I don't believe this.
Carlyle has been in the hospital for the past few days -- initially vomiting, then not eating. Exploratory surgery found no blockage; lymph node biopsy is pending.
The new owners told us about this Thursday; they were freaking out about the cost (understandable; the emergency clinic at MSU is good, but it ain't cheap) and just in general. Being decent sorts, we offered to help out a bit with the cost, and did so. We also offered to help with at-home nursing care, etc. if it came to that.
The next morning, they'd decided that they couldn't handle the stress anymore, and gave the cat back to us.
I understand the feeling of being at the end of your rope and having some new crisis sawing off the end you're clinging to. I really do. But when did it become acceptable to welcome a pet into your home, then return him like an ill-fitting shirt? This is the third new home that Carlyle has been boomeranged back from, and these were the folks that stood in our living room and talked about commitment and responsibility and everything we wanted to hear. And now we've got him back again -- or will, if he gets better. That's up in the air at this point; he's a very sick kitty. (We found out later that MSU had to do CPR on him at one point. Dunno if the new owners failed to tell us that, or if the MSU vet failed to tell them; we got it from our vet, after MSU briefed him.)
We've transferred Carlyle to our vet, who in addition to being closer and less expensive, is perhaps more flexible and intuitive at diagnosis, and definitely better at communicating with worried owners. We still have no idea what's wrong, but at least we feel like we're getting all the information there is to be had. Now it's supportive care until the test results come in, and fingers crossed that they'll tell us something we can do something about.
This entry was originally posted at https://lizvogel.dreamwidth.org/179716.html because I got tired of dealing with whatever LiveJournal had broken this time. Comment whereever.
The new owners told us about this Thursday; they were freaking out about the cost (understandable; the emergency clinic at MSU is good, but it ain't cheap) and just in general. Being decent sorts, we offered to help out a bit with the cost, and did so. We also offered to help with at-home nursing care, etc. if it came to that.
The next morning, they'd decided that they couldn't handle the stress anymore, and gave the cat back to us.
I understand the feeling of being at the end of your rope and having some new crisis sawing off the end you're clinging to. I really do. But when did it become acceptable to welcome a pet into your home, then return him like an ill-fitting shirt? This is the third new home that Carlyle has been boomeranged back from, and these were the folks that stood in our living room and talked about commitment and responsibility and everything we wanted to hear. And now we've got him back again -- or will, if he gets better. That's up in the air at this point; he's a very sick kitty. (We found out later that MSU had to do CPR on him at one point. Dunno if the new owners failed to tell us that, or if the MSU vet failed to tell them; we got it from our vet, after MSU briefed him.)
We've transferred Carlyle to our vet, who in addition to being closer and less expensive, is perhaps more flexible and intuitive at diagnosis, and definitely better at communicating with worried owners. We still have no idea what's wrong, but at least we feel like we're getting all the information there is to be had. Now it's supportive care until the test results come in, and fingers crossed that they'll tell us something we can do something about.
This entry was originally posted at https://lizvogel.dreamwidth.org/179716.html because I got tired of dealing with whatever LiveJournal had broken this time. Comment whereever.