I am an even BIGGER sucker!!

OK working at an animal emergency place, you tend to run into those little cases that will tug on your heartstrings. I usually am able to turn away when we have to euthanize the ones that people can't afford to fix or it's too poor a prognosis from a silly situation that could have been avoided. Today was not one of those days. I got a call this afternoon from a frantic woman screaming that her kitten's head is smashed in and it's bleeding. I say fine, we can see it. I ask how it's head got injured and was told that it got it's head stuck somehow and when they tried to move the item, it crushed the head. Well, they get here and I take the kitten and ask the question again. I am now told that maybe one of their young sons(maybe 4-5 years old) may have put something on top of the kitten's head and smashed it. As I'm running pre-lim bloodwork and getting an IV on the little 1 pounder, they tell another tech that it got it's head slammed in a door. Well we give an estimate for about $400 for the night for treatment(trust me that's being nice for us on this kind of thing) and they decide that the kitten is not worth the money and want to euthanize it. For some reason this highly bugged me. I then asked the doctor who examined the kitten if there would be a problem if I took the cat as long as my boyfriend did not have a problem with me taking it. She said yes. Dean, the boyfriend, said yes. So now I have a kitten. Hopefully it will survive the night. Another thing that bothers me was that they said it was 10 weeks old and it only weighed 1 lb!?!
I think what bothers me most is that the story changed 3 times and that if the young boy was responsible, then they should have tried to treat it. That is just my opinion. I don't blame the child because I know it is hard for a child that age to comprehend the repercussions of their actions, if that is what happened. I have a 2 year old daughter and know things can happen even when you're watching them. It just happens that fast. I still have to decide if I will keep the little bugger or adopt him out when he's better. I have dubbed him JIAS(short for Jess Is A Sucker). I felt the name was appropriate. Thank you for letting me vent. Just needed to get that one off my chest.

If I worked in such a place I'd be broke. Out of 8 pets only one was bought. I have actually found two cats, on two seperate occasions on the freeway median wall. Which entailed getting off the freeway and then back on and grabbing the wet (Yes raining both times) scared kitties. Then getting back of the freeway and headed towards my destination.

Some people shouldn't be allowed to have pets. I was in an emergency clinic with one of my dogs and this woman was telling me that the dog making all the noise was hers. She had dragged it with her car.

I'd be broke too if I didn't have this job and had the amount of animals I have now. Surprisingly I am not paying a red cent for Jias's care. The staff and doctors were surprised that I was willing to take him and treat him. I'm not a cold hearted person mind you, but I do tend to detach myself from situations at work because otherwise I would be a collector. I have done euthanasias where the only reason was they no longer wanted the pet, didn't want to treat it, or some lame excuse along that line. This one was going to bother me because of the mere possibility that the injury was done intentionally. As I stated before I do not hold the boy responsible because of his age but the parents should have either 1) been honest on what happened instead of changing the story or 2) been a little more upset when they said to put him down. There was no emotion when the husband told of their decision. Just said no, he's not worth it and we'll put him to sleep. I pray that they address the actions of their son so it may never happen again. I pray that this was just a stupid accident and that this child is not a future psycho. I pray this kitten will be alright. He is doing so far ok, not eating as of yet but I can't blame him. He survived the night, that's a start. Now we just have to get his pupils to match in size again.

thats so sad . i couldnt work in an animal hospital or vets office , i'd have the same problem as everyone else stated . i wouldnt be able to let any of them go . its bad enough working in a petshop and wanting to take home every critter that people bring in to us .

Well the good news is that Jias is eating on his own and the eyes now match. What stinks now is that the previous owners have called my job repeatedly trying to find out about him. They are now hinting they want him back since he lived. They were told he had a 50/50 chance of surviving. The man claims that he signed the relinquishment papers under duress. I did not force them to sign anything, I ask if I could have the chance to treat him and give him a chance. For some people that couldn't afford $400 on Sunday, now they are offering to reimburse me for care. I refuse to give this kitten to them. I was going to be nice and let them know how he did, legally I don't have to, but now they are being pains claiming they have a right to know. This is the reason why I normally don't do this. God people tick me off.

Tell them that if they want him they MUST pay the full price for treatment. $400 dollars. All at once, or nothing at all. Your not a finance company that takes payments. So its either $400 within 48 hours or the kitten's YOURS!

actually Chris if they were to reimburse me it would be for much more. I did more treatments then we gave the estimate for. I tested the kitten for Felv/Fiv (negative thank God), full bloodwork, did a stool sample on him, had him hospitalized for 2 days, did nebulization therapy on him, along with injectable antibiotics and oxygen therapy. I am currently deworming him and he's eating me out of house and home. The reality is that I didn't have to pay anything because my boss was actually impressed he survived that all I did is free of cost. If i were to have paid anything it would have been close to $800-$1000. I am trying to see if I can find him a good home, but am willing to keep him if all else fails. He is 100% normal and all kitten. He is currently living in my bathroom until he gets his first vaccine in 2 more weeks(I want a little more weight on him before I do it, he's only 2 pounds right now) and two negative fecal samples (he had rounds and coccidia). My daughter loves saying "kitty, kitty!" everytime she sees him. You never know, I may have her birthday present already with this little guy.

oh I forgot to add the people already got another kitten so he's mine. Amazing how quickly they got over their love for him.

Techgirl said:

He is 100% normal and all kitten.

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Are you sure he's not 50% or 66% het dog?

Amazing how quickly they got over their love for him

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Yup, i figured. Surprising how insensitive people can be about animals. As if there not living breathing beings just like you and me.

Amen!!