Veterinarians can help keep pets with owners longer

I thought I would be using this space to eulogize my cat, BigE, this week. Thanks to the life-saving work of Dr. Tom Kelble, a veterinarian at Community Animal Hospital in Stevens Point, though, I can use this space to pay tribute to all pets, pet owners and the people who take care of them.


BigE is a female named after Elvis Presley (get it, Big “E”). Our other cat is also a female named Priscilla. I’ve had her for more than 10 years now, two years after meeting my wife, Jenny, but three years before marrying her. She is far and away the pet I’ve owned the longest and also the pet who’s been the most loyal and friendly. Only one of the other dogs, cats, turtles, crabs, snakes and rabbits I’ve owned compare to her, with the other being Priscilla.

Since she was a kitten, BigE has followed me around the house like a puppy. Where I go, she goes. When I’m sitting, she’s on my lap. She does this with other people, including my not-so-calm 5-year-old son, Braden. People visiting our house have commented that they’ve never seen such a friendly cat before.

As any pet owner can testify, the life of most pets, especially cats, is full of routines. They get fed at certain times, they are playful at other times and they sleep quite a bit of the time. Disrupting the routine with a trip to the veterinarian or taking a vacation for a few days can be upsetting to pets.

BigE is no exception. When I took her to the vet last week, I figured this would be the last time her routine would ever be disrupted, because I didn’t think the news would be good. She stopped eating and drinking after several days of vomiting everything she consumed. Consultation with a vet assistant my wife knew and online information indicated she probably had kidney failure and would need to be euthanized.

Dr. Kelble took one look at her and diagnosed a different problem: she had swallowed some thread.

While it sounds like a minor problem, thread to a cat is nearly as deadly as the poison that killed Socrates. Inside a cat, thread acts like a knife, cutting through intestines until the cat becomes as deathly ill as it had become for me.

Dr. Kelble performed emergency surgery on BigE, and afterward said we’ll need to keep our fingers crossed, as the thread sliced through her intestines in seven spots. He noted she is a cat, though, and cats are resilient creatures, able to come back from such injuries. He said he wouldn’t be so optimistic with a dog.

Staying at his office for two days, BigE still refused to eat or drink. She was probably still groggy from the surgery and weary of her temporary home, because she ate and drank shortly after coming back home. Less than a week later, she’s her old self.

In fact, she’s her younger old self, as she’s sleeping on top of me, which she had stopped several years ago, and doesn’t seem to be as timid of feet as she was just several weeks ago. Maybe he gave her some sort of youth injection.

I was prepared for BigE’s final end – even making Braden say a final goodbye to her. Like other pet owners, it’s something we have to face sooner or later, given the life expectancy these animals have. But a good veterinarian can fortunately delay this, as I found out. It’s nice knowing these people are out there to help us keep our pets longer.