Annual Vet Visit
October 22nd, 2006 | 
Category: Hot Dog, Kitty Drama & Disasters, Kramer, Mama Bear, Misc, Our Cats, Toester, Vincent Email this to a friend
With 5 cats, the annual trip to the vet is like having our own 3-ring circus. First, we have to capture them and put them all in their carriers as fast as possible so they don’t catch onto anything. Then we load up the car and listen to a symphony of howling and meowing.
Once we get to the vet’s office, we load them into shopping carts and wheel them into Banfield. Banfield is a chain veterinarian inside of PetSmart . . . more about them later.
Needless to say, the cats are not happy. Being the only cat that goes outside, Hot Dog needs to get tested for FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus– basically, feline AIDS). Of course, Hot Dog is also an extremely large and powerful cat. It takes three vet techs to hold him down and draw blood. At this point, he has also peed in his carrier to show his extreme discontent, so his long, thick fur is covered in cat piss and the techs are trying to dry him off at the same time. We can see him through the small glass window in the exam room. At one point, Hot Dog gave us stink eye with a look that said, “You f#$&@!s are going to pay.”
Meanwhile, Mama is completely paralyzed with fear. She curls up next to her boyfriend for comfort. Vince, of course, couldn’t care less. He’s about to get stabbed with 3 needles, but he’s made himself right at home at the vet’s office.
In his carrier, Kramer is practically hyperventilating. Not surprisingly, the vet pronounces Kramer overweight. He’s just under 14 pounds, and while Vince is also 14 pounds, he carries it differently. Vince is built like a linebacker; poor Kramer’s just fat.
When Toester got on the exam table, he proceeded to drool about 1/2 cup of fishy-smelling kitty slobber. He gets a little nervous at the vet’s office.
Now, about Banfield… We really should know better than to take them to a mega-chain veterinarian, but we took them there once when we first moved here and it just seemed easier to keep going back.
After we saw the bill though, we’d had enough. $384 for SHOTS. Granted, it’s five cats, but almost FOUR HUNDRED BUCKS???? It shouldn’t be so shocking, but really, we do think Banfield is a massive rip off. They might be competent, but they’re also taking their patients to the cleaners. And being a chain operation, I get the impression that they’re not really concerned with your pet’s health, or your feelings towards your pets. They’re more of an assembly line. If one of our kitties needed surgery or, god forbid, had to be put to sleep, Banfield is not the kind of place I’d want to do that.
Rant over. If you have any Banfield or vet stories, share them with Crazy Kitties. We’re also looking for a good vet in the Sarasota, FL area, so if you have a recommendation, that would rock.
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