When Tate’s 13-week-old bobtail kitten, Midas, suddenly stopped tearing around the house like a tiny tornado, she knew something was seriously wrong.
Midas is usually a blur of fur, climbing furniture, chasing invisible enemies, and keeping Tate on her toes from sunrise to bedtime.
But one evening, he just stopped.
“He only wanted to cuddle, which was strange for my little ball of energy,” Tate explained. “Next thing we know, we’re at the ER vet.”
What started as a simple trip for reassurance quickly spiraled into a full-blown emergency visit.
Midas wasn’t just lethargic, he began vomiting, and panic set in.
Within minutes, Tate had him bundled up and rushed to the emergency clinic.
Once there, the vets wasted no time.
They recommended bloodwork and X-rays, and the bill began climbing higher and higher, eventually hitting a jaw-dropping $900.
“When the vet brought back the X-rays, we all held our breath,” Tate said.
“There was a moment of dead silence and then we just lost it. Even the vet was laughing.”
The culprit behind all the drama? Gas.
Not a blockage. Not a swallowed Lego. Not anything sinister at all.
Just a spectacular case of trapped gas that had left poor Midas bloated, uncomfortable, and not his usual self.
“Gas. So. Much. Gas,” Tate wrote when she shared the story online. “He was just… full of farts. $900 worth of farts.”
As dramatic as the situation was, trapped gas is actually quite common in pets.
Most of the time, it isn’t dangerous, but when paired with symptoms like vomiting or extreme lethargy, vets always recommend checking for more serious issues such as blockages.
And that’s exactly why Tate rushed Midas in because when a tiny kitten suddenly goes quiet and starts vomiting, no pet parent wants to take any chances.
Thankfully, once the diagnosis was confirmed, Midas was treated and monitored until he perked back up.
Within a couple of days, he was back to sprinting through the house, climbing curtains, and acting like nothing had happened.
“We definitely breathed a huge sigh of relief,” Tate said.
“It was scary at the time, but once we knew he was okay, the situation struck me as so ridiculous it had to be shared.”
So she posted the story on Reddit’s r/cats subreddit and the internet went wild.
“Spent $900 on an emergency vet visit… turned out my kitten just had extremely premium farts,” she wrote in the now-viral post.
It has since racked up over 50,000 upvotes, with thousands of pet owners chiming in to share their own hilarious (and expensive) vet visit stories.
“Man I bet there was some relief when he finally let it all go,” one commenter joked.
Another added, “‘Premium farts’ is the phrase of the day for me. Glad he’s back to normal!”
Someone else summed up what everyone was thinking: “I am sorry, but 900 dollars worth of farts has had me wheezing for the last 5 minutes.”
The post quickly turned into a lighthearted thread full of cat owners bonding over the silly and costly things their pets have put them through.
“It’s been so heartwarming to see how many people have connected with it,” Tate said.
“At the time, it was all stress and panic. Now, it’s become this funny story that makes other people smile.”
And it seems Midas isn’t the only pet with expensive gas problems.
In 2024, a dog owner in the Netherlands racked up a $600 vet bill after rushing her Staffordshire bull terrier, Maggie, in for similar symptoms.
Just like Midas, Maggie’s scans came back clear except for one thing: she was suffering from a serious case of gas.
For Tate, the experience was a reminder that while emergency vet visits can be costly, peace of mind is priceless.
“If something feels wrong with your pet, you go,” she said.
“Even if it turns out to be nothing serious, at least you know. And in Midas’s case, it was definitely worth every penny to know he was okay.”
Midas, meanwhile, seems completely unfazed by his ordeal and has gone back to ruling the house like the tiny bobtail king he is.