Emergency Grimmy

[spritechan]

I had a very stressful weekend. Scratch that, I'm still really stressed out.

On Friday Steve and I were planning Joe Waid's birthday stuff, when I noticed Grim was acting strangely. He was licking himself a lot, and then suddenly just hissed. At nothing. I immediately got very concerned. Steve and I watched him for awhile, and he pretty much was walking gingerly, tail tucked, and licking himself. Then came the occasional bursts of a meow I'm not familiar with: the mournful one. I laid him on the floor and felt his belly. At this point I thought maybe he'd eaten a rubber band or twist-tie. He didn't yowl until I got super low, so I thought maybe he had a UTI or bladder infection. Steve suggested we take him in on Monday. Right as I was going to agree to wait a bit, Grim meowed one of those really distressed meows. You know the kind - the low, scary-movie type. I decided that whatever our plans were, we were taking Grim to the vet first.

I set out the cat carrier a few minutes before Faith arrived, and he crawled right in. He didn't make a peep on the drive, and he hissed only once when the nurse tried to take his temp. He was very mellow, and loving. After Faith and Steve left to explore (it was a Banfield clinic in PetsMart), I was told he had a blocked bladder, and then I was shown this gigantic list of things needed to do to him. The doctor told me that he likely would have died if I waited to bring him in (this was later confirmed via Facebook stories from friends, and the internet) as a result of kidney damage, heart attack, or a burst bladder. I left him with them, and then was anxious the rest of the day worried about him. I'm not ready to lose him!

The vet called in the evening and said that his bladder needed a lot of pressure to unblock, but that his blood tests came out good, he only needed one X-ray and didn't have stones, and his kidneys were undamaged. Bottom line: I caught it way earlier than most people do. They kept him overnight with a catheter to see if his urine cleared up, and it did. The bad news: the bill was $825. When they showed me the estimate (which was $900), I almost fainted. That hurt, it really did. But I'd rather be set back than without a Grimmy.

Blocked bladders are almost exclusively in male cats, and a large number die as a result of their parents misunderstanding what's wrong with them. They are recommended to be put on a special diet (the bag I bought yesterday was ridiculously expensive, and I needed the prescription to purchase it). I was given Buprenorphine, a derivative of morphine, to give him three times a day to help with the pain from the catheter. As a result, Grim is uncharacteristically passive, won't eat or drink, and tries to pee every few minutes (sounds familiar to me and my UTIs). The drugs help with the irritation and keep him calm and euphoric.

On the other hand, Nero is treating him literally like he's dying. He won't go near Grim, hisses when he sees him, and is apparently trying to establish his role as the New King. I don't like it one bit.

P.S. Icon is his namesake.

Comments

[silver-tiamat.livejournal.com]

Gods. I'm so glad that you listened to Grim when he told you that you couldn't leave him until Monday. The vets are so right--a coworker of mine lost her cat this way. He was only 4-years-old, but she didn't catch it soon enough, and he died about a week after she took him to the vet. I'm so glad that Grim didn't have to suffer the same fate.

And yikes about the bill. Our kittens just cost us a good chunk of money last month for the flea/worm issue. But, like you, we're not at all willing to let our kittens suffer. It's just money, after all. =/ I'd so much rather spend $900 and keep our cats, than have the $900. I mean, they're not humans, but they are little people, alive with feelings.

And, oh, Nero. ~_~ But, it is true that different cats have different reactions to death, or illness, in their little Pride. Chico reacted oddly when Rocky was dying. But, that was after Shadow's death, so it was a loss of first one companion, then another. It was like he started mourning his death about a month before Rocky actually died. But, all the cats were super nice to Rocky when he was dying, very often cuddling with him, or surrounding him constantly. But, he was the kind Alpha male. =( Man, I miss that cat.

[vixenofflames.livejournal.com]

Interestingly, the internet was quite accurate it seems about the age of onset - it said the average age is four years, and my cats will be four in April! I was definitely on the fence because I'd been leaning toward him eating something and being upset about it, because I'd found vomit in the living room, and neither of my cats are pukers. I didn't want to take him in if it was a tummy ache that would just hang around until he passed the object, but after watching him and seeing he was clearly in A LOT of pain, there was no way.

There was some scariness overnight because he wasn't eating or drinking but still trying to pee, but he's improved since then. He's eaten a few bites of food and drank a bit of water, and he has been peeing, but only a little. Steve's sister was a vet tech for a long time, and she said that male cats' urethras are about as wide as a third of a spaghetti noodle O_O That explains why he'll likely be inflamed for awhile and not being able to pass much urine at a time. She was also surprised that I didn't "just" pay the $50 to put him down. I was like, "HELL NO MY PETS ARE FAMILY, NOT DISPOSABLE D:"

We ended up separating the cats, keeping Grim inside the room with his own litter box and food and water, and Nero outside with his original stuff, because Nero wouldn't use the litterbox when they were both in the room. Grim showed marked improvement when I got up for work today. Even though it'd only been 4 hours since his last painkiller dose, he was alert and rubby and even ran to the cat food in the living room when I opened the door (expecting fresh food even though I only ever feed when the bowl is empty), as is the norm when he was fine. And Nero isn't warm to Grim, but he didn't hiss at him when they came into contact this evening (though plenty of THAT was to be had yesterday. Oh god, the drama!). It was so funny when Nero was freaking out hissing at him, and Grim was all doped up and didn't even notice.

I'm still worried about him because they said he's at risk for re-blocking until his inflammation goes down, which is over the next week or two. Fingers crossed!

[silver-tiamat.livejournal.com]

I just think that for a cat to die at only 4-years-old is as sad as a human who dies at like 18-years-old. So young, considering that they're not even half-way into their lives. =( But, again, it's really great that you caught it so soon. It really devastated Katie, watching her cat just go from really bad to even worse to dead. I'm hypervigilante with our kittens, mostly because they're still Kittens, and in general, younger cats (like humans) are more prone to infections/diseases/etc. Once they hit their real Cat strides, they become less prone to infections and the like, but just like humans in THEIR prime, they can still get sick.

Oh man. I think the only time I ever think that putting down an animal is okay is when they're in severe pain that nothing can be done about. Even then...I'm of the mindset to wait until the cat decides that he/she is done with life (usually by ceasing to eat or drink and finding places to "hide" aka die). But, inconvenience is just the most despicable reason to kill a pet (not just a random creature invading your territory, which is something the Animal Kingdom understands, but a PET, who you took in to care for and be responsible for). Grr humans.

It sounds like Grim is getting better though (man, doped kitties are even more hilarious than humans in my experience, though usually only in memory, as at the time, I've always been more worried about their health than anything). I really hope that he doesn't have a relapse. But, I'm sure that you'll stay on top of it, and with a bit of luck, this'll pass without getting worse. *crosses fingers* .... *types awkwardly*

[vixenofflames.livejournal.com]

I know! I was so surprised! I was even more surprised that this has happened to a bunch of people I know and it's apparently just something people "know" and don't spread around! If I'd have known about it, I'd probably have been able to better diagnose him. We're lucky that we're very in-tune with our cats, because it gives them a much better chance than people who just sort of... have cats, like you have furniture or appliances. Just like you, I spent time with the whole litter, and determined which cats were "mine" based on how we meshed. I felt a particular attachment to Grim moreso than Nero, but I can't imagine not having both.

I feel the exact same way. I definitely don't want to be the owner who "can't let go" and therefore the animal suffers far more than it could have, but I'm definitely not going to put them down until they are ready. I can't even THINK about putting Grimmy or Nero down D: I'm so not there yet.

He was soooo silly while doped, but I WAS very nervous. I would keep making sure he was still in the same spot, like every 3 minutes XD He's improved a bit more - his movements are nearly normal, less sluggish, even though he's been on a very consistent schedule for the painkillers. He's also producing a bit more urine each time (though the poor baby can still only go in little spurts) and eating more. He's isolating still though. He lets you give him attention and enjoys it, but he does not want to be on laps or jump up anywhere (and he already was against being "placed" anywhere and often ran away if you did that, so setting him anywhere isn't worth it). It's understandable, but I want to comfort!!! Nero's kinda being a douche still, but he's calmed a lot too.

I've got my fingers crossed too! With each day I feel more in the clear. The first time Grim gets a relatively normal stream, I'm gonna give him some hardcore bro bumps XD It's going to be so great!