We've had a very sad day today - which happens to be DS2's birthday.
Last night, after we finished making DS's bike (his birthay present) up, I went to shut up everywhere and found our 18 month old cat outside under our garden bench. At first I thought she was intently watching spiders or crane flies as she was looking down and very hunched up but within moments I knew something was wrong. On closer inspection she was hobbled over in pain and I could see she looked wet.
I got her into the light and she was covered in blood and unable to put her back paw down. We bundled her up in a blanket and took her to our bedroom away from the other pets and we could see that her back leg was badly damaged - it looked as though it had been caught in a trap or something as there was a semi circular sort of mark and the paw was stripped down to ligaments and looked very limp and kind of crushed.
I rang the emergency vet - who other than registering was completely unknown to us as we moved here just under a month ago. He asked if we wanted to bring her now or wait until morning but I just knew it had to be there and then despite the fact it was nearly midnight.
Anyway, the upshot was that Loki had a broken leg below the hock - still to be Xrayed and 'fixing' discussions to be had in the morning. I left her there with a huge bandage and pain relief and antibiotics and we briefly spoke about amputation. Spent the rest of the night googling the scenarios.
Here comes the lesson learned part: we hadn't insured her, in part due to lack of organisation but also a reticence in contributing to the insurance culture which we all seem so bound up in. I quickly forgot my principles on the subject when faced with the moral and financial dilemma before me.
So, today... we learn that the treatment will be upwards of 800 if we go the simple route of amputation, and that if we are able to go for pins and wires and skin grafts, who knows. The vet also mentioned the 284.00 owing from last night.
DP and i had already agreed that 600 was the limit. Actually, he'd said 200-300 so I trebled it and vowed to keep it a secret between me and Loki. My budget wouldn't cut it, and having just moved house and having had my car written off in the last 4 weeks, we had no ready cash anyway.
I told the vet we had no option other than to put her to sleep and I started to question the life of a 3 legged cat which in the early hours of this morning I had espoused with great confidence to DP who was lesssure of how well the tail serves as a leg replacement.
Then the vet throws us a lifeline which, as I sit here now, feels very painful, and that is that we could sign her over to the surgery who would then recover the costs from the Cats Protection League. The catch was that we would have to agree to her being rehomed upon recovery. I phoned DP at work and we agreed it was a no brainer. I told the Birthday boy as if it was good knews, knowing it really wasn't and shot off to hand over our cat.
I'm due to call on Friday to find out how the surgery and recovery went, but she's not our cat anymore. It feels like the ultimate chastisement for not having her insured.
Feeling like a failure of an cat owner.