Thursday-2:45am: Karma's still at the vet's

Obviously I woke up and can't get back to sleep again.  

I'm sitting here praying--"drink-pee, drink-pee".

Nobody called me all day yesterday.  I assumed wrongly that no news was good news.  The appointment was at 5:30pm to pick her up--the roads were terrible--snowing again--ice underneath it all.  We carefully crept our way there.

Honestly, it was all very chaotic and very upsetting.  Both the vets were already gone (they are supposed to be open till 7pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays--mine had a parent-teacher conference).  The vet-tech girl left to deal with me admitted she didn't know anything about Karma (must have been the tech for the other vet) and the receptionist lady also seemed clueless.

They never got a urine sample.

Karma was so upset that she was holding it, but every time they went to take her out of the cage she freaked out and peed on them, and then there wasn't enough left to get a sample the needle and ultra-sound way.  [Peed on them!  She has to be scared witless!!]

They were expecting me to take her home and bring her back in the morning--AGAIN!  Said the vet had called and left me a message, but I had no call on my land line or my cell all day from her.  They were talking about me trying to get her to pee at home in these little balls that absorb the urine so they could get a sample, but I told them she was hardly peeing at all at home because she's not drinking or eating much of anything and when she was straining to go...she was sneaking on to the bathroom rug or right outside the cat box.  I probably wouldn't be able to get a sample that way at home, either.  They already had her confined--might be better luck if she was left quietly alone all night there to pee in the little balls.  

I knew she would totally freak out coming home and having to go back AGAIN in the morning.  And Dagan has to get up super early to have her there by 7am before he goes to work...

Karma needed to have this over with ASAP.

And they had the old antibiotics (for in the meantime before the culture came back) ready and a muscle relaxer to help her with the spasming (feeling she has to pee all the time)...but knew nothing about the probiotics the vet had mentioned for the diarrhea (and she really needs that).

Anyways, it turned out they kept Karma overnight to try to see if she would pee in the alien cat box with the tiny balls.  And then they wouldn't have to do anything further and I can just pick her up today. 

I was hoping she couldn't hear me talking in the lobby.  I was very upset by the way this whole thing was handled.  If she peed out of fear every time they went to take her out how would they think bringing her back in the morning to spend another terrifying day would work any differently?

I get home to find my land line blinking.  The vet had called at 5:16pm on her way out the door!  Our pick up time was 5:30pm!  The roads were horrible.  What was she thinking?!  

Apparently she assumed I wouldn't be coming with to pick up Karma last night because she mentioned my son picking her up.  She was talking about sedating Karma and using a catheter today!  How would that work if Karma's peeing it all out before they can get her to the table to work on her in the first place? 

And calling me 14 minutes before the scheduled pick up time is NOT "keeping in touch with me during the day".  I am not happy with that, either.  The communication ball was dropped all around.

The vet said she'd call me in the morning.  The vet-tech and receptionist at the clinic both said I would be called in the morning to let me know if they got the sample.  Dagan said we could do the pick up over his lunch time today if they got a sample--or after work.

I feel so badly for Karma.  She has to be absolutely terrified to be peeing like that as soon as they go to pick her up.  Terrified!  And when she's scared she hisses and growls and wants to run and hide...but she has no where to hide...no claws...only her teeth for defense.

I feel like Karma has been through enough.  I think if they haven't gotten a sample during the night--leave my Karma alone.  Cover the front of the cage.  (I should have asked if they had done that.)  We could pick her up after Dagan gets off work--give it as long as possible for her to just pee in those little balls. 

Unless the vet-tech is wrong and the sample from the little balls is not "sterile" enough for the culturing in the first place.  ???

Oh!  And they made me pay for another urine sample to tell me she still has a UTI.  ???  Duh!  She has bloody urine!  And if they got some kind of sample to run that test--and if that wasn't sterile enough for the culturing (why didn't they use it for the culture???)--how are those little balls going to be sterile enough?  

Use what you can get.

If Karma doesn't pee in the little balls--well, take an educated guess on a stronger antibiotic, right?  Let's get her on a stronger antibiotic right now if there's no sample to culture.  You're a vet.  Take an educated guess.  We haven't been able to get her back on any antibiotics because it would interfere with the culture.  *sigh*  I can't see putting Karma through any more trauma over this pee sample.  My own doctors have had to take educated guesses on antibiotics for me...and for Dagan, too.  

How has this spun so out of control?  

So I am awake...and praying--"drink--pee, drink--pee".

And if the vet tells me this morning that the little ball sample wouldn't be sterile enough...I think I am going to lose it myself.  Because then the vet-tech should have known that in the first place, not suggested it, and I shouldn't have to pay for unnecessarily keeping her overnight, either, you know?  I don't think I should have had to pay for another UTI test, either.  And if they managed to get that, I want to know why they couldn't have used that for the culture?  Or saved it in case they didn't get anything else, you know?  AWKKK!

See why I can't sleep...

I can hardly wait till Karma is home again...

Drink-pee.  Drink-pee....