Fandom, it is a powerful thing.
Wow, you guys. Just...wow. I woke up this morning, and it all seems so unreal. Between jewelry sales and donations, my paypal account has almost $700!! I'm going to go ahead and call the vet this morning to schedule the surgery. Even if it ends up being higher than the conservative estimate, I know they'll let me split it into a couple of payments if I can pay most of the cost up front. Thank you all so much. I'm also going to go ahead and pay the vet the rest of what we owed for the first appointment. Paying that off early ought to make them more inclined to work with us for the surgery, if needed. I'm not entirely sure it will be, the way things are going! You guys are amazing. Thank you.
So, I thought I'd share an amusing Julius-at-the-vet story, since so many people are helping him. My cat is a Bengal. Back when I still had a job, I worked with a guy who bred Bengals, and ended up getting Julius for free. For those who don't know, Bengals are a special breed, and can be freakishly expensive. They're bred from an Asian Leopard Cat and domestic short hairs, like Siamese and Maus. Bengals tend to bond to one special person when they're kittens, and for Julius, that's me. But he's always been fairly friendly, or at least tolerant of strangers. In fact, in those early years, trips to the vet were no big deal. He didn't mind the cat carrier, he liked the attention the techs showered on him, and really he just tolerated the whole experience pretty well. Then, several years ago he developed a urinary tract infection (also not a cheap procedure, but back then I had a job). He spent five days at the vet, and when I came in to visit he stared at me with flat eyes and ears, a look that said "Lady, you left me here, I hate you!" It wasn't until he returned home that his usual personality was restored, and even then he favored my husband over me for several days. He holds a grudge, you see.
But I had no idea how much. The next time he went into the vet for something, getting him into the carrier was an unexpected experience in frustration. As many of you who own cats probably know, getting a cat into a small opening when they don't want to can be...interesting. The visit started out fine. Julius tolerated the exam, but gave me the same flat eyed, flat eared stare as before. Then they needed to draw blood. The tech took him back to do so while the vet and I were talking. Pretty soon, here comes the tech. The patient, she explains, goes crazy and claws, hisses, and bites when they try to take his blood. It took me a minute to realize she was talking about Julius. I offered to help, and the tech told me no, they didn't want me to get hurt! It hadn't occurred to me until that moment that my cat might try to hurt me. They had to knock him out, just to draw blood.
Now, here we are caught up to the most recent vet visit. I have since procured a top loading cat carrier, which requires less direct wrestling when loading Julius into it (although he still tries). Once we got to the vet and took him back, I opened the carrier, and my cat hissed at me. Um, what? He's never done that before. Then when he saw the vet tech, he hissed at her. I pulled him out of the carrier and handled him for her as far as weighing him went, not entirely sure it was safe for her to touch him. This concern blossomed into reality when she picked up the thermometer. By then, he'd gone back into his cat carrier, but he saw her coming toward him with that thing in her hand, and the look her threw at her over his shoulder said "Lady, you come near with that thing, and I'm taking your f-ing fingers off." Then he proceeded to turn around so he could be poised and ready to do exactly that. Even the tech, poor young thing, looked a little shocked. "Um...maybe I'll just go and get some help," she told me.
Yes, my loving, sweet boy. Terrorizing vet techs everywhere. In the end, they had to take him back and knock him out again. They just waited to take his temperature until then, because, you know. It's safer that way. I don't imagine the new surgery will encourage his love of visiting the vet, either.
Maybe some of you are reading this, and thinking this sort of behavior at the vet is perfectly normal. Well, I still marvel at it. Julius is such a sweet natured cat! He's never used his claws ever. We raised him as a kitten with our lab-husky mix, and the two of them play together pretty rough and tumble. Zoey is three times his size, and yet...he's never once used his claws on her. He's a gentle cat! Except, apparently, when he's at the vet.
So, I thought I'd share an amusing Julius-at-the-vet story, since so many people are helping him. My cat is a Bengal. Back when I still had a job, I worked with a guy who bred Bengals, and ended up getting Julius for free. For those who don't know, Bengals are a special breed, and can be freakishly expensive. They're bred from an Asian Leopard Cat and domestic short hairs, like Siamese and Maus. Bengals tend to bond to one special person when they're kittens, and for Julius, that's me. But he's always been fairly friendly, or at least tolerant of strangers. In fact, in those early years, trips to the vet were no big deal. He didn't mind the cat carrier, he liked the attention the techs showered on him, and really he just tolerated the whole experience pretty well. Then, several years ago he developed a urinary tract infection (also not a cheap procedure, but back then I had a job). He spent five days at the vet, and when I came in to visit he stared at me with flat eyes and ears, a look that said "Lady, you left me here, I hate you!" It wasn't until he returned home that his usual personality was restored, and even then he favored my husband over me for several days. He holds a grudge, you see.
But I had no idea how much. The next time he went into the vet for something, getting him into the carrier was an unexpected experience in frustration. As many of you who own cats probably know, getting a cat into a small opening when they don't want to can be...interesting. The visit started out fine. Julius tolerated the exam, but gave me the same flat eyed, flat eared stare as before. Then they needed to draw blood. The tech took him back to do so while the vet and I were talking. Pretty soon, here comes the tech. The patient, she explains, goes crazy and claws, hisses, and bites when they try to take his blood. It took me a minute to realize she was talking about Julius. I offered to help, and the tech told me no, they didn't want me to get hurt! It hadn't occurred to me until that moment that my cat might try to hurt me. They had to knock him out, just to draw blood.
Now, here we are caught up to the most recent vet visit. I have since procured a top loading cat carrier, which requires less direct wrestling when loading Julius into it (although he still tries). Once we got to the vet and took him back, I opened the carrier, and my cat hissed at me. Um, what? He's never done that before. Then when he saw the vet tech, he hissed at her. I pulled him out of the carrier and handled him for her as far as weighing him went, not entirely sure it was safe for her to touch him. This concern blossomed into reality when she picked up the thermometer. By then, he'd gone back into his cat carrier, but he saw her coming toward him with that thing in her hand, and the look her threw at her over his shoulder said "Lady, you come near with that thing, and I'm taking your f-ing fingers off." Then he proceeded to turn around so he could be poised and ready to do exactly that. Even the tech, poor young thing, looked a little shocked. "Um...maybe I'll just go and get some help," she told me.
Yes, my loving, sweet boy. Terrorizing vet techs everywhere. In the end, they had to take him back and knock him out again. They just waited to take his temperature until then, because, you know. It's safer that way. I don't imagine the new surgery will encourage his love of visiting the vet, either.
Maybe some of you are reading this, and thinking this sort of behavior at the vet is perfectly normal. Well, I still marvel at it. Julius is such a sweet natured cat! He's never used his claws ever. We raised him as a kitten with our lab-husky mix, and the two of them play together pretty rough and tumble. Zoey is three times his size, and yet...he's never once used his claws on her. He's a gentle cat! Except, apparently, when he's at the vet.