My first vet visit in Japan

I have been begging to get a dog for years now. The discussion always came down to the cost and the fear of really expensive vet visits. Well, last month it finally happened.  We got....

... a cat.

I had to take the opportunity where opportunity showed its face, which happened to be on a Facebook post in the Gunma ALT Facebook page. The person even happily lived in the same town where my husband works so I was able to get a "yes" out of him, but I would be paying for everything for the cat. And also dealing with any vet visits, etc. 

But the sound of the cat seemed like the perfect temperament for a first pet both for my son and in our household. She had been a stray but was checked out at the vet and didn't seem to have any problematic health issues.

I figured if things went well, I could eventually work up to getting a dog later on.

My husband helped out and drove to pick her up but we were prepared to travel by train and meet to get the cat. The car ride was much nicer because it would have been a very noisy meowing train ride had that happened.

Well, stray cats being stray cats will always come with health issues and even though she was on antibiotics I figured I would need to take her into the vet when those finished anyway. That happened just a bit sooner because she very clearly had tapeworms. I won't go into details but I am very glad I realized quickly what was going on or it would have been messier and the husband would have been unhappier. 

So, I decided to take her the next morning to the vet clinic down the road. 

I had planned ahead when I bought her carrier case and got a cheap 2,000 yen backpack-style one so I could bike her to the vet when needed. 

She sat calmly, yet loudly, in the waiting room with me, quieted by my hand petting her in our wait.

The vet had a poster on the wall so it was easy to convey what type of tapeworm she had. I asked about spaying and how much it would cost. 2man (20,000 yen). I had a hard time following everything the vet said but I believe that we can get a discount of 1 man (10,000 yen) from the city hall if we register her as part of our household for the surgery. So that is cool. Cheaper than I thought and also cool that pets can be registered if I understood correctly.

Cat got a shot, a pill and a claw trimming and it only cost 1,200 yen for the vet visit. 

When I find out more about getting her spayed I'll make a post about it.