For all those who are interested, this is what $207.00 ($95 @ the shelter, $112 and counting at the vet) looks like:




I don't mind spending money on the kitties, I just wish it wasn't quite so much....

To begin this story in a round-about-way, my mother is a doctor. Not the crazy rich kind, just the regular kind. While it sucks to have her be gone the majority of the time and to worry about which patient is going to call complaining about something during a movie, there are benefits to this arrangement. All physicals are handled the night before they are needed, with this sentence: "Here Mom, will you fill this out for me?" Similarly, if I need a TB shot, she brings one home from work with her, checks it a few days later, and viola, I am cleared. Any sniffle, hack, headache, and broken bone can be cured with a phone call. But the part I never really thought about until a few years ago is coming back to bite me in the ass.

I never really knew what people were talking about when they complained about the health care system in the US. I've never had a problem with any doctor (perhaps because my mom usually knows them?), so I assumed everyone else was just complaining to complain. It couldn't be that bad.

I took my cat to the vet yesterday to have his first checkup. To spare you the yucky details, he really needed an overall look-see about some smelly side effects, and I thought he might have a fever. I dropped him off in the morning, and called that afternoon to check on him. I was told over the phone that he was ready to go, and would have some medication to pick up. I went to pick him up and planned on talking to the vet when I got there to find out exactly what was going on, and what I needed to do. However, the vet was not there when I arrived, and the tech was more than a little unclear about everything. After looking over the chart for about 15 minutes (yes, I am exaggerating a little), he mumbled something about him having a fever and using a general antibiotic to hopefully fix this. No, he had no idea what was causing the fever. No, they weren't able to get a sample. Yes, they had run some test but wouldn't have the results for a few days. They gave him a muscle relaxer, but never told me what it was for. And then he charged me $112 and that was that. A little perturbed, I took my cat and my empty wallet home whereupon I discovered that there was indeed a very large sample living in the box with my kitty. Far from invisible, this sample was proclaiming its presence with an un-ignorable smell and had apparently been there for awhile.

Now I know how if feels to go the the regular doctor's office. I don't like feeling ignored, unimportant, and woefully uninformed $100 bill walking around. I expect to be treated like a person, maybe even with a little respect and dignity. I want someone, preferably with a "Dr." in front of their name, to sit down and explain to me what is going, and what we can do about it in regular non-medical terms.

I guess this is my way of saying that I've been extremely lucky in the medical field so far, and I have decided that my sister should become/marry a vet. Then I'm covered, and I can deal with the rest of the world.