The Hips Don't Lie, Part II: Having None of This Shit

 The cage arrived for Mable on Friday, shortly before our call with not only our vet, but with the pet orthopedic specialist. 

Mable does not necessarily mind the cage, but it does seem as if she doesn't fully understand why she's in it. She still prefers to lounge/sleep in the litter pan most of the time, despite the fact that we got a super-soft cat bed for her specifically for the cage, and a raised food bowl so she can legit eat out of it without having to leave said cat bed. 

Believe me, she is well kept. She has access to wet food and fresh water, a freshly-cleaned pan, and a bowl of treats at all times. The bed for her is very comfortable and she does like it, but it might be a bit too warm for her at times and that may be why she prefers to lounge in the litterbox. That could also be a stress thing too, from what our vet said.

Speaking of which...

Sigh.

Okay, so, there are a number of variables at play. None of them are really great options. So I'm going to make a numbered list here of new information we found out between two calls and a few emails:

1. Mable's fracture is indeed a minor one, and it is like a hairline fracture for a cat.
2. It isn't a separation of the bones, but is a fracture "in place" so to speak.
3. Our (very competent) vet can and has done the surgery she may or may not need, called a FHO procedure, in his office before.
4. It is not putting a pin in the hip to stabilize it -- it is full removal of the femoral head and allowing cartilage and scar tissue to restore movement and function in the healing process. I guess it also involves lasers. 
5. However, he is not the best at it and has not done it in a long time. He suggested the cat orthopedic specialist place and noted that if he were in the same situation, he would take his animals there to have them do it, since they're the best.
6. Cost to have it done at our vet's office, if necessary: $1843 to $2248. 
7. The orthopedic specialists' office requires a pre-screening thorough exam, likely with new x-rays done, as part of their consult. The consult itself ranges from $200-250 bare minimum.
8. The orthopedic specialists were shocked that we hadn't already brought her in. 
9. Cost to have it done by "the best" orthopedic specialists: $3500 to $4500. 
10. Cost to have it done by a no-frills vet hospital down the street from us: about $900. 
11. Our vet is/was out of the office for the weekend, so we left a query with their front desk as to find out what he thinks about the no-frills place.
12. After all of this, all of it, it is very possible she will not need a surgery at all and will just heal up from it naturally.

Now, mind you, we don't know. That is a lot of money to spend on a surgery for a cat. News flash, we may both have good jobs but we're not liquid enough to just drop the equivalent cost of a decent used car and not blink. It's also not a payment plan thing -- these places expect every dollar up front, same day, no negotiations. The no-frills place very likely has a waiting list a mile long as we read reviews from people who drove into Omaha from hours away to save the money on a procedure. That wouldn't work if our consult with the specialists says something like oh no, you should've had her in here day-of, she needs this NOW or something along those lines -- plus if she does need the surgery and we'd be waiting on it, she would begin healing on her own in the waiting time, likely incorrectly.

Daisy consulted her divining crystal (yeah, that's definitely a sentence I just typed) multiple times, and it told her multiple times that Mable does not need the surgery. 

I guess we'll find out at 8am sharp, when we have the consult appointment with the specialist people.

I am of multiple minds about all of this. I don't want to see my little girl suffer, of course. If it's something they review and say she can heal from on her own in 6-8 weeks and to keep her sequestered and unable to run or jump until that point, cool, then I guess that's what it is and we save a few thousand dollars on handling it. But I do think that would be risky, and I don't know that she wouldn't injure herself again shortly after healing, maybe even worse the next time around, to where that surgery would become absolutely necessary.

Also, I understand these surgery people are "the best," but what I gathered on the phone call told me that they were absolutely trying to wring us dry, nickel-and-dime us on everything in order to maximize their own profits and add to their Lamborghini-buying funds. And honestly, that really, really rubs me the wrong way. I'm sure they do a fine job, but do they need to charge double what our vet would charge, or 3-4x what the no-frills place would charge for the same procedure? I am guessing not. I am strongly guessing not. 

So what are we going to do?

Well, we have the consult with them in the morning at 8am. It's likely going to be pretty in-depth. There will very likely be more x-rays. There will very likely be big talk of trying to sell us on paying $4k for a surgery whether or not she actually really needs it. They do this shit every day. They're likely going to try to upsell us on everything.

But. They're also supposed to be the best. And that puts us in a very dangerous situation, because if our own vet trusts them, and they say she's in a critical spot right now and needs the surgery immediately...I have to be inclined to believe them, even if they're trying to blow smoke up our asses.

I have a credit card I paid off two years ago and haven't used since. It has a very high limit. I'm not necessarily concerned about that. What I'm concerned about is being played, and I am concerned about Mable's pain levels and healing prognosis. Fuck the money. I know that sounds weird to say, but I can always pay down a credit card. We make a decent living and it's not the end of the world.

"What if they say yes, she needs this, she needs this surgery now -- are we just going to do it?" I asked Daisy. It was sort of a rhetorical question, because my answer is and always was "yes, just do it, save my child."

"I'm going to need a minute," Daisy said. "If she truly needs it do we want to shop around?"

"I mean, these guys are supposed to be the best, right? Like, I'm trying to be budget-conscious but at the same time I do want the best care for our little girl, and I will always be paranoid if we're like 'nah fam, we'll pass today' and try to get our vet or the no-frills place to do it to save a few bucks...the worst case scenario in my mind is that if it's not done by the best surgeons to do it, what if it happens again in the future? Same hip or the other one? Would we always be second-guessing or questioning ourselves on whether we should have spent the money with 'the best' people the first time?"

Actually, and I told Daisy as an aside last night -- the real worst-case scenario is that they put her under for the surgery and she doesn't wake up and dies there on the operating table, and we just paid the surgeons a non-refundable $4k to essentially accidentally kill our cat. Hey man, freak accidents happen, and not all animals respond as expected to anesthesia -- our family dog growing up died on the operating procedure at one point and they had to fight to get her back, for example.

Also, the specialists have a contingency for that -- it's an extra $500 if your pet crashes and they have to do CPR on them to bring them back, whether they're successful or not. It's in the contract paperwork we had to fill out, because of course it is. 

"Do you want me to check the box for that?" Daisy asked me. 

"Yes, of course," I said. "Cat's not even a year and a half old, bring her back to me so she can live a good long life."

I paused for a moment before saying "I mean, if it were Pete, he's 18, like...I wouldn't feel the same way."

Daisy also paused for a moment. "Yeah, I actually agree with you on that," she finally said. 

All of this is a big shit sandwich, and we all have to take a bite -- that's what I'm trying to relay here overall.