My wife wanted to get together with some friends this up-and-coming weekend. Just the other day, one of her friends texted her and said the following:
Her cat is sick and she may not be able to get together as originally planned. The cat was diagnosed with fibrosarcoma (caused by vaccinations in cats with prevalence of 1 in 1000 to 1 in 10,000!?) in November and had radical surgery to have it removed on January 5. The lump and 3 ribs were removed. The cat got daily radiation treatments starting January 22 and is finishing up the last of the radiation treatments this week. This all happened in a city located almost 3 hours away (275km/175mi). My wife's friend took at least 2 weeks off from her job to stay in the city with the cat for the first 2 weeks it got radiation. Her parents took the cat to the city and stayed with it for the third week of its radiation treatment. My wife's friend rented a fully furnished condo right next the the clinic the cat was being treated at. Apparently they've been traveling back and forth to the city with the cat (in the city a week at a time maybe). Because just the other day, the anti - nausea meds weren't working at the cat was vomiting. They took the cat into a smaller city closer by (100km/60mi), they did some blood tests, and it got some IV fluids. That happened again not long ago, but instead of coming home with the cat, it continued on the the larger city with my wife's friend's husband. They took some more blood to do further testing and then administered further fluids because the cat was dehydrated. Apparently the cat continues to vomit. They figure it is the stress or the anesthesia that is causing the vomiting. Apparently a full blood analysis and x-ray were in the works. And last I heard, the last three sessions of radiation were to start today. Once again, wife's friend was wanting to be in the city for that.
Costs (Approx Estimates) so far:
- Radiation: $6000 (conservative estimate)
- Surgery: $6000
- Condo Rental: $1200
- Medication: $400
- Tests (blood, x-ray): $350
- Other care (ie. re-hydration): $200
- Travel (1800km conservative estimate in Half ton truck) @ $0.50/km: $900
Approximate total: $15,050
Are. You. Kiddinme?!
I don't understand and can't relate. I'm really curious to know how much the vet bills will set this couple back. Not to mention the crazy number of miles traveled to and fro!