Meet Buzz. One of two furry felines in the Thompson household. Early this morning, we were woken by a horrific crashing sound in the family room. I knew immediately that one of three things had happened — either we were in the midst of a home invasion, a meteor had crashed through the roof, or most likely, one of the cats was up to no good. And the odds were overwhelming that in the case of the latter, it would be Buzz wrecking havoc.
Immediately upon entering the family room, it was difficult to miss one of my Bose 10.2 floor standing tower speakers lying horizontal on the floor. (Incidentally, these are great speakers. Long discontinued, they were the last solid wood speakers made by Bose. I bought them 20 years ago and they still sound great.)
Buzz was nowhere to be seen.
I figured he was cowering behind the TV, knowing he'd screwed up.
We went back to bed and woke up at a more normal time a couple of hours later. There was Buzz, sprawled out in typical fashion across the floor. Normally he bolts straight for the food bowl in the morning, crying like he hasn't eaten in a week. Today though he comes hobbling in, barely able to walk…
Apparently the numbskull cat couldn't get away from the falling speaker.
So off we go to see our friend and vet, Dr. Greg Cromer, DVM at Tri-City East Veterinary Hospital in Mesa.
Greg does his thing and determines our floundering feline has broken 3 of 4 long bones in his back foot. (#19 on this skeletal model if you're really curious.)
Cost of this little misadventure? X-rays, sedation to set the fractures, casting and pain meds - $400. Plan on a couple of follow up visits, new x-rays and cast changes, another $200.
I'm sitting there looking at the little bastard with his green cast (complete with little paw prints) and thinking, "600 bucks… 600 bucks…"
And I'd have spent twice that if that's what it would have taken. In few weeks, the cast will come off and Buzz will be back to his old self, eating, chasing Fluffy, tormenting the dogs and fetching — yep, the cat will play fetch all day long with foam balls and little stuffed animals. He likes to climb ladders too.
If you happen to live in the East Valley and need a great vet, you can't go wrong with Dr's Cromer and/or Clack at Tri-City East Vet Hospital. They and their staff are *top notch*. Tri-City is located at 4331 East Broadway Road, Mesa, AZ 85206. Phone (480) 830-2873.
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Betcha could of got a brand new one for free.
Of course, it wouldn’t have been Buzz. He looks a lot like a cat I once had. She got her tail caught under a closing garage door and we went through the same kind of thing getting her back into shape.
It’s only money man! Best wishes for his recovery.
Take it from a recent cat-killer (my wife hates when I phrase it like that, but that’s another story.) The alternative is less expensive but costs a lot more.
Poor Buzz… I can’t imagine why he did not give out THAT cat scream. Get well soon Buzz!
Too funny! Nicely written. Sorry about the $$$. My only suggestion is to get a dog.
Ha! Greg,
He has a dog.
Jay
As to the vet. You should get him to reduce his bill as soon as you can show how he is number 1 in google because of your post.
Tell him of all the great business you are generating for him and you want a 35% referral fee : )
Jay, again you’re story is great. I entered it in our pet story contest on 425realty.com. Your gift card will be on the way.
Jay, Buzz could always go by “Broke Foot Kitty.” Our daughter broke her foot this weekend (not on speakers but a magazine rack, go figure) and doesn’t like the brokeback allusion. BUT, if Buzz is dense enough to knock over something 20 times his size, he probably won’t get upset at such a reference.
Great story telling, and like Dave said, you should send your vet a bill for $600 in marketing in exchange for the $600 broken foot. Gotta love cats!
Tell buzz that my cats, Sixer and Bit, hope he gets better soon.
We added Buzz to the blog mascot roll.
http://tinyurl.com/3a27b3
Hey, what did you name that new dog anyway?
We named him Riley. We’re thinking we should have named him dumb ass….
Our other dog Trudy may be the smartest dog on the planet. But the Law of Averages has a way of working out. And between the two dogs, I think we’re at about average now, if you get my drift…
Smart dogs cause more problems though!! Our dog Boomer is a beautiful Black Lab who figured out how to climb up the refrigerator to get “the ball” and his “cookies”. In the feat he opened the fridge and helped himself to all the leftovers. He looked to cute and proud of his accomplishment to be too mad. My boys were proud of him to because they didn’t have to eat the leftovers…
By the way if you can believe it….I miss the Heat it’s 30 today with snow on the ground. So much for Easter egg hunting…..
Hey Dana! We miss ya! 92ish here today…
You should be very pleased that u had to pay 600$ my cat recently broke his foot and is two months in to cast life and we\’re 2000$ in the hole.. and he isnt even healed yet..
Jenna
I just checked the skeletal picture. and my 2000$ cat injury was the exact same as yours!! boy you are lucky. Did your cat heal ok??
Jenna - Buzz healed just fine. Within a couple of weeks after getting the cast off he was as good as new. But he hasn’t gone near that speaker in the 20 months since he knocked it over…
$2000, yikes! Either your vet is insanely expensive, mine’s insanely cheap, or your cat did more damage than mine. Did yours need surgery?
They recommened 3500$ surgery but we chose not to. He is just in a cast!