Friday, July 25, 2014

First Vet Visit in Costa Rica--Bugsy's Adventures

Generally, we keep our gate closed, but it blows open once in a while when not locked.  Two of these times, Bugsy has taken the opportunity to leave the yard and get lost.  Yes, I have such a high maintenance cat that he cannot get home once lost in a field of weeds and trees.  We have two lots located on each side of us that are empty.  One is for sale, and overgrown as the owner does not have it cleared very often.  The other one is more cleared. 

The first time Bugsy got lost, it was on the cleared field and near the edge. I heard him meowing, and found him. I think he got stuck in a rain storm and was scared to come home.  I picked him up and brought him home and that was that.  This time, he went in the other uncleared field.  We could see him on the other side of the fence.  But, you cannot get under our fence or over it, so the only way to get him was to go in the field.  Simpler said than done.  When someone does not clear their lot, there are generally lots of fun things living in it, i.e. snakes, spiders, bugs, all of which could or might not be poisonous.  So, we did not want to walk the 40 feet back that Bugsy was.  Kurt decided to drive.

He drove the SUV back while I stood on the other side of the fence with a flashlight on my iPhone to show him where Bugsy was.  He got there, grabbed Bugsy and put him in the car and backed out.  As soon as he pulled in the driveway, I heard a hissing sound from the tire.  Yep, flat tire from thorns or something in the next door lot.  Ugh.  Thanks Bugsy. 

I thought I noticed his eye looking hurt, but Kurt thought he got into catnip and was just drugged out.  So, we took him in the house and he retired for the night.  We went for a walk since we were too late for the gym after all this mess.

The next day, we looked more closely at Bugsy and it looked like I was right and he had scratched his eye. So, we took him in right away to the vet in Herradura (which is right across from Los Suenos Resort in a little mini strip of stores).  We had been in there before to buy flea and tick stuff and deworming pills (which are monthly here).  The vet there speaks great English.

Took Bugsy in and we were seen right away, even with no appointment.  Bugsy was being a pain in the ass, so they ended up sedating him which made it way easier.  They had to put a dye in his eye to look at the cut, which they thought appeared pretty deep.  However, they made up two eye drops for him, and while he was out, cut all the debris out of his fur that got embedded during Bugsy's great adventure in the lot next door.  Since Bugsy will not take pills, we were told we had to take him back every morning for  days to get a shot for possible infection.

Grand Total for appointment, all followup appointments and all drugs and shots as well as a specialist looking at pics of his eye and progress?  $90.00.  So much cheaper than the US. 

Anyway, Bugsy seems to be doing better daily.  We have taken him two mornings now for his shots and he is much better behaved now.  I think he was mad the first time because they had to take blood, which required shaving him and he hates the sound of the shaver.  He gets really mad if you try to remove his fur, LOL.

So, that was our first vet experience here.  We loved our vets in MI, but I am liking the quick service and prices here even more. Pura Vida!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I'm curious as to why the prices are so much lower. I would think that veterinary services would be less advanced outside the United States. I even thought they would be scarcer. I guess I was wrong!
http://www.animalhealthclinicoflc.com/services.html