Someone please help! Kitten emergency!

i was just petting my kitten and noticed som sort of scar on her belly and a little while later i was petter her again and the scar is torn open and i can see what appears to be muscle. it's all bloody looking. what is it? what can i do? i don't have any money for a vet but i'm worried about my kitten.

 

scrape up some money cause if this kitten's belly got ripped open somehow she needs a vet....pronto.

Remember when you take on the responsbility of a pet one of the things you have to deal with is vet bills...whether they be vaccines, spaying...but you also need to be prepared (as best you can) for the unexpected emergency. You wouldn't deny a child medical care for an emergency would you? You shouldn't your pet either.

If this is an open wound anything can happen - from infection to the kitten making the wound worse....then you are looking at even higher vet bills.

Please take the kitten to the vet and see if the vet will set up a payment schedule for you.

 

:m23: and welcome, Most vets will take installment plans for payments. Check and call around different vets and clinics for rates, etc. and explain both kitties and your situation. They may be able to offer advice over the phone. Also check the sticky under low cost spay/neuter clinics in your area. They may be able to help you in your situation. How old is your kitten and what's her name? Is she spayed recently and may have injured her scar/belly somehow?

 

Mary NH: the reason i don't have any money isn't out of any selfish reason, I"m only 16 and i'm living with my boyfriend. His brother lives with us to and it's his cat who had kittens. i just love them to death so i take care of them. my boyriend loves them to. we don't have money for anything, especially an expensive vet visit. i'm just looking for help, not a scolding.

vene: thank you so much for the helpful information! i only hope i can find a vet who can help! My kitten's name is Donut and she's only 4 wks old. We still have mom and all of her sisters and her one brother. Because she's old four weeks i'm not sure if this happened because of her imbilicle cord, when the five kittens were born we couldn't find them for days because the mother hid away during birth. do you know if this could just be her imbilice cord? i think it happened when the kittens were all playing (their claws are very sharp even though i trim them). I'd better get looking for a vet!

 

Call around your local shelters too. Lots of times they can recommend low cost, good vets. Mary_NH is one of our best people here. She's extremely compassionate! She's not scolding, she's giving good, sound advice to everyone and has helped me and others many times over. Good luck in your search for a good vet and keep us posted. If money ever becomes a serious issue, you can always surrender the kitties to a no-kill shelter. But I have a feeling you are not going to do that!

 

Thank you vene

darkrabbit sorry if you feel I'm scolding you (I know teenagers think everyone is scolding them - I own one of those too) - but those are the facts. My approach to discussing anything to do with animals can be rather blunt and to the point - I don't believe in wasting my time, or yours, by "pussyfooting" around the issues.

Not having any money is no excuse (at least not a good one) when, like vene pointed out to you, there are low-cost clinics around or payment options. Or someone in the home where are you living could get a job to pay for vet bills (such as spaying so the kitten population won't get out of control where you are living). Saying you don't have money cause you are only 16 doesn't work - my son is only 15 and he worked all summer.

That's the way it is - whether the cat/kittens belong to you, your BF or your BF's brother. Someone has to accept responsiblity for their wellbeing - and sometimes that involves $$

 

ok, angry kylie here. the first post i can handle, but as soon as someone makes up stupid excuses, I GET ANGRY! :x . you dont have money for anything? im on a disability pension, my partner brings home a junior supermarket workers wage [even though hes FAR from a junior] and we seem to be able to find the money for our pets care. i guess thats because we PRIORITISE, which is what you certainly arent doing. if you cant put some luxuries aside to pay for your pets care then i suggest you get rid of them. and dont give us that 'im 16 living with my boyfriend' bull. why do you think that this exempts you from caring for your animals? im sure you are all quite capable of getting a job as mary suggested.

people dont buy cars if they cant afford it.
people dont buy houses if they cant afford it.
people dont go out if they cant afford it.
so why do people buy pets if they cant afford it???

 

i'm not trying to make excuses and i don't need to be getting attacked when i was trying to gget help for my kittens. and stop telling me i bought them. they were born by the lowsy owner of their mother getting pregnant because she wasn't fixed. i take care of them as well as i can. and don't you think i would have been a little more worried if it seemed REALLY serious? my kitten (donut) was fine and walking around, playing with the other kittens like nothing was wrong. i don't need to be attacked about not having a job either. some people can find work, but others can't. i don't know about other places, but in augusta, maine when you're 15 and have no car there is nowhere to work. i challenge anyone who doesn't believe that to come to augusta and find out. and just because i'm a teenager doesn't mean i think i'm always being "Scolded". i asked for help and all i recieved was harassment.

this isn't supposed to be some kind of competiton as to who is the better pet owner, people.

as for my little kitten Donut, i called around to some vets, as was suggested to me. and one actually came over to my apartment and looked at her for me. and Donut is just fine, as i had half-thought. her imbilicle cord just stayed on unusually long and finally fell off. this is what i thought it was all along but had to be sure. i'll post pictures of her when i hook my webcam up if anyone's interested!

i don't mean to offend anybody, i think you are all probably very nice people and got the wrong idea when i was frantically posting yesterday. i was very nervous. and i think some of you people might be too. i' m still very upset, however. if anyone wants to see pictures of my kittens let me know!

 

and just to let you all know, i don't have any "luxuries". i am using the computer at a library, i have no phone or cable. i'm trying to go to school to become a nurse or maybe even a vet, which would be my dream job, and i do a little babysitting for my friend, but she doesn't pay me much. my boyfriend? he works at dunkin' donuts bringing home about $150 a week which goes towards our rent. but i won't bother explaining further.

it's not respectful to attack someone's living situation when you don't know what they've been through, and it's hurtful.

 

Me here. Psst, over here. I want to see pics!!! :m10: No wonder you named her Donut. I'm so glad she's ok. If we didn't scare you off, care to join the photo contest? Can't wait to see what she looks like! :0016:

 

darkrabbit213,

I'm glad your kitten is fine. I'm also glad you got someone to look at the little one.

I think people here get a little sore sometimes with posts from people 'who can't afford' to take their critter to the vet. I think many of the people here have seen countless posts about people who won't take their ailing pet to the vet because they have no money. I think it can get frustrating to see that over and over. So, being a member for X amount of time, you see so many posters come pass through with the same questions.

But, I don't want to speak for any one else here. I'm just telling you my opinion. I personally have seen so many people come and go after they say their cat is on death's door but they can't afford to do anything about it.

BUT, luckily, your kitten is apprently doing well and that's great! It's also great that you did seek help. Personally, I'd love to see some pictures when you get the time.

 

I am very happy the kitten is okay - but in defense of your responses as mentioned when someone quickly adds I can't afford a vet but they have a mom cat and kittens around some of us can get testy. I hope you understand why...it's similar to saying I love and care for my kids but I can't afford to feed them.

Nuff said - would love to see pictures of the kittens.

 

you obviously didnt read what i typed then. didnt you see the part where im on a disability pension and my partner is on a supermarket junior wage? when i moved out i was 18, no job. i moved out with my partner. we lived in a cruddy house with hardly anything. we had no car. SO, instead of sitting around making EXCUSES we saved our money really well, ditched all kinds of luxuries, borrowed things off people [including a car!] and in no time we ended up with things that we wanted [including pheobe the cat]. by the way, we had 2 strays come into that house. we kept none of them because we COULDNT AFFORD THEM. we gave one to my aunty and we took another to a shelter. now 2 houses down there was this lady. boy if she was right next to me id probably beat her head in. she had 5 cats. none were sterilised. 2 were pregnant. now i bet you her excuse for that would be 'i cant afford it, im a single mum'. mm hmm yeah right well im sure she gets a pension. im sure she gets payment from the father. so what is she doing with the money? i wonder. if a point in time comes when i just simply cannot afford my pets, i would give them up. simple as that. and if they arent your kittens, why dont you take them to a shelter? i mean i know kittens are cute and fluffy and all but if a litter was dumped on my doorstep i certainly wouldnt keep them. others may feel sorry for you but i dont.

 

kyles....I was a single parent at 19 - no insurance but I worked 2 jobs to support myself, my son (I wouldn't take state aid as it wasn't the taxpayers fault I was a single parent) and MY CAT. Tami was spayed at 6 months and wanted for nothing. I would have loved a nice shopping trip now and then, maybe a vacation....but my priorities were different. So I agree with you - having been there myself - it is possible. A person might have to work at jobs they don't necessarily like or want, or hours they don't necessarily like or want....but it can be done. If someone wants something bad enough anything is possible. Life choices is what it's all about.

 

^5 mary!

and very true.

 

im glad dounut is ok. i also agree wit hyou that it's not your fault that you can't find a job, darkrabbit213, i have put in aplications everywhere that will hire a 16yr. old and nothing. it isn't as easy as some people think it is. out of i don't know how many i've goten 1! interveiw. especialy when you haven't gotten your lisence yet. and i agree with kyles101 and Mary_NH that you have to be able to take care of your pet when you get one. but seeing as its not your cat it is your boy friends i don't think that he should have gotten the cat if he couldn't have afforded them and i think that it's good that you try to care for them.

 

I'm also glad Donut's doing okay and I can honestly say I've been in her position before - I don't know one vet that will work out a payment plan around here unless it's a very expensive trip ($700 - $1,000) and then the most they will do is let you pay half before you leave, and provide a post-dated cheque for the remainder. When Molly was vomiting blood I took her down and had her checked - they suggested xrays, etc., and by the time all was said and done the bill was $850 and nothing was wrong, she just had an upset stomach. They said I could pay half then and half the next payday two weeks later. That's an entire paycheque for me. I didn't eat anything but kraft dinner and fried potatoes for almost an entire month because once my rent was paid, bus tickets to get to work and cat food/litter bought, that was pretty much my entire months' salary. Our emergency clinic is $87 just to walk in the door and then whatever the bill is, and you don't have a choice about billing - depending on which vet is there, if you don't have the money your animal doesn't get treated. Vets are just too darned expensive around here and most of them don't have payment plans. We don't have low cost spay/neuter clinics here and only one shelter to rely on, which has no in-house vet. When you're living paycheck to paycheck it's hard to have money put aside for a rainy day. Fortunately I'm in a better position now, but I can understand where she's coming from because I've been there.
On the flip side, last January a single woman here died who lived in a trailer with *100* cats. The trailer was spotless and every single cat was spayed/neutered, disease- and flea-free, sociable and healthy, and all 100 were adopted out from the shelter within two months.

 

Wow, that's amazing. How does one live with 100 cats and take care of them all? :shock: How did this woman die?

 

thanks to some of you for the compassion!

like karen-80 said, I didn't want to have to go to the vet and find out nothing was wrong and still have to pay for a very expensive vet visit! so i'm very fortunate i got intouch with the dr. i did!

i'm not going to bother sticking up for myself in the issue of me having a job, other than to say that it's difficult to get a job when your 16 in my town, especially when you have hours as limited as mine are.

Kyles101: i've about had enough of you. you say you have a house? and you say that it's cruddy? well that's more than i have ever had. going from one room to the other is no picnic. and that's right, i said a room. not a house with atleast three rooms. one room. and it's not like these kitties were just dropped on my doorstep. they're owned and very much abused, as well as their mother was before my boyfriend and i moved here. i have school, all the time. and i'm actually studying to become a veterenarian. as far as borrowing a car is concerned, i don't know how to drive, and i don't have the money for driver's ed, nor will i until i graduate from college (which, by the way, it's going to be paid for completely in scholorships which i've worked for non-stop since 5th grade, and student loans which will take years to pay off). And i'm how old now? 16? I'll be out of high school in about 2 years, making me 18. Then that's college for 6 more years, making me 24. And paying off my student loan will probably be until i'm 30. i'm actually very happy with my life. as far as giving the kitties to a shelter is concerned, there aren't any no-kill shelters in my area, and the rest are completely full. and that's a lot of poor homeless animals. and i LOVE my kitties, i'm not taking them anywhere where they'll be put down. i don't have friends, and the only people i do know, are drug addicts and people of the sort that i don't want touching these babies. the point to all this being, you aren't the only one with problems. and yes, i know if i want something bad enough that i can do it. and i've done everything i've ever wanted, which isn't much, but i've done it. i'm happy with my life. and i'm happy with me, and i don't particularily like telling the world my sob stories, unlike you apparently do. i was under the impression that this site was about pets and pet care, not about crying about our lives.

anyway... sorry about all of that, i had to get it out of my system at some point

i had a talk with my boyfriend's brother (who is the actual owner of the kittens) and he still refuses to take care of them. so my boyfriend (patrick) and i are moving soon, and taking all of the kittens (mom too) with us! we've been paying virtually all the rent here (we pay $100 a week on an about $120 paycheck and the rent is $450 a mo. utilities included) which is a ripoff! we'll be moving to a place that's only $65 a week and has two rooms and we're getting money from the state to pay off the rest. Patrick didn't really want to move, but i told him it was for out kittens!

moving didn't occur to me until i realized how much we were getting ripped off! and the vet that looked at Donut for me said she'd be happy to *dramatically* reduce the price to spay and neuter the kittens! in my town there have been way too many strays and abandoned kitties and my vet says she's happy to know they have a good home and will help any way she can.

does anyone know what the right age to spay and neuter kittens is? mine are only five wks.

 

that woman must have had a huge savings account! or a really well paying job!