Sick Kitty, Big Vet Bills

Pi, my 9-year-old Bengal (aka the Mud Cat), doesn’t have kitty health insurance. After last week’s illness, my credit card balance reflects that. Fortunately, he’s better now, but I’m left wondering if I can cover him under the insurance changes mandated by the Affordable Health Care Act. There should be a Medicat option.

Last Monday when I got back from a four-day trip to California, Pi wasn’t his usual playful combative self. He didn’t want to go outside—a gigantic red flag after being kept inside the whole time. He wouldn’t eat or drink, and when I picked him up he let me know he was sore and hurting all over. He seemed to be at least as sick as he was during his 2011 bout with Cholangiohepatitis.

A week later after five trips to Bayview Veterinary Hospital, the doctors don’t know what caused the illness. But that wasn’t because of a lack of testing, which can run up a vet bill in a hurry. He had a couple of blood tests, some X-rays, and a urinalysis. Other care included several injections of Baytril (an antibiotic) and hydration therapy. They also hospitalized him there one night.

As his owner I agreed to all of this. He’s that important to me. He had a temperature of 105 degrees when I first brought him in. Maybe the fever would have gone away on its own, but I didn’t want to take a chance. He wasn’t eating or drinking. That’s scary. So I opted for being proactive.

Along with time and his own internal defenses, I think three things helped: the injections, the hydration therapy, and, in a counterintuitive way, the overnight stay at the hospital. “He’s tough to care for,” Dr. Young said. “He doesn’t much like it here.” That was obvious. As they brought him into the lobby, he was making so much noise we could barely discuss the next recheck.

On the way home I could tell just from his yowling that he was on the road to recovery. Sort of a cat’s promise to get better in return for NEVER being left overnight at Bayview (or any veterinary hospital) again. I wasn’t completely sure though until he jumped up on the counter and ate a few bites of catfood—the first time he had eaten in five days.

I don’t want to sound like the vets were clueless. Actually I’m satisfied with the care he received. At first Dr. Young suspected an inflammation of the bile ducts. But Pi’s blood test didn’t show elevated levels of liver enzymes as expected. The X-rays showed several small blockages in his small intestine, possibly from a rat he killed and ate a couple of days before I left for California. Clearly there were problems in his G.I. (gastrointestinal) tract.

In the end the illness was called an FUO (fever of unknown origin).

Pi is a great companion, but without a social security number I don’t see a way to pass on his health care costs to the government. Also he’s never worked a day in his life. I did notice a big difference in the way the billing is done when there’s no health insurance involved—you get the charges right away and are expected to take care of them. Fortunately as the person paying the bill, I’m eligible for a 10 percent senior discount.