Duchess of Evil

Wow, you guys. Just...wow. I woke up this morning, and it all seems so unreal. Between jewelry sales and donations, my paypal account has almost $700!! I'm going to go ahead and call the vet this morning to schedule the surgery. Even if it ends up being higher than the conservative estimate, I know they'll let me split it into a couple of payments if I can pay most of the cost up front. Thank you all so much. I'm also going to go ahead and pay the vet the rest of what we owed for the first appointment. Paying that off early ought to make them more inclined to work with us for the surgery, if needed. I'm not entirely sure it will be, the way things are going! You guys are amazing. Thank you.

So, I thought I'd share an amusing Julius-at-the-vet story, since so many people are helping him. My cat is a Bengal. Back when I still had a job, I worked with a guy who bred Bengals, and ended up getting Julius for free. For those who don't know, Bengals are a special breed, and can be freakishly expensive. They're bred from an Asian Leopard Cat and domestic short hairs, like Siamese and Maus. Bengals tend to bond to one special person when they're kittens, and for Julius, that's me. But he's always been fairly friendly, or at least tolerant of strangers. In fact, in those early years, trips to the vet were no big deal. He didn't mind the cat carrier, he liked the attention the techs showered on him, and really he just tolerated the whole experience pretty well. Then, several years ago he developed a urinary tract infection (also not a cheap procedure, but back then I had a job). He spent five days at the vet, and when I came in to visit he stared at me with flat eyes and ears, a look that said "Lady, you left me here, I hate you!" It wasn't until he returned home that his usual personality was restored, and even then he favored my husband over me for several days. He holds a grudge, you see.

But I had no idea how much. The next time he went into the vet for something, getting him into the carrier was an unexpected experience in frustration. As many of you who own cats probably know, getting a cat into a small opening when they don't want to can be...interesting. The visit started out fine. Julius tolerated the exam, but gave me the same flat eyed, flat eared stare as before. Then they needed to draw blood. The tech took him back to do so while the vet and I were talking. Pretty soon, here comes the tech. The patient, she explains, goes crazy and claws, hisses, and bites when they try to take his blood. It took me a minute to realize she was talking about Julius. I offered to help, and the tech told me no, they didn't want me to get hurt! It hadn't occurred to me until that moment that my cat might try to hurt me. They had to knock him out, just to draw blood. 

Now, here we are caught up to the most recent vet visit. I have since procured a top loading cat carrier, which requires less direct wrestling when loading Julius into it (although he still tries). Once we got to the vet and took him back, I opened the carrier, and my cat hissed at me. Um, what? He's never done that before. Then when he saw the vet tech, he hissed at her. I pulled him out of the carrier and handled him for her as far as weighing him went, not entirely sure it was safe for her to touch him. This concern blossomed into reality when she picked up the thermometer. By then, he'd gone back into his cat carrier, but he saw her coming toward him with that thing in her hand, and the look her threw at her over his shoulder said "Lady, you come near with that thing, and I'm taking your f-ing fingers off." Then he proceeded to turn around so he could be poised and ready to do exactly that. Even the tech, poor young thing, looked a little shocked. "Um...maybe I'll just go and get some help," she told me. 

Yes, my loving, sweet boy. Terrorizing vet techs everywhere. In the end, they had to take him back and knock him out again. They just waited to take his temperature until then, because, you know. It's safer that way. I don't imagine the new surgery will encourage his love of visiting the vet, either. 

Maybe some of you are reading this, and thinking this sort of behavior at the vet is perfectly normal. Well, I still marvel at it. Julius is such a sweet natured cat! He's never used his claws ever. We raised him as a kitten with our lab-husky mix, and the two of them play together pretty rough and tumble. Zoey is three times his size, and yet...he's never once used his claws on her. He's a gentle cat! Except, apparently, when he's at the vet.

Our cat Julius has not been feeling well lately. At my husband's urging (a rare occurrence), we took him to the vet, and discovered the disheartening news that he needs orthodontic surgery. Several of his teeth are basically going bad, and need to be pulled. Until they are, he will continue to have abscessed teeth which make him sick and require antibiotics to treat. We only noticed something was wrong because one of his eyes is routinely more closed than the other, and weeping, a respiratory response to the abscess.

You can see it a little here, even on this crappy phone pic:



The eye on the right is slightly smaller than the eye on the left. This is actually a huge improvement, because the vet gave him a good dose of antibiotics. However, it is temporary. The vet made it clear this is a short term fix. He needs surgery, which as you might imagine, is expensive, and the sooner the better.

This comes at the worst possible time, as these things so often do. Just in time for Christmas, which we were already struggling to find the extra funds for. My husband reacted...shall we say, badly, to this news. In an effort to be positive, I said "maybe I can sell some jewelry to help pay for it". He was skeptical (to put it politely). He likes to pretend he's a glass half-full kind of guy, but lately its been all glass empty, all the time, as some of you might know from recent entries, which shall remain locked. We really did not need one more hit, let me tell you. 

I've been struggling with what to do for two days. I don't like asking people for help, especially when so many are already struggling. I know to some people, paying for surgery for a cat is ludicrous, but please keep in mind...we don't and can't have kids. For the moment, our pets are the closest thing we have. They are our family, in a very real way. As much as he might grumble and act tough, my husband was the one who said "I think Julius is really sick. Take him to the vet." And this, at a time when he doesn't want to spend extra money at all. 

In an effort to prove my skeptical husband wrong, I am going to try to raise funds to help pay for the cat surgery. As I said, I know times are tight, and I know a lot of people might want to help, but really can't afford it. I understand, and I feel bad even asking. Honestly, we just don't have the money. But regardless, we still need to do the surgery, or Julius will just continue to get sicker. I don't know how else to come up with it. I'm not asking people to go buy things from my Etsy store (although if you do, thank you). What I am going to do, is throw up a paypal donate button, and offer to do a raffle that includes everyone who donates. I will give away up to five pairs of my studded earrings, winners choose their stones, in a random drawing from everyone who donates. (and if only five people donate, well guess what?) Participants get an entry into the raffle for every $5 donated. So, $5 is one entry, $20 is four entries, and so on. The earrings could make a great Christmas gift for someone, or a beautiful prize just for the winner. 

Please, link to this in your journal, send a link to any friends you have who love their furry companions, etc. I appreciate any help people can give, whether it's just hugs and supports or a donation. Times are tough right now, both emotionally and literally. I continue to appreciate how much love and support is offered by people I've never met in real life. Thank you to everyone reading this.


Cat Surgery Donation Button