Ponyboy, my orange cat, is on eyedrops. Special eyedrops. Eyedrops that cost sixty bucks for a teeny-tiny bottle.
I know that I've gone on about the eyedrops before, and on and ON. I just can't get past the fantastic COST of the eyedrops. Although I try not to b*tch too much, because while the drops don't cure his runny eye, they are the only thing that seems to help at all, even if it is only marginally.
But it looks like I'm not gonna have to worry about spending that money anymore.
The compounding pharmacy that makes Pony's extra-special, super-duper eyedrops has informed me that there is a shortage. A shortage of the ingredients to make the extra-special eyedrops.
No eyedrops for you!
Oh sh*t.
You see, Pony contracted feline herpes as a kitten. Herpes that he would not have gotten if he had been vaccinated. But because he grew up in a crazy-trailer-hoarder-lady's home, he did not get vaccinated. And his herpes infection received no treatment at all until he came into rescue care, at a year old.
And the result is a chronically runny eye. We have tried medication after medication, for months. And the only thing that helps, at all, is the super-duper eyedrops. Which are no longer available. When I called the vet and told her, she was, like, "Oh, CRAP! There's nothing else out there. There's nothing else."
Anybody got a line on some black-market Cidofovir? We could use some, over here.
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Aha! I have something for you. Dylan has herpes simplex too and I don't do the super expensive medicine anymore. This is a powder called Viralys that goes on top of their food. I give my guys canned food twice a day and twice a day, everybody gets a dose. It's really just L-lysine, but it works! Everybody's all bright-eyed now.
Oh lord, Becs, the eyedrops are in addition to the L-Lysine. And Pony won't eat food mixed with L-Lysine; nor will he deal with the L-Lysine gel; the only way he'll tolerate the L-Lysine is in the chewables form, which is also not available recently. It's great that your dudes will eat the powdered stuff!
Everything seems to be out of stock right now; I don't know if it's fallout from the recent injectable steroid contamination thing or what, but even Terramycin ointment, which is a piss-poor alternative for the eyedrops, is out of stock a lot of places. My vet was able to get a tube of it for me, but it was over thirty bucks, three times the going rate. And I know that it probably won't help, but without the Cido, Pony's screwed. Dammit.
Thanks for the advice, though! You've been through all of this ahead of me.
Ha! And while I'm ranting, here, the rescue group asked me to get some prices from local vets on spay/neuters. Guess what my vet charges to spay a cat? Three hundred and forty bucks. And that, right there, is a big reason there's a cat overpopulation problem.
Canada?
Yeah, the terramycin (sp?) was never a big hit here.
I don't know how far away you are but there's a group in Irvington/Hillside NJ that does basically free spay/neuter. Also, North Shore Animal League in Port Washington NY.
NSAL sends out clinics on wheels.
I'm stunned that vets charge so much for rescue groups. That certainly sends a message, doesn't it?
Believe it or not, I get some of the cats' meds from Australia. It's cheaper.
Jersey would be kind of far to drive, with gas prices the way they are. The cheapest place here, a rescue clinic, charges $60 for a spay and $40 for a neuter, with a two-month waiting list. *sigh*
Here's the problem. People see a litter of adorable "free" kittens on Craiglist, adopt one, and then call a vet and find out that it's gonna cost three hundred bucks to get little Fluffy spayed. Result? Fluffy doesn't get spayed, "accidentally" gets outside, and becomes a kitten-making machine. It's endless. *double sigh*
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