One of my cats went to the pet hospital on Friday night. I feel that the best way to update all of you would be to send you the e-mail that I sent Kyle explaining it to him
Dear Kyle,
I don't really know the best way to start this, so I am just going to go ahead and do it. This morning when I woke up I started to notice that Alex was "favoring" his genitals. He was always licking them, like every 5 seconds. I figured it was just a guy think and dismissed it. As the morning progressed he started to moan alot when he was walking around and seemed to only be comfortable when he was on his back. again I didn't think much of it and went to work. When I got home at midnight I changed into my PJs and started to make myself dinner (the shift was BUSY and I didn't get a chance to eat) when Alex again started crying. only this was about 10 times worse than earlier. when i looked at his crotch his penis looked all red and inflamed, and when i compared it to zach it looked really swollen (no wonder he was in pain right?) so I thought I would wake up early and take him to the vet before my shift. but whoops, it's the weekend, a HOLIDAY weekend. so now what do I do. Alex kept looking up at me with his big amber eyes and crying. So I looked at our vets magnet again and found the number for after hours emergencies and called them. I guess our vet is affiliated with this pet emergency center in la mesa which is about 10 minuites up the 8 from us, open 24/7. So I decided to take him tonight. I was worried and I didn't want him to be in pain.
So I walk into this office at 130am and Alex is immediately wisked away while I fill out paperwork. On the bottom of the first sheet is the disclaimer (all fees due at point of care, we do not offer billing services) oh great....they tell me to sit and wait, they usher me into a empty room, tell me the doctor will be in. and i sit and wait. and worry, what's wrong. what if it's something big? maybe they are just busy with someone else, maybe they forgot about me...this goes on for about 10 years (actual time probably 5 min) when the Vet FINALLY walks in "Alex's urethra is blocked, we need to un-block him tonight" I guess our 11month old baby has a kidney stone, renal calculi or other stone blocking his urinary tract and causing a build-up of urine. "It hasnt been long enough for there to be dangerous fluid and electrolyte imbalances, but that's where it's heading if we don't fix it now." he tells me. I sit in shock. a what? he continues into a battery of tests, labs, x-rays, cathater placements, overnight stays, monitoring, anti-biotics that Alex is going to need. he has to stay at the pet hospital for two days for observation, to make sure he can pee on his own, they will take samples to try and figure out why this happend. "this is a very young cat for this to happen" he tells me. All that flashes in my head is (then it will probably happen again....) he says if it happens again they will probably have to correct it surgically.
Oh and he has to be on prescription food for the rest of his life... all this time I am sitting there, with no cat, at 2am, totally speechless....we'll go get you a estimate they say they leave me in the little room. FOREVER. I am alone with my thoughts. how much? i'll pay whatever it takes. what if its thousands? His life is worth anything, what I am going to do???? I start to think of outragous figures so I don't get the wind knocked out of me when they come back with how much I have to pay for all of these tests and fees and overnight stays.
They tell me the estimate.....i need a paper bag to breath into please......they go over what the costs are, my print out is two pages long, tests, labs, pain medication, nursing care, kennel fees, antibiotics, now it's 3am and all I want is to see alex. So I pay them, what choice did I have? they take me back to the examination room. Everything is set for them to cath him (which they sedate hime HEAVILY for) I meet the techs. They show me Alex in his cage, they gave him morphine, he is as happy as a kid at christmas. licks my fingers when he sees me, rubs hard against the cage bars, and i fight tears. I give them my number, they tell me the Doc will call in the morning to let me know how he's doing. I tell them i'm working overnights this weekend. I want to be called at ANY time. I will call tomorrow to check on him, I dread going home and seeing Zachary. I tell the secretary he has a brother at home, that they've never been seperated. I fight tears again. I take the now EMPTY cat carrier from the secretary. people reassure me "I will be with him all night", "we will call if ANYTHING happens." "go home and get rest" So I get into my car, I am a zombie. I somehow make it home. I open the door. Zachary is sitting there, he looks at me, "where is my brother?" his face asks? and I cry......I sob.....he sits in my lap and head butts me while my tears fall in his fur I know that Alex is safe, I just want him home soon.....I worry I have been worrying ever since they put me in that little room, and I haven't stopped. this is a nightmare that my body refuses to wake up from, Zach is wandering through each room.....I know he is looking for Alex..... Buddy, he's not there....but he's comming home soon
-Sara
Everything that was oulined in the letter happened. I picked Alex up from the Pet Hospital on Monday morning. He is doing well. I have to give him antibiotics for 5 days. The renal diet I have him on he actually likes (thank GOD) and things are slowly getting back to normal.
His little Paw where they put in the I.V.
My Big Guy...feeling better!
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