Life Takes Over: Coco Chanel the Cat

How time flies! It has been many months since I have posted here.
It has been a hectic last seven months. To say the least: close encounters with our troubled health care system, for both humans and animals. The unexpected loss of a pet has lead to the adoption of a new one.


Several months ago, one of my two adopted cats showed signs of illness: a limp. "Sheba" I adopted through contacts on petfinder.com about 2 years ago. A sleek, solid black half-Persian, I quickly re-named her "Coco Chanel."

Coco hailed from the hills of Boone, North Carolina. On a road trip south, I made a detour trip to rescue her. From the start, she never was a "lap cat", in fact, her behavior lead me to believe she was probably a feral kitten.
In any event, Coco was a companion to my neutered, Norwegian Forest cat mix, Loki,
and part of the family.

In late September, Coco showed signs of limping, not eating well, and avoiding contact. Saturday is not a good day for setting vet appointments.Little did I know what would transpire.

For any pet owner who has not been forced to go to an emergency vet, let this be a cautionary tale. In this area, there are not many emergency vets clinics.
Luckily, I thought, an appointment was available in nearby Rockville, Maryland.
The emergency vet clinic there probably followed all protocol- resulting in a large bill due on the spot. The problem was the attending doctor misdiagnosed Coco, stating it was simply a cut paw that needed to heal with antibiotics, etc. I was advised to take her to my neighborhood vet in several days, which I did. The whole upshot of this story: the local vet immediately suspected a cancerous cyst, which was growing, breaking the skin- making one of her toes three times normal size. The final visit a few days later confirmed it was not a wound, but indeed a cancerous cyst. The vet made a small sketch of the pea size growth on the chart. On seeing it a few days later, the cyst had grown even larger. The only humane choice was to euthanize the animal vs. amputation of limb, frequent & expensive oncology visits to NW, DC, & no guarantee of even six more months of life. Coco was euthanized with Loki beside me,after some minutes of privacy saying goodbye while she laid on the exam table.

After this heartbreaking, shocking experience, I credit the local vet for their professionalism and compassion. The total opposite of the emergency clinic.

When I contacted the emergency clinic by phone to inform them of the outcome, they could not care less. They had no intention of offering any kind of apology, much less compensation for their gross misdiagnosis and treatment. In fact, their staff person refused to even state their name, during the call. In total frustration, I declared that I had given them the chance to do the right thing, (to make some kind of compensation), or I would go public. Their response: "Do what you have to do."

Hence, this post. Pet owners be warned!