Friday started out lovely. I had a great morning hiking in the mountains with my sister and her 2 kids. Zachary, now 2 1/2, loved the little hike we took him on - an interactive, 1/2 mile hike that is designed to take you through 3 different landscapes. He so enjoyed the flowers, the moss, different trees, mushrooms, little stream, and all the other wonders of nature. It's so fun to look at the world through his eyes. After the hike we enjoyed a nice barbecue lunch in Woodland Park. Fun, relaxing, great start to a weekend.
I arrived home, however, to a disaster! My house had a trail of cat feces and blood from back door to front door, and sitting on a rug near the front door, in very clear pain and distress, was my beloved cat, Charlie! His behind was covered in blood. I flew into a near panic, trying to clean him up, clean up the floor, and call the vet all at the same time. Listen, the past month has been filled with small trips and phone calls to our ever-patient vet. Charlie has been on a series of medications from pain reducers for his arthritis to a mood-regulator to eliminate the inappropriate urination that's been happening. I was pretty calm on the phone, trying to remember that the poor receptionist shouldn't have to deal with a panicky pet-mom. Needless to say, the vet was quite concerned. Poor guy, though - their office had been slammed with emergencies all day and literally had no way to squeeze him in. Best they could do was guess that this was a very upset colon caused by the meds we've been giving Charlie, prescribe a medication that would help soothe his obviously distressed GI tract, and get me an appointment for 9:00 this morning.
With half an hour to wait until the prescription would be ready, I as quickly as seemed humanly possible assembled a pet crate we have, put in it an old blanket and a small litter box, and moved Charlie in there. Poor thing! With all the problems he's had the past month, he's down to skin and bones. (His plummeted weight was confirmed this morning at the appointment - 6 lbs.!). Picking him up was dreadful. He was stiff, his bowels cramping, little moans coming from him. Mommy was losing it!
I flew to Tim's work site (barely controlling my tears and ragged breathing) and told him what was going on, while trying to control my breathing and not totally freak out. I'm not usually the panic type, but the past 6 weeks or so of poor health for Charlie, all that blood, and my darling cat's incredible pain and distress just about sent me over the edge! Next stop was the vet where I picked up that med, then I had to go to the grocery store to get supplies for a cooking demo I was doing this morning. Cancel the demo? I thought about it, but with 15 people RSVPd I just didn't feel that would be fair.
Home I went. I gave Charlie his little pill, and waited for Tim to come home. My wonderful sister, who loves her pets as much as I love mine, offered to come hang out with me if it turned out Tim had to work late. Well, I prepped my chicken for today's cooking demo (Indonesian food!), got my ingredients ready to pack in the morning, and tried to relax.
Tim, the lovely that he is, arranged for us to go out to dinner with a couple of wonderful friends. They and their kids distracted me and helped me have as relaxing an evening as I could. After an hour or so at the restaurant, though, I felt the need to be with Charlie, so we rather abruptly left. I know our friends understood.
The rest of the evening Tim and I gave Charlie water through a syringe (he seemed unable to drink from the water bowl), sat by the crate petting him, wiped his poor little bottom, cried, and talked together about today's vet appointment. Were we going to put him down? Were we going to explore treatment options? Was this a permanent downturn in his health? Was he on his last legs? He sure looked it. The water we gave him seemed to perk him up a little though, so we did that a few times.
Fitful sleep awaited both of us, and Egg (our other little kitty) was quite distressed by the smell of blood, the tension in the house, and the strange behavior of his brother. No one slept much.
This morning I finished getting my cooking demo stuff together, we got Charlie settled in the cat carrier, and headed to the vet's
Long appointment story short: Charlie is still alive. His kidneys and liver are failing, as rather comprehensive (and expensive) blood tests showed. The vet explained to us what this means, how we can manage this long and short term, and what the future might look like. The worst news is that we can't give Charlie his pain meds anymore, which means his arthritis will very soon cause him to be in pain a lot of the time. (Our vet obviously felt remorse that he's been so focused on a couple of Charlie's problems, that he didn't see these other issues developing. Well, hindsight is 20/20, and all that. No blame from us.) We took the vet's suggestion to give Charlie fluids, an antibiotic shot, feed him through a syringe, and take him home for the weekend, postponing our decision until Monday. That way we can see how/if he responds, and we'll have some time to talk about what we want to do for this little guy.
I rushed from the vet appointment to the cooking demo, which went fine. I must say, I think it was a little boring for the people there - I didn't plan a very interactive menu, but they enjoyed the food, so I hope it was worth it. I also hope they'll go home and cook the dishes I taught them! That would make me really happy. ;-) It was great for me to have something to do today other than worry about my kitty. Helped me get through the day with very few tears.
Came home to Charlie in the bathroom. He looks a little better today. The bleeding has stopped, and he seems better able to rest than he could yesterday.
Then I got a migraine. Not one of those little ones that my meds seem to quickly take care of. A pounding, can't sit up, can't focus migraine. I stumbled to the bathroom and took 2 pills. They didn't seem to do any good...for hours. Bah! Hours later, when I went to take a second dose, I realized that in my fuzzy state I'd taken plain acetaminophen instead of my migraine meds. No wonder nothing was happening! Had to cancel dinner with my dad, which I hated to do!
It's now 9:53 p.m. My headache is subsiding. Charlie is resting quietly. Egg is ready for bed. And so am I! Tired, exhausted really. Emotionally worn out. Tim's already asleep on the couch. What will Monday bring for us? I'm so happy that I have such lovely friends who care enough about me to not minimize this pet pain Tim and I are having!
So there's my weekend. Wait, I still have another day! Tomorrow will be much more peaceful and quiet. I'll spend some quiet time with Charlie, go to church, enjoy a wedding shower for 2 of my friends, and just relax. Lovely!
P.S. Not sure if this is the kind of thing to blog about. Is this journal material instead? Don't know why I'm throwing this out into the world, but it is somehow cathartic to share this story. So forgive me if this is too personal, too long, too sad. I'll work on happier thoughts! After all, I love this kitty, but I can still say with sincere conviction and belief that I live a rather lovely life, sick kitty or not. So goodnight, and good rest!
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