Loyal readers will know that King Street Cat Hospital is the official veterinary service of poweredbycoffee.net’s two mascot felines. Last year they were both spayed and declawed and a few weeks ago I got an invitation to attend their 10th anniversary open house.
I showed up fifteen minutes earlier - big surprise - and helped them setup the barbeques and helped the musician setup his equipment. While the food was cooking, the other early arrivers and I were invited to come inside for a tour of the place. I thought I’d seen most of it, but there has been some serious renovation!
It’s amazing what you can do by knocking down or putting up a wall and since I was there last November they’ve cut the old office into two exam rooms and made the old larger exam room the new office. We were then escorted downstairs into the surgical area - the place I hadn’t seen before - and we got a tour of the actual surgical suite as well as the “procedure” room where they do a lot of dental work. They don’t do dental work in the surgical suite because it’s considered a “dirty” procedure.
All in all I was really impressed. I was impressed by them before, but even moreso now having seen the whole operation. I was also impressed that the surgical nurse (whom I had not met previously) remembered my cats by name even though it had been seven months since she’d seen them. I also had a chuckle once I was in the back yard again at the barbeque listening to the story of Fonzi - the stray that lived next door. Apparently they caught him, neutered him, kept him overnight, and let him back out. Apparently he was the father of half the Whitby stray cat population.
The food - to mention it briefly - was incredible. I’ve never seen burgers so large in my life. Not even at Licks. I could barely fit my mouth around them. Word is that they came from Costco. I’m definately going to have to investigate that. The burgers were almost bigger than some steaks I’ve cooked. Everything was free. There was no hand being held out for donations to the hospital - or the Joey fund for abandoned cats. They just wanted to express their appreciation to their patients for helping them make it to the ten year mark. I thought that was really cool.
And the girls got treats!! There were gift bags in the foyer for kittens, adult, and senior cats. I stupidly only took one even though in hindsight I realize I was probably entitled to two. The bag contained a catnip beanbag, a HAND KNITTED cat blanket, a cat-themed pencil (for me I imagine), and a stack of literature on feline health. A nice and thoughtful touch.
She’s not the cheapest vet in the world, but the best ones never are. And talking to the staff made me realize just what an amazing doctor Dr. McCrae is. She is… and always will be… my vet. Way to go, doc. Happy 10th Anniversary!
King Street Cat Hospital
120 Hopkins Street
Whitby, Ontario
(behind Gus Brown Pontiac)
(905) 655-MEOW
Tell ‘Em Whipper And Mariah Sent You!
Update: I went back for another beanbag - it was the only way I could avert civil war. I found out that the beanbags are made by a company called Krazy Kitty that is operated not far from here. Apparently the catnip they use in their toys is 100% pure organic - which explains the reaction it got. I also discovered that the blankets that were in the gift packs were indeed hand-knitted by the women’s group in a local church - they wouldn’t tell me which one. They knit them for the Joey Fund cats, but they had such a surplus that they included them in the gift bags. The receptionist also explained to me that if the colours were “a little bit off” it’s because a number of the ladies in the group are almost totally blind. So if you think you can’t do anything to improve the living condition of an animal… think again! Kudos to these ladies who give of themselves so selflessly for the feline population!