Lessons from "ER"

I watched an episode of ER the other day that featured a storyline in which a physician trying to take care of a child flashes back to the time when she misjudged her own son's medical status, declaring him less sick than he was, and he died.

It's not an uncommon lesson within the medical field; it's one of the reasons physicians are not supposed to treat their own family members. It's too easy to forget objectivity when it comes to the people you know so well, which means you could overlook something you shouldn't -- and wouldn't, if you were at work.

So when Moxie, started having really goopy discharge from her left eye a few days ago, then started keeping that eye half-shut a lot of the time, I was initially worried, then evaluated it a little closer and decided she probably just had conjunctivitis. No big deal, most likely a virus, and it should pass in a couple days.

At least, that's what it would be if she were a human.

She's a cat.

Maybe cats are different?

Since I'm going away for another round of interviews this weekend, I got a little more worried, and thought about that ER episode. Do I really know what she has? Is it really OK?

I guess, to be honest, I have a pretty good idea, but I'm not 100% sure.

And I would hate to come home Sunday night to find a dead cat. I mean, that's totally a worst-case scenario, but that's a scenario I don't want to face, so I guess I should take the cat to the vet.

She's overdue for her shots this year, which means the vet will probably give them to her.

And if she's going to get shots, then it would be the responsible thing to let her brother get his shots, too. After all, they're going east for the holidays and might hang out with some of their feline and canine cousins at various relatives' houses. Better safe than sorry.

The vet put fluorescein in her eyes and didn't see any corneal abrasions or ulcers. "Duh," I thought. She just has a viral conjunctivitis. Still, fluoroscein in a cat is kind of cool -- until she rubs up against you and get it all over your sleeve.

In the end, the vet diagnosed her with a viral conjunctivitis and gave me some neomycin/polymyxin drops to put in her eyes for the next 5 days. The thing is, I'm going to be gone for the next 4 days. And I know she doesn't truly need the drops -- just like in humans (but we commonly give them out in humans, too). But now I'm torn between being a cold-hearted clinician and a guilty pet parent. I was a little happier to learn the differential diagnosis included herpes, because I would definitely hate for her to have herpes conjunctivitis and not know it because she couldn't tell me she was in pain.

So $174 later, both cats have shots, Moxie is given the diagnosis I thought she would be given, has unnecessary eye drops that I still feel compelled to administer but can't because I'll be gone, and my fleece is stained fluorescent yellow.

Worth it, right? No dead cat when I come home Sunday, right?

This behavior of mine is going to stop before I become a mother, right?

Right? Because I don't want to be responsible for any ruptured appendices on my watch.