La Vergne Veterinary Clinic

On Thursday I had my first visit to the La Vergne Veterinary Clinic. The circumstances which led to the trip are a bit gruesome so if you have a weak stomach you might not wish to read beyond the address and phone number.

La Vergne Veterinary Clinic
5046 Murfreesboro Road
La Vergne, TN 37086
Phone: 615-793-5333
Office Hours: M, T, W, Th, F 7:30 am - 6:00 pm and Saturday 8:00 am - 12:00 pm

I have lived for 36 years and have never once found a cat in the dryer. That is until Thursday.

I have three cats. Two of which are quite smart and have learned to use the toilet! Yes! The toilet. The oldest was taken in off the street. We are not quite sure of her age but she is at least six. With the greatest affection we named her slug.

Early that morning my husband had taken some clothes out of the dryer and left the laundry room door and the dryer door open. I'm not in the habit of doing either and so I thought nothing of it when I closed the dryer door and started the load to knock some of the wrinkles out of the load. Then I turned and shut the laundry room door.

I sat back down to my book and gave little attention to the dryer though it did sound as if the clothes were falling heavily in the dryer, there were no other sounds to indicate that a live creature was in the machine. After a period of time passed that seemed sufficient that the wrinkles would be out I got up and went to the dryer and began to fold. I had folded three articles of clothing before she crawled out of the machine.

It was slug, the oldest of them all and the smartest of any that I've ever had. It took me a moment to process what I was seeing. She hopped to the floor and I playfully asked her what she was doing in there before the realization struck me that the clothes in my hand were hot and she was in trouble. She let loose a long howl of a meow and walked into the kitchen and fell to the floor panting, drooling and bleeding...

Quickly, I got her a bowl of water but she did not drink. I felt certain that my cat was going to die. On Wednesday my car had broke down and I was there, without a vehicle. I had to call my husband and deliver the news. This is his cat and their relationship is one to be jealous of at times. He came home quickly.

While waiting for him to come home I contacted the La Vergne Veterinary Clinic. They advised me to put cool towels over her until I could get her there. In less than ten minutes from the time we left our house we were there and they were ready.

They did all they could do to reassure me, the one who nearly killed the cat, that this was not the first time they'd seen this happen. The doctor, Doctor Tim Prater, was a very calm man with a round and friendly face and soothing voice came to talk to us. We had a few things working in our favor, for instance, she wasn't in very long and there were quite a lot of clothes in the dryer so some of the trauma was absorbed.

She was kept for a few hours and released then seen the next day. The cost for everything came to approximately $90 which I say isn't too bad at all. Our cat today is doing very well and even wanting to go outside.

With that, please check your dryers if you have cats and know that there are people nearby who are kind and knowledgeable to help you if you ever need treatment for your animals.