Walter's World: July 10th trip to the Vet in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila

Post for Monday - July 10, 2023

Friday, July 7th with our sweltering temperatures, Chester followed by Suzie, ran inside the kitchen as I was bringing in some clothes. It happens with frequency as they are more agile than I am. They were panting and I felt bad for them and let them stay in the kitchen to cool off as I folded laundry.

They both fell asleep but when the time came for me to feed them they did not want to go back outside. Chester who is a large cat, and obedient, I was able to put out.

Chester

Suzie being small and thin was another matter. I finally corraled her but when I picked her up I felt something strange, hard, and lumpy. I got scared and turned her over and she in fact had three large lumps but did not seem to be in pain when I touched her.

This picture was taken the
day after her surgery

The cats' vet is in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila - México, so early Monday morning I took her along with two other kittens to Dr. Chavarria.

Dr. Chavarria has a very successful practice and in my estimation between 80 to 85 percent of his clients are Americans. Even though I got there five minutes after opening I was the fourth person there. I was surprised that Dr. Chavarria was the only veterinarian on duty.

I learned that the other guy that helps him is not a veterinarian but an assistant. His son-in-law who is an American citizen is a vet but he was not there today.

Suzie

While I took three carriers I had to put these two kitties in one carrier to avoid one of them fleeing if I attempted to place him in one by himself before we got to the clinic. These two are Laura's kittens and I had no idea what their sex was so could not name them. It turns out that they are both boys that I named Oliver and Brad Pitt. I used to call the kitty on the right "funny face" though you can not see his full face in this photo. That is no name for a cat so I decided on Brad Pitt.

Oliver and Brad Pitt

They all got their shots. However, when it came to Suzie he had to call Dr. Chavarria to give his diagnosis. She had inflamed mammary glands which indicated that she was pregnant. So he sent her to surgery.

I paid for the two kitties which came to $1,000.00 pesos. If you pay in cash the Clinic takes your dollar at an exchange rate of $18.00 pesos to one U.S. dollar which equals $55.55 USD. I do not know what that would cost in the USA, if you have an idea please chime in in the comments.

You can not stay at the clinic and with two cats I could not take them to the grocery store or the mall so I came back home before the heat made its presence felt. Per the Border Wait Time Crossing App, there was a 30-minute wait but the line was moving fast and I crossed in 20 minutes!

I returned to México at 3:00 p.m. and again had a long wait to pick her up. Dr. Chavarria was not there so I had to see his assistant. I wanted to ask him how many embryos she was carrying along with other questions that his assistant just did not know the answer to. He mainly administers shots and does small cures.

He told me I had to clean the area where she had her C-section twice a day with Hydrogen Peroxide for a week. At least she is not afraid of me and is very loving like Chester who has taken her under his wing since they dumped her at the house when she was about six weeks old.

The bill for Suzie came to $3,000 pesos divided by $18.00 which equals $166.66 USD.

Had I used an Exchange House the rate would have been $17.30 to one US dollar or $173.41 USD.