POE IS HOME
I took Poe to the vet clinic early in the morning and did not return with him until 6 pm. But there's good news: his kidneys are perfect!! His bloodwork was completely normal.
He does have feline AIDS but no leukemia. More decent news. He was neutered, vaccinated, dewormed, and given flea meds, IV fluids, treatment for his fight wounds and antibiotics. And seriously drugged up. He was exhausted when I got him home. I put him on his blue chair and gave him a soft, cool sheet to rest on. I opened two windows in his room and refilled his water bowl. He stayed in the chair most of the night.
When we got to the clinic I found out that the relief vet was on - that meant that we would be charged full price for his treatment - about $350. Quite a difference from the free treatment we recieved for Hugo. But when I went to pick him up one of the regular vets had arrived and gave me a "courtesy" discount - $200 off of the total bill from the stray cat fund. Nice. I owe them some chocolates and coffee.
Now, the neighbor's daughter (I'll call her Persephone) had named him before he was rescued. She named him "Popo", which means "Kiss" in Korean. I was later informed by Jaypo that Popo means something altogether different in Hawaiian.
Well, the relief vet loved this story. After she got my information she went in back to set up his chart, only to burst back into the exam room when she heard about his name. "I have to know", she said, "how did you come up with the name Poe?"
I told her that all of our cats (except Watson) are named after composers, painters or authors. Thus, Edgar Allen Poe. That way the name Popo won't sound so strange to me. Upon hearing this, the vet became terribly excited and began frantically reciting "The Raven" but with some kind of strange cat hunting metaphors. This took me completely by surprise and between her fast paced ramblings and amazing recall of Poe literature I was speechless. I have to admit I am greatly lacking in familiarity with Poe so I had to use my best fake laugh when she was finished. But it wasn't completely fake, her wild twisitng of classic poetry had me in stiches anyway.
The big challenge now: finding him a home.
Comments
Maya -- what a good story. Good for Poe, I hope that he finds a good loving home. Great story about the vet -- funny what some people have stored up inside them.
How terminal is feline AIDS?
;) Merci, from Poe and I.
According to Cornell Vet School they can live a long time provided that infections are avoided. Some veterinarians have reported that they've seen cats live 11 plus years after testing positive for FIV.
Of course like humans there is a difference between FIV and full blown feline AIDS. We think Hugo is full blown and Poe is not. Many holistic pet care folks have ideas about how to keep them healthy, and interferon is one opiton that vets give for cat owners.
Good nutrition and indoor-only living is what I'm banking on. :)
You're so good - not a lot of people would do that.
I hope you find him loving home soon.
I thought Popo means grandfather in Mandarin or Cantonese...
I'm Glad Poe is doing better.