[googley]

Charlie seems "off". He isn't eating tonight. He didn't eat all his food this morning. He hasn't been moving around as much. He just seems and looks "off". When do I take him to the emergency vet? I was thinking to wait till tomorrow morning and see how he is doing. I don't want to over react, but I don't want to miss something that is important. Advice?

Hi. You know Charlie better than anyone else. You must be worried about him otherwise you wouldn't have posted. Go with your gut. Does Charlie need some help? If so, then call the vet. Good luck. Our animals are so precious. They deserve the best. Let me know how Charlie is. Xxx

[googley]

So I took Charlie to the emergency vet last night. And it is a good thing I did. He was blocked. They worked on him over night, but apparently he has some genetic abnormalities that made it so that they weren't able to do everything (but were able to empty the bladder). So they are going to get him stable today before trying again. Prayers for Charlie please.

[Fresia]

Glad you took him and he his getting such good care. Hoping he recovers soon and is on the mend. Hang in there. ((((((Googley & Charlie))))))

[lizardlady]

{*{*{*{*Googley*}*}*}*}

{*{*{*{*Charlie*}*}*}*}

I agree with JoBo, trust your gut. I once took one of my cats to the vet and said I thought something was wrong even though his only symptom was that he was grumpy. He was normally a sweet tempered boy. The vet praised me for bringing him in saying I knew my boy better than anyone else. Turned out he had a raging infection and a temp of 103.5!

Good for you for taking Charlie to the vet.Urinary tract blockages are nothing to fool with. They can make the kitty very sick.

[googley]

I'm waiting to hear from the vet to find out if they can get the catheter in without surgery. They said they would contact me after he is stable and they can evaluate him again. I am so worried about him.

[googley]

Charlie is having surgery to place a catheter. I wish they had told me before they started. They were supposed to call me when they decided if they were going to try to anesthetize him and try that way (which apparently they already did today) and then again if they were going to do surgery. But they didn't call me either time. A doctor called me back after I called them to check in and found out he was in surgery. At least this time they said his heart is doing better. I'm so worried about Charlie.

[Mindful55]

My heart goes out to you googley (( ))...Charlie is in good hands.

Positive vibes going out to you..take care.

Sent from my SPH-L720T using Tapatalk

[lizardlady]

Googley, how is he doing?

[Nammu]

[googley]

I only have a minute, so I will update more tomorrow. But he came home today. He has a cone on. He hates it and keeps running into things. He isn't eating any food yet, but they said I don't need to worry til tomorrow afternoon. Chloe seems scared of him even though he was only gone a couple days. Thx for all the support. I'll fill in more details tomorrow.

[Nammu]

I'm so glad you got to bring him home, home is always better.

[shezbut]

Those dang cones. I always felt SO BAD when our guys were wearing them!!

Gentle hugs to you and your loved ones!

Hope Charlie recovers well and learns to tolerate his satellite dish..

Hi again googley. How is Charlie doing? Give him hugs & kisses. Xxx

I hope your cat is ok and will be able to urinate with confidence before you know it.

[lizardlady]

The dreaded cone made me think of this pic.

[googley]

Okay, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that Charlie is okay and the vet says there doesn't seem to be any complications from the surgery. The bad news is that Charlie still wasn't eating or drinking tonight when I got home and so it was back to the vet for him this evening.

He is going to spend another night there with them so they can rehydrate him and get him eating again. I will pick him up tomorrow night. He was very lethargic today and still not eating or drinking so I took him in to get checked out again. The vet was so so so wonderful. She listened to me talk about Charlie and assured me that they would get him eating again. She said that it was probably the nausea from the antibiotic and that his bowls are slowed down from the surgery. She said that they are going to feed him every 2 hours to get that going again.

Trigger warning-euthanasia discussed.

I was so worried today to the point of bawling that there might be something seriously wrong with him. I couldn't even get him to eat from syringe feeding. I was so scared because the cost of the surgery this weekend was in the thousands and is wiping out all of my savings plus a lot. I don't have any more money to spend on him. I know it sounds awful to say that. But if he had required another surgery I would have had to give him up. The vet agreed with me that the local humane society would have euthanized him had I returned him to them as he would not be seen as adoptable. I would have tried to find a true no kill shelter for him to live in, but the idea of even giving him up was crushing me even if I had known that he was going to a true no kill shelter. And that was just causing unbearable pain for me. I was balling at the thought. He and his sister Chloe really are my family even though they are my pets. But luckily he was okay and just needs a little more stabilization. I was so distraught today and I still had to go to work.

In the end it was okay and he is just spending one more night away, but today was a total roller coaster. I just wanted to thank the vet (and I did) so much for all their help. Every time I called with questions and concerns they were wonderful to answer them for me and help me through this. I just wanted to hug her. This is the first time I've had to deal with anything more serious than Chloe's ear infection and the biggest thing about that was chasing her around my apartment so that I could grab her to put the ear drops in, and she even got used to that (not happy, but used to it). Charlie will be able to have his staples out in about 11-13 days.

Thank you everyone for your support and for asking about Charlie. It means so much to me to have this community where people are and are supportive and want to make sure we are both okay.

Thank you for the update, its good that he'll be ok

Do you not have pet insurance, googley? .

[lizardlady]

Googley I understand about not being able to afford more major care. Have faced that multiple times myself. I was lucky that I dealt with vets who would take small payments until I paid off the bill. Have you heard of Care Credit? It's a no interest credit card to pay for vet and medical expenses. Maybe you could pay Charlie's bill that way and pay the card off a little each month?

Am thinking of you and Charlie.

[googley]

IT: no I don't have pet insurance. I will look into getting it after this experience. LL: I am using the care credit, but the one they use there is for 6 months. And I still don't have that much money coming in to be able to pay any more than what i have right now on it as things are pretty tight over all. That is how I am paying for what happened over the weekend.

Update: Charlie is still at the vet. He is not peeing so it is an issue. They are going to catheterize him again to see what is going on. I told him when I went to see him today that he really does need to pee.

[Nammu]

for both of you. Give Charlie an extra from Sir( my cat)

[UnderRugSwept]

Googley,

I wanted to send you and Charlie hugs (I just read the thread). My oldest cat has been blocked before and has had 2 surgeries to remove bladder stones, and ultimately a perineal urethrostomy. It's all so stressful. I hope Charlie recovers very soon!!

Oh no..hope Charlie tinkles on his own soon