Last week was crazy, that's for sure.
Our poor Squee, started acting funny on Monday night, about 2 hours before Hubby came home. The night before I had an appointment to get my tooth pulled. We comforted him, as much as we could, but he just made some little weird sounds and then started squatting again.Thinking he was stopped up again I made a note to feed him more wet food in the morning. His stomach looked HUGE, which is a very odd thing to notice, considering that he's all fluff. I thought I'd be responsible and had us take sleeping pills to get to bed early, since we had to get up mega early.
About 2:30a.m. while Hubby & I were sitting on the couch playing our respective video games, an unusual cry caught our attention. I told Hubby that it was probably Squee, and asked him to check. He shrugged and didn't move. Then I said, half jokingly:
"It could be his only cry for help before he dies."
Hubby froze and looked at me. "Damn you."
His words were soft and held no animosity. We both peeled off the couch and knelt beside a now prone Squee, lying on his side. He was breathing, but not blinking, and the most impassive we've ever seen him in his entire life. I closed his eyes for him and he slowly opened them back up, but they were unfocused. He let us pat him and look him over without even trying to move.
Then he barely lifted his head let out an unearthly cry.
It was horrid and I scooted back behind Hubby, terrified, asking what to do. We were both in tears, thinking that our baby boy was dying in front of us.
He let out another unearthly cry, like that of a constrained lion's roar full of pain. Nothing like any sound he's ever made in his entire life.
I stepped over to my laptop, looking up the phone number of the nearest vet. No one was in when I called but thankfully they had an ER Vet's number listed on the answering service. I asked Hubby what to do what seemed like a zillion times, he didn't know. I knew we had no money to pay for anything, except putting him down so he wasn't suffering.
Finally after the third unearthly cry Hubby told me to call the ER Vet. Squee literally forced himself to stand and plodded into one of the boxes that we have set us as kitty beds. I called and thank all the Gods there ever was, the girl was sweet, I probably sounded like a crazy person. The fee just to be seen was $105.
Just to be seen! Not even including whatever treatment they followed through with. Thanking her, I asked if they had payment plans available. No. But they did accept a Care Credit card and it could be applied & approved online in just minutes. Thanking her again I hung up and told Hubby everything.
We already had that card, and he looked to check it's balance. There was enough on it. Hubby then grabbed our large kitty carrier and went over to the box, asking Squee, quite literally. "Do you want to get in for me?"
Squee heaved himself right into the carrier, like a good boy.
Our meds were already starting to kick in, but adrenaline was kicking in too. The ER Vet was only 15 minutes away, I called them and told them that we were coming in. A short drive later (Squee has always
loved car rides) we arrived and handed him over. It was 4:30am. The wait wasn't long before the vet saw us, told us what he found, and set out a treatment plan.
Long story short, he hasn't been able to pee. That's right, our constipation problem, was instead a pee'ing problem. Adding wet food to his diet helped a bit before. Apparently pee'ing problems are quite common with male cats, something in their plumbing gets irritated and swollen. The Vet said we caught the problem fairly early and it should be treatable, but it could also reoccur later. Wet food and plenty of water was what he needed to eat. He was going to be kept till the ER Vet clinic closed, given a kitty cathator (no clue how to spell that), an IV, and a emergency collar (cone of shame). He's be sedated and have a couple of stitches in his bum to keep everything in place. In the morning we would have to bring him to our regular vet to be kept and watched for 2-3 days, 1 minimum with that cathator in.
We thanked him and went to finish our paperwork and settle the bill. The attending nurse set us up and explained that this problem is waaaaaaay more common than people think and that a surgery might become necessary to rewire his plumbing. She assured us that it would be less expensive in the long run. She also said that she's seen this problem so much that she refuses to have male cats ever again. We were informed, $350 later (thank you Care Credit card), that pickup time was 7am.
Just a couple hours.
OMFG.
Okay okay. Kev meds had kicked into full swing and I drove us home. He set the alarm and we napped (zoinked out) till 6:45. Dressed, and I drove us back to the vet, he was still too sleepy to drive but wouldn't let me go alone, cause he's amazing.
The Vet Dr. asked us to stay around till our "regular" vet was open, which was 7:30, he wanted to talk directly to the other vet, make sure that they were expecting us, and ready to care for our baby. We were touched.
A highly drugged Squee was handed over to us, as well as a bag of IV fluids, then we loaded back into the car. Before I closed the door on Hubby's side (he was holding the carrier and our precious cargo) I said Squee's name and he moved right to my voice pushing his head against the door to be petted. We indulged him for a few minutes, talking softly and petting him through the carrier door. The drive to our regular vet (one we haven't been to in 7-8 years cause there was no need) was calm and uneventful.
We checked him in and was seen by the vet after a small wait, saying our goodbyes. The vet was kind enough and repeated what the ER vet told us, saying that he's stay there and be monitored. Then he was taken away.
It was 9am by now and I was
hungry. The vet just happens to be next to a Dunkin'Doughnuts.Hubby was so sweet and said he was awake and hungry too, so we walked over and he ordered 2 doughnuts and I got myself a nummy toasted bagel with orange juice. My last meal before the dentist. Then it was off to home for another nap before the tooth extraction.
The dentist was amazing balls. There is nothing else to it. Pure amazing balls. They prescribed me some Valium to calm me down cause I was freaking the fuck out. Then after it took effect, the procedure was smooth as silk. Except the 2 needles in my mouth, that was hell, but fear of needles, go figure.
Then it was off to Publix for some foods and meds. Apparently our bank & credit card had no money on it. I was to drugged to be embarrassed. Hubby was sooooo embarrassed, but between the two cards, food got bought. But at the pharmacy counter there was no moolah left apparently. His wallet was emptyso he drove us home, saying he'd be back to pick up the meds.
At home I couldn't figure out why he was so upset. (Drugged still.) We put the food away & he started to leave when I stopped him, pulled out my wallet (sure there was nothing there) and found $10! Enough to pay for my meds, He eye-rolled, kisses me, sent me to bed, and left.
I woke up later that day next to Hubby and we lounged playing video games. Both of us wanting to play D&D, and I was more than willing to! But one of our players was sick, so no game. Boo~
The rest of the week was filled with me so sore. Squee gone and it left us feeling empty. And me packing, so much packing! Ugh.
Thankfully Squee is back at home with us. I'm taking him and Zentara with me tomorrow. Our sweet sweet friend is helping us move some stuff down, yay!! It's gonna be weird being there for 2 weeks without Hubby, though I will be driving up to see him every few days, and he's driving down to see me too.
