When Eating Cat Poop Goes Wrong: Otonane’s Surgery

TL;DR: On Tuesday, July 13th, our furry family member, Otonane, ate cat poop mixed in with tree bark from our plant nursery and got super sick. $5,100 dollars later, he's home with us healing slowly while surrounded by the love of our menagerie: 2 kids, hamster ('She Who Breathes Fire'), beta fish ('Blue Cherry Blossom'), and garden cat ('Patches' who lives only to attack him). Help us pay his exorbitant medical bills for surgery and medical care. 

The story:
When Otonane started to throw up on Tuesday, the 13th, we assumed he had eaten something he shouldn't have and was getting it out of this system. We kept an eye on it but weren't too concerned as Otonane has been known to get into the grossest of foods when we're not looking or, sometimes blatantly in front of us. While we knew that cat poop is the caviar of the dog world, we had no idea that this was the cause of increased amounts of vomiting that left the kind stink that sticks in your memory for years. What we did know was that he became more and more lethargic as the night progressed. Concerned, we called his normal vet and left a couple of voicemails and an email message. If you have an animal friend, you know that vets are experiencing higher than normal call volumes. He started refusing food and water around 6 am the following day and we broadened our veterinary search and finally found a 24 hospital who took him. After running all kinds of necessary, but expensive, tests, they determined he had an obstruction in his intestines and would require immediate surgery.

As a family that's been hit hard financially during COVID and which was on a limited income, we were dismayed when we were quoted upwards of $8,000 - $10,000 for surgery. Most months are paycheck to paycheck as after our mortgage, school costs, food, and more. We were able to get in touch with the good people of VCA who could do the surgery immediately at a lower cost. We transferred him there and waited an anxious 3.5 hours while the doctor made an incision a foot long in his lower stomach. During the successful surgery, she removed what we later found out was, you guessed it, tree mulch. Well, tree mulch mixed with hair which leads us to our suspicion that while he was enjoying the finest of cat poop, he swallowed some tree bark with it. Picture of what was taken out is not included because ewww.... The picture below is what he looked like like when we were transferring him. 

Since Otonane is no spring chicken (his jumping capabilities not withstanding), his doctor recommended overnight monitoring at another hospital that provided 24 hour care. We transferred him and he stayed there all night and then the following day at the same clinic where his surgery was at in Oakland. Yesterday, July 15th at 8:30 pm, they declared that he was stable enough to go home.

Once he came home, our entire family (well, except for the cat who lives to torment him) welcomed him with open arms. We're carefully monitoring his condition and the five medicines he's on as he slowly recovers. We have about 2 weeks of active recovery period ahead of us and are so filled with gratitude that we have more time with our beloved Otonane. It is a gift to be able to care for our loved ones while they recover their strength.

Our goal is to get him back to full strength so that he can run in rivers, jump four feet high when he needs to go outside for the bathroom, and lay in bed with us when he get's frightened of fireworks (which are plentiful in Oakland). We are asking for support to directly pay for the cost of the surgery and overnight stay in the hospital after the surgery. We are contributing what we can to pay for the cost of the diagnosis and post-vet visits AND really need your help to cover the surgery and overnight hospital costs. 

Please help us pay for his unexpected but necessary medical cost. We are hoping to raise this money in the next 30 days. 

Lessons learned / Reflections:

• Working and middle-class people shouldn't have to decide between food for their children, going into debt, or saving the life of a furry family member. We need to think more creatively about pet health and assistance for families who own animals and need that emergency support.
• Owning a pet shouldn't be a luxury and pet hospital's should offer financial assistance beyond the often touted Care Credit that charges 24% if you're not able to pay it off in 6 months.
• Pet insurance is vital and can often be cost prohibitive for working class and increasingly middle class families. However, when you don't have it, unforeseen emergencies like this are financially devastating.
• Animals aren't just 'pets', they are members of our family and should be treated as such.
• The VCA staff in North Oakland are AMAZING. Every person I spoke to there was incredibly compassionate, knowledgable, and made a difficult process easier and more doable. THANK YOU!!

Before you ask, yes, his tongue almost always sticks out of his mouth. It's too big for his mouth. It's one of his many, many charms.