He's a handsome fellow, isn't he? 14 pounds of stripey goodness. Three weeks ago, we nearly lost him. It is thanks to the good efforts of his vet, her techs and his own strong will to live that we didn't.
He got himself an urinary tract obstruction. The problem reached crisis point for several reasons. First, he's mainly an outdoor cat, so I didn't realize he wasn't urinating. Second, he seems to have a very high pain tolerance. On Thursday night he seemed fine, playing with Jaguar as usual. Friday morning he was hissing and growling for no apparent reason (never a good sign, but not always a sign of a life threatening problem). Friday night he was throwing up white foam and (finally) trying to pee (unsuccessfully) in the house. Saturday morning, he was comatose. Luckily, one of the local vets was open and told me I could drop him off (they were booked up, but would look at him between appointments). He was awake by Monday, although not eating. His bladder was so distended that the muscle tone was gone, so they had to express his bladder. I took him home Thursday, with two prescriptions. One of antibiotics and one of something to help repair the muscle. And instructions on how to express his bladder. Fun for all concerned.
He took the pills with a minimum of fuss. At first it was because he still wasn't feeling well, later it was because he's a reasonable cat, plus he got butter to help the pills go down. Cats seem, in my experience, to take pills much more readily if you explain to them why you want them to take the pill. However, even if they don't fight the pill, some cats like to see if they can fool you into thinking they have swallowed the pill and then spit it out once you let go of them (I'm naming no names, but if the stripes fit...). If you smear butter on the upper lip, when their body heat starts to melt it, they can't stand the greasy and lick it off, which forces them to swallow the pill.
Long story short... He's better. At the second follow up visit, the vet was concerned because his bladder is still sensitive to palpation (although empty at the time). She now wants a urine sample to see if it is infection or inflammation. After a week on Baytril (!), she's pretty sure it isn't infection. I don't want to put him on steroids (more pills, hurrah!), but I also don't want the white blood cells to build up and cause another blockage.
Aah. Cats. They lower the blood pressure.
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