Took a moment last night to RE~READ the fax... My errors:
Mercifully, they *do* accept debit cards, which saves me from trying to find a credit company that would give me a $2000 limit... or, from trying to find two companies @ $1000 each... or four companies @ $500...
The $75 consultation fee is actually for the initial meeting between their vet, myself & the kitty in question; and my vet must make the referral for us to get this consultation. It must be scheduled two to four weeks before the appointment date for treatment ~ which means that in all we must make three trips to Kanata {assuming the therapy works on the first try; they claim a 90 ~ 98% success rate, but they do admit some cats may need to be treated twice}.
There is also a huge medical workup {+$$$!} that must be done by my vet and submitted to their vet for this initial consultation. This is done for all the obvious reasons, and for one not~so~obvious reason:
You see, the radioactive iodine they will use has a half~life of about eight days. Once the treatment has started, kitty cannot be removed from his shielded quarters for that period of time. Should kitty meanwhile suffer any sort of medical emergency, the staff will do their best to help him; but, understandably, they are limited in the care they can provide under those circumstances. So part of the reason for the thorough medical workup is to anticipate & prevent any such crises.
And the $600 deposit? That's required just to schedule the appointment for the radiotherapy. No deposit? No appointment!
I'm sure it sounds like I'm complaining, and I don't mean it to sound like that. I don't believe these amounts are expensive; I could save up whole amount in {snap fingers} mere months ~ if only it weren't for, um, that wee little student loan debt thingy... So I don't think they're being at all unreasonable. I'm just exasperated with my own lack of means/togetherness.
*sigh* Say hello to Mr. Crappy Part~Time Weekend Job...
{pouts like a spoiled preschooler} IdonnWANNAworkontheweekends, IdonnWANNAaahaanhhaannh...
{tries to connect with Inner Adult} Think Mr. Happycat thoughts, think only of Mr. Happycat, we're doing this for Mr. Happycat, put on a happyface for Mr. Happycat, happy happy happy Mr. Happycat...
Posted by edgar at December 5, 2003 12:07 PM