A cat owner was hit with a $800 vet bill after her pet fainted due to her love of string cheese.
Avery Muether (@averyandkeith), 33, a graphic designer from Nashville, shared how her cat, Joan, developed a fixation with the dairy treat whilst she was eating it.
Joan jumped on her leg in an attempt to get some and started to suckle the cheese.
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“One day she begged for the cheese I was eating she jumped up on my leg and crawled up my back to my shoulder. I immediately thought ‘Here is our moment to go viral, how cute!’ we made several videos of her begging and eating the string cheese, then one day, she fainted,” Muether told Newsweek.
“She was on the kitchen island, she just finished sucking and eating the string cheese, her eyes fluttered shut and she fell over—I grabbed her so she didn’t fall off the counter, she was out for 2-3 seconds and then POPPED UP.
“She looked a little spooked for a couple of seconds and then went on begging for more cheese. My husband and I both stood there panicking.”
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In a video which garnered 136,600 likes and 910,700 views on TikTok, Muether explained the hysterical situation.
“Cardiologist said no more string cheese for Joan,” she captioned the video of a fit and healthy cat, oblivious to her parents’ ordeal.
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The cat parents had to take their other cat, Stevie, to the emergency vet where they also sought advice for Joan.
The emergency vet recommended they go for an examination and X-ray at their ordinary vet and explained they may need to consult a cardiologist to look at her heart.
The exam was $200 and the echocardiogram was around $600. The cat parents shared with the cardiologist the video of her sucking the cheese.
“We all laughed that we are hoping she has no abnormalities and the joy of suckling cheese caused her to faint. We waited 30 minutes and the cardiologist brought her back praising her on being a good patient,” Muether explained.
“She said her exam and echo are normal, she saw no abnormalities with her heart. So of course her suggestion was no more string cheese!
“Our thoughts are the rhythmic sucking and the overall excitement of the cheese makes her not breathe normally causing her to faint.”
TikTok users found the ordeal hilarious and shared similar experiences of hysterical diagnoses.
“My cat threw up three times in one night so I freaked and took him to the vet the next morning. They said we should take an X-ray to make sure he’s all good, turns out I spent $269 to find out he’s constipated,” said Lauren.
“Thought my kitten was pregnant as shed figured out how to unlock the cat flap and escaped, took her to the vet and spent lots of money for an ultrasound. Turns out me, my mom and my sister were all feeding her multiple times without knowing, she was just fat,” said Jess.
“I spent $700 after my cat started vomiting excessively, got told it was nothing and to feed her exclusively wet food just in case. I left my ex fiancée and she doesn’t throw up anymore,” said another cat owner.
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