Kitty sick day

October is shaping up to be a stellar month.  It's pretty rare for me to miss work, and so far this month I've called off because I couldn't walk after a race and because my son's kitten was sick.



Remember this sweet little thing?  When N woke up this morning, she was on the floor of his room flopped over on her side looking barely alive.  It was about the most pitiful thing I've ever seen.  I have no doubt that if I'd gone to work today she'd have died while we were gone.

So, despite spending my shower thinking about activities to go along with today's subtraction lesson, I took a personal day, rushed J to the before-school program, and took her to the animal hospital.  And as much as I like to think of myself as tough, I can tell you that I cried pretty much from the moment I handed over the box she was in.

It was just so sad, you guys.  And she's pretty much got all of us in love with her.  And my big, tall 17 year old man of a son is just in love with this cat.  Basically the first thing the vet said was that they may not be able to save her, but after an hour or so she was perked up a little.  I was tearfully happy until they brought the treatment plan estimate.  Three days of hospitalization at a cost of $700-1,000.

There's just no way, especially because they expect the money up front.  No payment plans.  But saying "no" sounds an awful lot like "let her die", which is terrible.  More waterworks.  So the doctor gave me a treatment plan and a glimmer of hope, and I've spent my day nursing a kitten.  Now I'm nervous every time she's not in my sight, and as I said on facebook, it's like having a baby again. 

A tiny, furry, uninsured baby.  So I walked out of the vet's office $250 poorer, but I didn't have to bury a kitten today, and I didn't have to tell my boys she died.  And I really, really hope there's no "yet" attached to either of those last things.

Update: She died, just before midnight. :( She seemed better all evening until I went to check on her around 10:30, when she started stumbling around and went downhill from there. I sat with her til N got home from practice, then I sat with him while he sat with her til the end. If I thought I was cried out, I was wrong. It's beyond gut-wrenching to watch your child lose his pet. Sad, sad night.