Emotion Overload

What a long, fricking emotional roller coaster day! Let me start by saying I think it was less tramatic for me when Apollo gashed open is back fetlock and front pastern in the middle of winter [a few years back] and I had to treat the wounds daily and give daily Penicillin shots to him!!

Ms. Kitty, or as I now think I have officially named her, 'Celia', had to go in today to have her swollen shut eye looked at since it is not getting better.

Thankfully, I had accumulated overtime from the weekend so I just comped it and left work half a day today. Let me first say that lugging around a momma and litter of 6 kittens has to be just as bad as lugging around a newborn in a carrier with a diaper bag. My carrier is the 'cage/crate' that I have to pack them all into. Since there are 6 kitties with this momma, this is a larger carrier. Then, since they are coming to work with me for awhile, I have to pack food and bring litter. [I already have a litter box permanently stashed in my office!]. And since this litter of kittens has been having it's ups and downs with health, I didn't have to just pack any food...I had to pack wet food with the large bowl to mix in a milk replacer with. *sigh* I am already tired re-living this! I guess this is comparable to a mother packing formula for her newborn. But, instead of diapers, I had a bag of clay litter in my purse!

So, we get to work and all is well. Momma Cindy was eating, made herself right at home, took a smelly dump that I had to immediately clean so not to offend my co-workers and other than the coffee I spilled down my pant leg, all was well.

I left work at noon and headed over to the rescue. When I got there, they right away referred me to the vet. Their first choice vet didn't have an opening until 3:30 so I opted for their second choice vet with a 2pm appt. BAD CHOICE! I guess, something about a vet clinic inside a pet store just doesn't scream 'We know what we are doing' to me. Sorry, sterotypical I am sure, but just my impression. I am sure there are some out there that are very good vet clinics. Don't anyone flame me over this thought!!

So, to try and make a long story short, we had an Indian doctor and the ONLY thing I comprehended him say was "Oh, you are cute" to the kittens. *sigh* After he looked at the swollen eye, I swear he asked me if there ever WAS an eye. HUH? Seriously? "Um, yes, there was an eye, she caught a cold, it swelled shut." So he tells me, in a nut shell, that I can give her antibiotics and he'll refer me to an opthamologist and the 'eye' may need removed. *UGH, not what I wanted to hear*

I am not going in to too much detail from this visit because of the nature of the subject matter and also because I am by no means a vet. I am just saying, I could have diagnosed this kitten just as this vet did. I was not happy at all and even more stressed that a.) I couldn't understand a word he said, b.) he didn't seem to have a clue and c.) he stressed out the kitten and her eye looked WORSE after we left.

So, I went to the other vet for a second opinion. This poor kitten cried the whole way there and Momma Cindy was panting a storm; all a ball of nerves. Which translate to me having an anxiety attack, worried sick about this kitten and Momma stressing. Since they couldn't see me for an hour, I stopped at the post office to mail bills.....which I had to still write out and seal up in the car. I pulled to the side of the parking lot and as I was doing this, a van beeps at me!? Hello, I have my 4 way flashers on. Turns out they pulled beside me as asked if I knew where the SPCA was. Hmmm, how fitting! They thought they'd ask me since they seen the horse magnet on the back of my car. I think it might also say SUCKER on it. Just a hunch.....

The second vet, right away, gave the kitten something to numb the eye before he even attempted to poke and prod it. *DING DING DING, we have a winner! Makes perfect sense to me!* He confirmed what I had already seen; the swelling was terrible - so bad you could not even SEE the eyeball. And it was difficult just to get the lid open. He had to take her to another room to use a larger magnifying glass to look at the eye. At this point, Momma Cindy could hear the kitty screaming and was having a royal melt down....which them prompted all the other kittens to start crying.

When he came back, the verdict was not that the eye swelled shut from a cold, but that her WHOLE BOTTOM EYELID was lacerated :( *pit in stomach* Instantly, by reaction, I ask what he thinks could have caused that in a 4 week old kitten. His response: "Like I tell everyone. I am not here to help you figure out WHY this happened to your animal. I am here to help you make it better" REALLY? REALLY? Insert expletive. I didn't need that smart ass comment at this point. Mind you, it's 3:45pm by now.

So, I was sent home with the plan of a triple antibiotic 3x a day on the eye and the liquid antibiotic 2x a day with a follow up Saturday morning. Momma stressed the WHOLE car ride home and the babies were all panting. I actually shut all the windows and turned the air conditioner on thinking it would help them. I haven't turned on the air in my car in probably 4 years! I hate air conditioning....besides the fact that it was a beautiful 80 breezy degrees today.

I couldn't have been happier to get them home and into an area they were familiar with. Everyone got their meds & dinner and Momma Cindy scarfed hers down. I then walked the dogs, turned out the horses and did their chores, and then sat flat down on the ground outside the barn door, in the sun, with my wine, and closed my eyes.

too be continued.....keep Celia in your thoughts that her eye heals.......