Cat Fight

I see your corky wine and raise you a "patient" safety adverse event. Yes, as if life wasn't "exciting" enough, it would appear that I have given Samcat three times the written prescription dose for a new anemia drug. It all began on Monday when I picked up the boys from their stay at the vet. Sam, with his never-to-heal broken leg, came home with a urine soaked cast. Outraged, I called the vet and booked him the first appointment Tuesday morning, despite suffering from a cold my glorious sisters kindly gave me while in Oklahoma. But, my gifted vet insists on sedating the cats for every minor procedure so Sammie was tranquilized to replace his splint. By late evening, brother cat still walked about as if hopped up on Jim Bean.

Believing he had recovered well enough from his sedation to tolerate his new medication to combat anemia (his kidney levels are now normal but blood levels are a bit off), I prepared his syringe, drawing .3mL from the small clear vile. The feeling of inserting the needle and drawing back the fluid instantly took me to Craig's kitchen and pulling his Reglen or his Haldol. God, how it transported me--to the smells and how it felt to open his fridge and rummage through the brown bags prominently labeled with sharpie marker "Reglen", "Zofran", etc. (We ran a well-oiled, well organized machine.) I remembered the feel and weight of his jiggly TPN bag, and drawing up his needed vitamins. I was back in the routine of gathering his meds and going through the "system" of drawing each one like an old pro, being responsible for preparing and delivering not only his "comfort" but his "sustenance". I stood frozen, remembering just how it was. Part of me wanted to go back to that. Tears welled at how that's all part of the past tense, now. Jesus...

It wasn't until after delivering the dose to Sammie that I realized something seemed amiss. I checked the bottle to verify the dosage and compared that with the doctor's script, which the pharmacist had handed back after declaring Sam had a refill in the computer system (from a prescription last year). He did not recognize that it was for a different dosage.

Sam suffered loss of appetite, slight drooling/vomit issue and perhaps a fever in the days between anesthesia, anemia drug, and today. I took him in for repeat blood work to make sure his kidneys haven't suffered from this recent assault.

Plenty of conditions could have aided this blunder not limited to a pharmacy that was closing within fifteen minutes despite a line full of customers, cluttered workspace, and noise permeating from a neighboring bakery ("I'll smack your face, I ain't even playin'. I'll jump your back..." and so it goes). Still, I kindly presented the situation to the pharmacy, expecting a reimbursement for the vet costs and correction of the drug.

We'll see what the blood work says. Good times all around.

~E