Skitty goes to the vet on the 21st

[Skittys_Daddy]

Well, I finally found a ride for this years vet appt. Its my neighbor across the hall (the SAME one who filed a complaint against Skittles, lol). But things are better since she and I are now on speaking terms. She doesn't complain anymore (even though he hasn't changed his vocal habits since her last complaint, lol). Luckily, housing knew the real reason.

Anywho, my ride from a few years ago would only do it at a certain time which was not possible for me and my ride from last year was in a car crash a few months back and is still dealing with insurance. I had round up a ride from a friend's sister, but that fell through when her transmission died. I never have much luck on getting rides to the vet. lol.

Anywho, now I got a ride from my neighbor. I hesitated on asking her, but beggars can't be choosers. I normally pay a ride $75 for the ride, she says she'll take $50 and I KNOW she's reliable. Its more important to me to get Skittles to the vet this year and this accomplishes that. I do NOT want to wait til his nails are too sharp (they aren't as of now, but would be in 6mo) and he also needs a beak polish and trim. Its not overgrown, but likely would be in 6mo. Not sure if he'll need blood work this year, but as it is now, the vet bill will be approx $200 (not including travel fee).

He knows its coming up too. He's being super, duper cuddly lately. He knows and he's trying to manipulate me into skipping it. lol. Nah, just kidding. He does fine at the vets.

 

[RemiBird]

Geez, that is a very expensive ride! How far is the vet??
Hopefully everything goes well and you don't have to do bloodwork for Skitty.

 

[wrench13]

I'm sure Skitty will do great, and you will feel great too, having assured your self that he is 100% A-OK. I am not a fan of beak polishing or shaping ( his natural propensity for chewing wood and stuff should be taking care of that); too many nerve endings in a beak for me to be comfortable with it. But we all wanna know the results!

 

[Scott]

Glad to see the trip to vet is coming together. Hopefully all is well with Skitty and the ride is comfortable!

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Well I DO know that my neighbor DOES like Skittles, she just didn't care for the noise when she and I weren't on speaking terms. She is a major complainer and always has been, but when she and I are on good terms, she leaves me alone. lol. I do help her carry her groceries up the stairs sometimes so I do have some 'incentive' for her following through. I saw my therapist today and told her and she said just be careful. I think it'll be fine. Things are better between her and I (and our other neighbor, the one I hang out with a LOT).

@remibird The nearest CAV is in South Gorham, off the Portland Jetport exit, so its about a 40 minute drive from here. I LOVE his vet because she is VERY thorough and involves me in the exam. She shows me what she's doing and what the results are/what she sees. Its VERY helpful to me. The only thing I don't like is they raise the prices every year for the exams and trims etc. I don't think the exam price is unreasonable ($66 this year) but I think charging half that amount just for a trim is outrageous, but they do a professional job so I don't complain. I HOPE he doesn't need bloodwork cause that'll be another $200. But I use my CareCredit for the visit. That gives me 6/mo to pay it off. Its convenient and allows me to get him the care he needs at a price I can afford. CareCredit is a fantastic option for vet visits AND for people who don't have vision/dental insurance. Downside is, you need excellent credit to qualify.

Taxis charge $2 a mile (plus 'waiting time' of $1 a minute) so a taxi ride would cost me roughly $200. Lyft would probably be over $100. I offer $75 normally because it tends to provide me a better window into whether they are a 'safe' person and offering to do it for the right reasons. I save up bottle money throughout the year and put it aside, I call it my "Skitty Fund". lol. I have ZERO problem paying that amount (compared to taxi or Lyft, its a bargain!) but so far, no one has taken advantage of the full $75. Its how I can tell whether they are a 'safe person', how they react to the payment amount. For example, years ago, I tried looking into Craigslist rideshare and a guy there told me he wouldn't do it for less than $100 and need the entire amount up front. I would have paid that amount until he said he needed it all upfront. I told a friend about it and she was livid that I even tried Craigslist. Now, every year she helps me find a ride so I don't get robbed of my reason for living and them posting him for sale on Craigslist.

@wrench I hear you about the beak polish. Skittles is usually very good about keeping his beak polished, but sometimes he gets a lot of 'chaffes' like he has in my avatar. If you notice the lower mandible has a 'pocket chaffe' that can house bacteria. Thats why/when the vet recommends polishing it. When the chaffes are capable of trapping bacteria. He uses my fingernails a LOT to scratch the side of his beak, where the chaffes are. He'll rapidly rub it against the tips of my nails. He seems to like the polish. I think it gets rid of the itching he has a lot of when he has chaffes.

The tip of his upper beak that was long and narrow is now shorter, I don't know if the tip broke off or he filed it off. Likely the latter.

The good thing is, hes VERY comfortable being handled and most especially being 'wrapped up', which makes his exams a lot easier.