I live in Washington State. My cat recently got diagnosed with asthma which means her having medication and monitoring she doesn’t have bad attacks. My vet told me if my cat for some reason has a horrible coughing fit or can’t breathe to bring her to emergency asap. I live in somewhat rural Washington so the closet emergency clinic is 45min-1hour away. Even then waiting time there is a while.
Last night my cat kept puking and hid herself. Bad tell tale sign if you own a pet. I had to take her to the pet ER and was there the whole night.
I called out of work today and I had to call back again to “check in” with the manager. I asked what does this time away fall under and she’s like “vacation time. You can’t use sick time unless it’s a family member blah blah.” Great I don’t have kids and my pet is the only thing I got. If I have to argue, caring for a defenseless ill pet is the same as for a child or other family member, they both can’t drive themselves to the doctor. Even then the older family member can call an ambulance.
So now I’m 1 day less of vacation time. Oh how lovely I’m vacationing by spending my day at the vet stressed af. I’m worried because of my cats condition, there will be more future vet visits or whatever. What options do I have? If no options I guess I’ll have to resort to saying I myself medical stuff going on to use my sick time. It’s partly true anyway