Juniper
Over a month ago, a stray kitty cautiously approached my gate and waited at a distance while my 2 cats had their dinner. This little kitty who has the temporary name of Kitt looked thin and scared. Every time, I walked towards her, she would run away. If there was any leftover food in my cats’ bowls, she would come back later and devour every scarp. I watched her from inside my house as she would bolt if I so much as opened my front door for a closer look.
Gradually, food won her over and she began to be less scared until eventually, she could be touched and she overcame her fear of people. However, right from the beginning when I noticed her walking towards my house, I could see she was dragging her hind leg and when she allowed me to come closer, I could see that her right hind paw was swollen.
Actually, I wanted to bundle her to my regular vet in my neighbourhood immediately but I decided to gain her trust a bit more first so that she wouldn’t be so frightened. I didn’t want her to think that I was dumping her somewhere. After 2 weeks of feeding her and bonding with her, I put her into a crate and off to the vet we went.
The vet examined her paw and felt that her leg might be fractured but the only way to confirm that was to get an x-ray and my vet doesn’t have that facility. They recommended me to St. Angel Animal Medical Centre in Puchong which I have heard of for years, ever since a manicurist I went to some 10 years ago sang its praises as she took her dog there.
There was another vet with x-ray machine nearer to me but my vet didn’t recommend that one as the costs there are a lot higher than St. Angel Animal Medical Centre. I knew that too as I’d taken my dogs there before this current vet and she can really charge, especially for emergency procedures.
Off to St. Angel Animal Medical Centre in Puchong which opens at 11am. No problem with parking there, there were plenty of available lots right in front. I arrived at 11.20 am. The receptionist was friendly and registered Kitt, telling me that I was fourth in the queue. There are 2 sections in the centre – to the left of the reception is the cat waiting area while to the right is the dog waiting area.
It was a Monday morning and there were so many cats and dogs waiting inside and outside the medical centre. Imagine if I had gone on a weekend. As it is, I waited with a terribly scared and anxious Kitt for over an hour as there were only 2 vets attending to the waiting cats.
Finally after 12 pm, I was called into one of the rooms. The vet was really good at putting Kitt at ease, she gently held her. I had to wait outside the room while the vet took Kitt for an x-ray. Not long after, I was summoned inside again and shown the x-ray. Kitt had an old fracture which had partially healed and her sowllen paw was the result of a bacterial infection.
The vet recommended me to clean the paw with a solution, apply iodine and an ointment twice a day. She would also give antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication. Since then, I have diligently applied the solutions/ointment to Kitt’s paw and even went to my regular vet for more medication after the antibiotic/anti-inflammatory ran out but Kitt’s paw is still swollen. I wanted to get her spayed too as the x-ray showed that Kitt’s pelvic area is too small for her to have kitties. In any case, I think every cat should be spayed. The vet has recommended that Kitt’s paw be healed first before undergoing the spay procedure.
Consultation fee at my regular vet is RM35 while it’s RM45 at St. Angel Animal Medical Centre. Their diagnostic tests which I take to mean x-ray costs RM120. Then the medication etc cost another RM50+. It costs just as much, if not more, compared to medical fees for humans.
