Okay, dh spoke to the vet office today. They stated that, our regular
favorite vet as a courtesy, does not charge for administering the IV to
Tiggy. We will receive a credit. So I do feel better about the
situation. Now if I call to ask if I can bring Tiggy in for some
fluids, I will specify our favorite vet be on duty.

Thinking back this was not the first problem we had had with them. In
the past, Mickey our boy with a history of herpes in his left eye, was
treated by the owner of this veterinary clinic. She covers days off for
the other two vets since she homeschools her 5 kids (God bless) She
examined him an claimed it was just conjunctivitis. I plainly stated
that it appeared to look the same as his herpes outbreak 2 years
earlier. Nope, she insisted it was not. With the eye looking worse 2
days later, Mickey and I were in the veterinary opthamologist's office.

A couple of week's ago, our "trusted" vet phoned to say that she had
the latest results of Tiggy's blood work. The numbers were bad, real
bad. He had taken a turn for the worse, his creatin levels were sky
high, blah, blah. I thought to myself, this is not possible. My husband
snuck the cat out of the house without my knowing? We had had Tiggy in
just a few days prior for "fluid assistance" and I didn't see anyone
draw any blood and I was there the whole time. Got off the phone with
the vet, and immediately called dh crying. I said it cannot be true. He
said that it was obvious a misunderstanding, told me where our copies
of the two previous tests were, and to call back the vet.

So I called back and "gently" explained that I "believed" she was
mistaken. I asked her to compare dates and she still couldn't get it
right. Dealing with fax copies (and not originals) she all of a sudden
realised her mistake. That morning the lab had just "RE-FAXED" the
original results from his very first test a month and a half prior.
Something about updating the thyroid levels. Well I could hear her
embarrasment over the phone. One of the girls at the front desk
received the fax, brought it to her and she just assumed it was
"new"...

I so wish we lived closer to the Univ. of Ga. But 1 1/2 - 2 hours each
way just gets to be too much, especially with 5 cats who never get sick
at the same time, just one, right after another! I cannot say enough
good things about their Small Animal Hospital. Tiggy was treated there
for his obessive compulsive licking and spraying. His behaviorist Dr
Terry Curtis is now at Univ. of Florida running the behavior program
there. Prior to that while we were still in Indiana, Tiggy was seen by
the world famous :-) behaviorist, Dr. Luescher at Purdue University.
Again, especially for someone who does not have a lot of money for
treatment, these Veterinary schools are a God send.

Now about our probems administering the fluids...I was an EMT for 7+
years so was always comfortable being around needles. My husband on the
other hand, can not stand the sight and was a wreck. He has finally
gotten comfortable. We have tried table level, in our laps and have
settled upon the floor in Tiggy's room (dh and my bedroom).  A few
weeks ago we also purchased an IV pole. Dh holds Tiggy, with one hand
on each of the cat's sides, from behind, while I stick him kneeling
next to him.

One thing which we tried and failed was the whole treat thing. He sees
the treat and Tiggy even less wants to have anything to do with this
whole process. Right now dh is trolling eBay looking for an IV warmer.
If not I am going to try the heating pad suggestion. The vet had just
told us to keep the fluids on top of our refrigerator to keep them
warm. I am going to make it a point to go back and review all my
bookmarks on "how to administer" and dh is researching needles. My
favorite is
http://www.weirdstuffwemake.com/weird/stuff/pets/cats/sophia/catjuice.html

Alas, I do have some fantastic news to report. The vet did phone late
yesterday afternoon with the test results. Thank God, his levels have
improved so much that he is on the "high side" of normal. So much joy
after the last couple of months of tears. Why do we get so attached to
our fur babies? For this weekend though, I am going to just enjoy the
sweet little fluff ball Tiggy. Monday I'll go back to coping mentally
with the prognosis of his illness.

http://www.hoosierkitties.com/boys/tiggy.htm