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It took around 7 hours for the Barium to run through his sytem. The dye stopped at a point it shouldn't have half way in the intestines. There is definately blockage.
Lolo is going into surgery at 12:00pm today and they will either try to remove the foreign object or they will have to cut a part of his intestines out and sew him back up.
Doc quoted me $400-$600 for surgery, I paid more for last Sundays Vet visit to get him fluid.
New Vet said the previous bill was rediculous and he would never itemize charges like that. He cares about animals and he's not out to make me go broke.
Still keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks for all the support. I'd imagine he will probably be in the hospital for a few more days.
My cat has had this surgery several times (damn her rubber fetish!).
You will be surprised at how fast Lolo recovers. You will no doubt be able to take her home late today. You will have to feed her special food for a week or so, and getting the staples removed is an experience in and of itself - but the worst is over!
Now take me advice on this one - whatever they pull out of Lolos intestine make sure you scour your house and get rid of anything like it. The surgery will make that part of her intestine narrower with the scar tissue and less apt to allow non digestible objects through. Which means more surgeries in your future.
And yes you completely were hosed by the emergency vets. The only thing they should have done to Lolo was a barium x-ray and fluids. The rest was just opportunistic fluff.
Thanks for the update. Sorry to hear about the blockage and hopefully, the surgery will relieve him. Please, keep us updated and sending healing thoughts your way.
I hope Lolo comes out ok. Sending good thoughts your way. Luckily only one of my cats eats non food items and since that thing is styrofoam, I just never have any in the house.
My cat has had this surgery several times (damn her rubber fetish!).
You will be surprised at how fast Lolo recovers. You will no doubt be able to take her home late today. You will have to feed her special food for a week or so, and getting the staples removed is an experience in and of itself - but the worst is over!
Now take me advice on this one - whatever they pull out of Lolos intestine make sure you scour your house and get rid of anything like it. The surgery will make that part of her intestine narrower with the scar tissue and less apt to allow non digestible objects through. Which means more surgeries in your future.
And yes you completely were hosed by the emergency vets. The only thing they should have done to Lolo was a barium x-ray and fluids. The rest was just opportunistic fluff.
Just out of curiosity how much did the surgery run you? I sent aside a couple of grand, hope it's not that expensive.
I once had to take my Popoki into the emergency vet at two in the morning. When they told me what the bill would be I burst into tears. She took pity on me and knocked about 50% off the bill.
lucky you! when i brought my cat to the emergency vet she didn't care that i cried, and in fact she tried to make me feel guilty because i simply couldn't afford to hospitalize him there (at 3 times the cost to hospitalize him with my regular vet, who's not the cheapest).
i ended up having him unblocked and although he partially re-blocked, he made it through to the next day so i could take him to my own vet (who ended up treating him with medication and he was fine).
i understand that the emergency vet costs more, i understand the necessity of an emergency fee, but three times as much is too much. and i really don't like the way i was pushed towards the most expensive option and made to feel guilty for not choosing it, especially when my vet said it wasn't necessary (and it wasn't!). next time we have an emergency i'm definitely taking her to the other 24 hour place in town; hopefully they're better.
eger, i hope your kitty is ok! but please don't barbecue him when he gets back!
Lolo is out of surgery, they found the corner of a towel in his intestine. The towel was removed and the cat is recovering.
Unfortunately he will probably go back to eating foreign objects again, so he'll need to go on Meds. It seems as though he gets seperation anxiety when I leave for work.
I have a small patio that is screened in on the 3rd floor. I am going to put some lattice up to block him from clawing the screen and put some linoleum down to lay on. He loves to be outside, so if I stick him on the porch all day while I am gone he should enjoy it and there is nothing for him to chew.
I am glad that he is OK. Sorry about the huge bills, though.
I don't begrudge vets to charge what they charge in most cases, although it does sound like the emergency vet took some liberties and overcharged you for procedures you didn't need.
Vets have to go through just as much schooling as human doctors, plus they need to know many species - not just one. Many times, they have to buy all their hospital and diagnostic equipment themselves, and the animal equipment costs just as much as the human equipment. Plus, they have the burden of needing to diagnose ailments without the benefit of communication from the patient. So many times I could simply ask my cats "where does it hurt?".
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