cats. I don't like cats (that's an understatement).
But because I love her so much, I allowed her to sort-of adopt this stray cat. She named him Cutie. She even bought him a collar with a bell. I told the maids they can continue to feed him in our garage. But he is in no way allowed to come near our kids. And they are not allowed to touch the cat. And I meant business. This went on for a year.
Yesterday morning I found out that Sophia got scratched by Cutie in her arm. I guess this happened Monday afternoon. She hid the scratch from me. Patrick found out yesterday morning when he drove her to school. She was in tears. Afraid that I would banish her cat. By lunch, it was my turn to pick her up from school. I wanted to talk to her about the scratch and tell her that Cutie has to go. I knew it would break her heart... but tough love. When I went to give her a hug I noticed a little scar near her upper lip. I asked where she got the scratch. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She said, "Cutie did it. Her arms are too long." Yes she got in trouble for touching the cat. And yes the yayas were reprimanded.
To make a long story short, we ended up in RITM (Research Institute for Tropical Medicine), a government hospital. My sosy pediatrician from Asian hospital flipped out when she heard that the scratch was in her face. She shrieked, "That's too near the brain! Hurry go to RITM now!" I'd never been to RITM... scared that there would be a lot of highly infectious diseases lurking around. That's where worse cases of A-H1N1 were brought during the height of the scare. Much to my surprise, RITM was clean and efficient. We got to their emergency room at 9pm and almost got turned away. They apparently only treat animal bites/scratches during office hours. When I heard that, I almost freaked out..."isn't this an emergency room? in a hospital? what do you mean office hours?" But I didn't say it that way. I took a deep breath and calmly said, "The office hours thing, is that an administrative order? Is there someone I can talk to? My daughter is only 6. And her scratch is in the face." The two doctors looked at each other and said "Ah, the face? That's too near the brain." And they let us in.
The brain. Patrick and I were internally freaking out. I was on the verge of tears. How can a tiny scratch... and I mean tiny... be so harmful? I thought of where Cutie's paw has been - the gutter, sewage, the carcass of dead rats, his saliva. Tetanus. Rabies. I knew there was a reason I hated cats.
I ended up having to buy the whole vial of the anti-whatever shots even though they only needed to give her half a dose. This explains the "office hours" rule. If you go there between 9-4 you only pay for the dosage that you need. But because there are no other patients for animal bites around, I had to buy the whole thing. We spent close to P10,000.
Sophia got five needles last night. Two in each arm, one in the thigh, one near her wrist and one near her upper lip. She's a brave girl. She's not scared of needles - unlike her father and me. But when that anti-whatever venom went intra-dermal near her upper lip, she screamed like she never screamed before. It was so painful for her. And if I say it was more painful for me, I know you guys will slap me, but really it hurt to see my child that much in pain.
Soph is not done with the shots. We have to go back for three more rounds until February 4.
This is getting long and I need to sleep. Moral of the story: if your child gets scratched by a stray cat (or any animal), consult your doctor right away. If the scratch is in the face, take her to the ER right away.
Sophia is fine. I think she learned her lesson. She will not touch a "wild animal" again.
The cat. As much as I want to ____ him, we have to keep him near so we can observe him - to see if he goes crazy or dies.
Disclaimer: No cat was or will be harmed in this story.
What I meant by "observe him - to see if he goes crazy or dies" - if he dies or gets weak then he has/had rabies. Then my daughter will need more medical treatment.
.
Cutie, the adopted cat
My daughter Sophia loves cats. I don't like cats (that's an understatement).
But because I love her so much, I allowed her to sort-of adopt this stray cat. She named him Cutie. She even bought him a collar with a bell. I told the maids they can continue to feed him in our garage. But he is in no way allowed to come near our kids. And they are not allowed to touch the cat. And I meant business. This went on for a year.
Yesterday morning I found out that Sophia got scratched by Cutie in her arm. I guess this happened Monday afternoon. She hid the scratch from me. Patrick found out yesterday morning when he drove her to school. She was in tears. Afraid that I would banish her cat. By lunch, it was my turn to pick her up from school. I wanted to talk to her about the scratch and tell her that Cutie has to go. I knew it would break her heart... but tough love. When I went to give her a hug I noticed a little scar near her upper lip. I asked where she got the scratch. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She said, "Cutie did it. Her arms are too long." Yes she got in trouble for touching the cat. And yes the yayas were reprimanded.
To make a long story short, we ended up in RITM (Research Institute for Tropical Medicine), a government hospital. My sosy pediatrician from Asian hospital flipped out when she heard that the scratch was in her face. She shrieked, "That's too near the brain! Hurry go to RITM now!" I'd never been to RITM... scared that there would be a lot of highly infectious diseases lurking around. That's where worse cases of A-H1N1 were brought during the height of the scare. Much to my surprise, RITM was clean and efficient. We got to their emergency room at 9pm and almost got turned away. They apparently only treat animal bites/scratches during office hours. When I heard that, I almost freaked out..."isn't this an emergency room? in a hospital? what do you mean office hours?" But I didn't say it that way. I took a deep breath and calmly said, "The office hours thing, is that an administrative order? Is there someone I can talk to? My daughter is only 6. And her scratch is in the face." The two doctors looked at each other and said "Ah, the face? That's too near the brain." And they let us in.
The brain. Patrick and I were internally freaking out. I was on the verge of tears. How can a tiny scratch... and I mean tiny... be so harmful? I thought of where Cutie's paw has been - the gutter, sewage, the carcass of dead rats, his saliva. Tetanus. Rabies. I knew there was a reason I hated cats.
I ended up having to buy the whole vial of the anti-whatever shots even though they only needed to give her half a dose. This explains the "office hours" rule. If you go there between 9-4 you only pay for the dosage that you need. But because there are no other patients for animal bites around, I had to buy the whole thing. We spent close to P10,000.
Sophia got five needles last night. Two in each arm, one in the thigh, one near her wrist and one near her upper lip. She's a brave girl. She's not scared of needles - unlike her father and me. But when that anti-whatever venom went intra-dermal near her upper lip, she screamed like she never screamed before. It was so painful for her. And if I say it was more painful for me, I know you guys will slap me, but really it hurt to see my child that much in pain.
Soph is not done with the shots. We have to go back for three more rounds until February 4.
This is getting long and I need to sleep. Moral of the story: if your child gets scratched by a stray cat (or any animal), consult your doctor right away. If the scratch is in the face, take her to the ER right away.
Sophia is fine. I think she learned her lesson. She will not touch a "wild animal" again.
The cat. As much as I want to ____ him, we have to keep him near so we can observe him - to see if he goes crazy or dies.
Disclaimer: No cat was or will be harmed in this story.
What I meant by "observe him - to see if he goes crazy or dies" - if he dies or gets weak then he has/had rabies. Then my daughter will need more medical treatment.
.