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It was a very sad day in our household June 2, 2006. A few weeks before then our family cat “Millie”, a five year old Siamese mix had been acting strange. She had been more withdrawn, irritable, consuming large amounts of water and unable to "find" her cat box when nature called.

We hadn’t taken much notice that anything was wrong, with exception to the constant need to clean-up after her. That is until, that morning in June when she exhibited pronounced swelling and a vaginal discharge. Then we knew without a doubt that she was ill.

Then we found ourselves in the midst of yet another dilemma. Because I had been out of work since the end of April, that meant that every penny had to count. So, I set out to try to fix our situation with some internet research. After about an hour of researching, I was sure our cat was exhibiting symptoms of what veterinarians would refer to as PY-O-MET-RA. And the prognosis didn’t look good. According to what I had read, without surgery our cat would slowly continue to die of a serious bacterial infection.

After several phone calls to animal shelters and animal hospitals, I had concluded two things. First, if I tried to get our cat into a shelter, she would die long before she would get any help, and second, we needed to get her into a vet to verify my diagnosis. No one would discuss it over the phone. My wife and I finally decided on Hesperia Animal Hospital, mostly because the examination fee at the time was $19.50, which also happened to be the cheapest I could find in the High Desert area. It was 5:20 PM when I called and set up the appointment, they closed at 6 PM but told me that they would see her that evening. We silently prayed for God's will in our crisis.

So it was settled, the whole family rushed over to the animal hospital to have her checked out. My wife and children waited anxiously in the van as I brought our cat in. I must tell you that the Hesperia Animal Hospital is an impressive facility. It was spacious, clean, and well planned out.

We waited in the exam room for a very short time, and then Millie and I met Veterinarian Shafeeq Ahmed. After a brief examination, he confirmed that Millie was indeed suffering from Pyometra. He explained that surgery would be the only solution, and without it she would die. The cost would be close to $300.00. I explained to him that we were in a financial bind and technically, I couldn’t even afford the visit. I then inquired about putting her down, as I didn’t want her to suffer. It seemed like the only course of action left open to us. And it would cost an additional $70.00.

The Doctor to our surprise waived the examination fee, and so I carried Millie out to the van, and my waiting family to consult my wife on what course of action to pursue. In tears she decided that we should have Millie euthanized, to minimize her suffering. So, sadly we all said goodbye to our cat, and I brought her back inside to have the doctor end her suffering. I paid the fee and signed over the consent form then slowly trudged out to the car.

All the way home we prayed for the Lord to minister to our needs in the face of this loss. It wasn't until that day that I realized the amount of love we had all developed for our family pet. Apparently I had taken her for granted. We continued to grieve on and off over the next few days, and decided that we wouldn’t bring another animal into our home for quite some time.

Then unexpectedly five days later on June 7th, we received a call from Dr. Ahmed. He informed me that he had performed the necessary surgery and treatment for our cat and that she was recovering well, and could be picked up that morning. From the kindness of his heart he had chosen to try to save our cat. And he did it at no cost to us. When asked, the Doctor had said “He could see in my eyes that I truly cared for our cat, and he assumed that we had children at home who would also suffer from losing her.” My wife and our son, brought home Millie that morning, and set an appointment to have her stitches removed later that month. We thanked the Lord and Dr. Ahmed repeatedly for the gift of love and kindness he bestowed upon our family. Dr. Ahmed asked only that we share our story with others and so, we have.

~We praise the Lord for His miracle, and the kind soul who helped work it!

If you have pets, our family would like to recommend Hesperia Animal Hospital and Dr. S. Ahmed to handle all of your pet care needs. Hesperia Animal Hospital features:
• Dr. S. Ahmed - Over 20 Years of Experience
• An Attentive Staff of Over 15 Members
• 70 Kennels
• Puppy & Kitten Packages Available
• Complete Pet Care Facility
• One Stop Quality Care Facility
• Affordable Price With Quality
• Temperature Controlled Indoor Boarding
• Premium Food & Supplies
• Dog & Cat Grooming
• Groomer - 21 Years Experience
• Professional Pet Boarding

You can find out more at: WWW.HesperiaAnimalHospital.Com

Shafeeq Ahmed:
Here is a picture of Millie after her surgery with Dr. S. Ahmed.

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