Last night I suffered from passive authority-fearing behaviour which caused my cat to suffer tremendously unneccessarily.
I wonder why I am like this? Is it the way I was brought up? The culture of my country?
My wonderful young cat, Josie, who is only about 8 months old, was bitten by a stray cat that continouly makes a fearsome presence in the garden of my flat complex.
Last night for the second time in 2 months the tom bit Josie, this time with 2 puncture wounds. She was terrified and bleeding slightly, but she gathered herself quite quickly. However, fearful of infections and possibly HIV, I took to the emergency vet.
A young uncertain man greeted me and insisted on taking her away to be shaved. He said something about clearing the wounds. I really wanted to be present, but he was highly discouraging so I relented. But I thought he would come back after shaving her. Sitting in the waiting room, I heard one and then several screams from my cat in the distance. At first I thought it was simply being shaved over the wound. Then I hoped that there was a parrot or other animals in the clinic. I couldn't take it any longer and started pacing about trying to find where I could get access to where she was. The hygenic operating area said "staff only" so I obeyed. I knew that he'd taken another route to the theatre but I was again too fearful to go through without permission. So I asked the receptionist if that was my cat screaming. And he said yes it was, but it was normal and it was because of the injections. I was unhappy but let that quieten me.
Josie came back terrified, shell-shocked with wounds cut open. Flesh about 1cm long and 5 mm wide was cut from the wound and was leaking blood. No wonder she was crying so much! I had no idea. I said nothing and meekly took my injured animal home. She was so much worse off. She hid in the cupboard, was painful and sullen.
What I find particularly disturbing is that when I took her to the day clinic the last time she was bitten, there was no fuss at all. No shaving, no cutting, no screaming. It was over in 5 minutes and Josie didn't even cry.
I feel like I allowed her to be tortured for at least 30 minutes and did nothing because I was too afraid to ask questions and see for myself what was going on. It's pathetic. It's my beloved pet and it's my right to know what is happening. Why didn't I insist on being present and informed of the proceedings?
Why because I was trusting and fearful of the vet. But who is the vet, just a young kid straight out of varsity. I have my own judgement, experience and mind and I have a right to use it.
Motto of the day: Don't be passive when you know something is wrong! Don't be afraid to ask questions.
