A little while ago I was going to start writing a post about how wonderful my cats are, how funny and adorably mischievous, how affectionate and cute. But then came the lily... Actually the lily was there a day before we got the kitties. On a friday night, we threw a housewarming party to celebrate the purchase of our first home. We invited around 50 people and had a great turnout in spite of the rain. Of course, along with cole slaw, noodle salad and brownies, some guests brought flowers. We got a very nice and colorful bouquet from Mike's parents:
The next day came the kitties. The first 2 weeks with Doodle and Crinkle were wonderful. Little by little, they adapted to their new environment. They checked out the whole house and were pretty curious about everything. Then on a Friday morning, we noticed that one of the cat (we suspected that it was Doodle) threw up on the carpet. We didn't think much of it at first but since we had to bring them to the vet soon for a checkup, we decided to take an appointment for the same night so we could know why he vomited and if it was ok. I noticed that a piece of the big yellow flowers was missing and that another one was on the floor (at the time, I was naive and didn't even know that those flowers were actually lilies). I spent the day with the kitties, trying to check their behavior and I didn't see anything wrong. At 4:30, we went to the animal hospital. The veterinary examined both kitties and according to her, everything seemed to be normal. We told her about the flowers and she told us to check what kind of flower it was because some flowers are toxic and can be fatal for cats. She told us about the lily but believe me or not (and I feel very silly to admit that now), I didn't think that those flowers were lilies - for me lilies are the white long flowers we had at our wedding. Back home, we check out the flower and sure enough, it was a lily. We kinda of panicked because we went on the Internet and saw that if it is not treated immediately, cats who swallow some piece of a lily can die within 72 hours. Meanwhile, Doodle threw up again (including some pieces of flower) which only increased our freaking out. We called the vet in a hurry. She told us that the animal hospital in Wakefield was now closed but she advised us to go the one in Woburn, which is open 24/7. We went there quickly with the 2 kitties. We were totally panicking at that point. We had to wait for about 45 minutes before a doctor came and examined Crinkle and Doodle. She said that the best thing to do was testing their kidney by testing their blood level (because plant poisoning can lead to kidney failure). So we waited while the vet was taking their blood and analyzing it. A little while later, the vet came back and told us that the results from the blood testing wouldn't be available for another hour or so 9it was around 8:30 at that point). She also told us that whatever the results are, it would be preferable to keep them for 24 hours and treat them because the poisoning might not show up in the blood test right away even if they were actually poisoned. Mike and I felt a little strange because she didn't tell us that at first when we arrived. Why didn't she tell us right away that the blood tests wouldn't be reliable and that the kitties would have to be treated anyway? Well the answer probably resides in the bill. She presented us with an estimate of the cost of keeping the cats for 24 hours under IV and giving them charcoal to clean their stomach and intestines. The bill amounted to $1,200! But we didn't have the choice, we had to do it because alternative might have been the death of our cats. We didn't spend time thinking. We knew that it was a serious matter and that we had to do it. Even though we only had them for 2 weeks, we became very attached to Doodle and Crinkle and beyond that, we are their owners and we have a responsibility to take care of them as well as we can. So we said goodbye and we left them there. During the night, the doctor called us to inform us that they received the test results. Doodle's blood test was normal and Crinkle's was a little bit elevated but according to her it was either due to dehydration or to the shot he received at the vet early this night. It made us feel a little better but we still spent a rough night worrying about them. At 6:30, after her shift, the night doctor called us and said that Crinkle and Doodle were doing good and that it was the first time that she saw cats drinking the charcoal without a problem, "no wonder they ate the lily at your house," she said, "they would eat anything!" Later that day, another doctor called us and told us that the cats were doing good but that she would prefer to keep them at the hospital for another 24 hours just to make sure that they are ok. At that point, Mike and I had just balanced our checkbook and we noticed that we were very very tight budget now that we paid $1,200. We could definitely not afford another $8 or 900 to keep them there. She told us that "if it was her cats, she wouldn't hesitate" but she probably doesn't know what it means to be on a tight budget! We told her that we would be waiting for the new blood tests results and that we would decide afterward. Later that day, the blood tests showed that both cats were normal and we started feeling much better. After all, the tests were already good the day before. We went through the treatment anyway as a prevention but now that they are good again, we wanted to bring our babies home. And we did. The next doctor was much nicer and signed a release right away. The next few days were pretty hectic because I was very anxious that they wouldn't feel well. I would wake up in the middle of the night and make sure that they are okay. After a week , we were supposed to have the blood tested again but since it would have another couple of hundred dollars, we didn't do it. It has been 3 weeks now and the kitties are doing okay. Their hair is growing back very very slowly where they were shaved for the IV.
