my cat got sick

TW: intense pet illness

Stein

At the very start of May, we moved to the city to get away from the sweltering heat of my neighborhood.

Naturally, we brought my cat along since no one would take care of him at the house. We hadn't brought his litter box yet -- which, looking back, was a fatal mistake -- since we were busy moving everything else. 

This was the thinking: he was pretty used to doing his business in the bathroom from impromptu hotel visits and the like, so he should be okay for a few moments. When his litter box did come in later that day, we'd bought new litter and set it up in the bathroom. He had a whole space dedicated to his bowel movements.

Everything pretty much went wrong after that. 

He started going to the litter box upwards of three times an hour. We would constantly hear him scratching and peeing in places that were distinctly not his litter box. This went on for a day before I found it really weird. I thought maybe he wasn't used to the space and needed it to be cleaner. 

I bought a new litter scooper after a long day of graduation practice. When I went home, my mom informed me that he really wasn't feeling well and hadn't touched his food or water the entire day. I put my foot down and decided he needed to go to the vet ASAP.  It was around 9PM at this point and every vet in the area was closed, so we went to an animal hospital that was open 24/7 in another city. I was already crying uncontrollably by the time we were at the front desk, so I said something incoherently before the lady told me to sit and wait. 

I'd never seen my cat like that before. He was meowling in pain and I silently cried while waiting for our turn.

They had to drain his bladder with a catheter, but thankfully his kidneys were fine. The doctor said that he was probably stressed out from the move and that he needed to be confined for a while. While they were sedating him, he screamed so loud I started sobbing. 

For a moment I thought that maybe this was all a bad dream. It felt so outlandish that this could happen to him when he was a week away from turning two.

I was scared out of my mind. They showed me his x-ray and you could clearly see his bladder crushing his other organs. I told them to just do whatever it takes to make him feel better. They said that if we hadn't brought him to the vet it would've been really bad. I was, at least, glad that we brought him there in time.

They showed me where he would stay for the next three days. Then I went to pay for the bill. I didn't have any cash on me, so I waited pathetically in the waiting area for my mom to wire me money. 

Then, I went home without my cat.

I was relieved that he would be in the care of actual animal doctors but I was also really scared. In the car, I searched on Reddit for similar cases to my cat's. I fixated on the ones that said their cats turned out okay. 

All the while this was happening, I had a musical. So not only was I in graduation practice, I was also rehearsing for a musical, and being scared out of my mind for my cat. Mentally, I was not in a good place at all. It felt like I was just dragging my body along.

The vet sent updates every day on his condition. They were usually good, but on his supposed day of discharge, Stein ripped his catheter off, earning him another three days in confinement. His next discharge day would be the day of the musical. It truly felt like divine punishment for something. I'm not sure what, but it felt like it.

I hope my director doesn't see this, but one time during rehearsal, I just mentally could not™ so I told him I didn't feel well, then I took a Grab to see my cat. 

In the end, he did get discharged, and I brought him home. 

He looked like a corpse. Honestly. He was cold, and his fur felt lifeless. He tried peeing in the car too. I texted the vet and they said that with the meds we were sent home with, he would feel better again.

my poor boy :(

Thus we started the medicine taking. Stein was pretty docile. He took his meds, he ate his food and drank his water, I constantly monitored his litter box. 

He was doing well for a while, and then after a month, he wasn't.

This time, I brought him to our local vet. Again, he was meowling in pain and I was crying uncontrollably. They let us in after a wait and they immediately admitted him.

Since it was the local vet, I was able to visit him every single day. This mostly stemmed from a text the vet sent saying he didn't have an appetite, and they wanted me to try feeding him to see if he would eat. 

Lo and behold, he did! In fact, he was eating entire cans of cat food. So.....from then on, whenever Stein needed to eat, they would message me, and I would walk to the vet. They put him in a private room and I would feed him. Those were probably the most heartwarming days of my life. 

eating well!!!

This time, when he did get discharged, he looked a lot better.

He felt a lot better as well. I gave him his new medicine and he was up and running everywhere. He also suddenly got a lot more vocal. 

Stein is a quiet cat. Beforehand, you would have never heard him meow except when he was taking a bath. But he started meowing to everything. I absolutely loved hearing him be vocal. After about a month, he stopped meowing at everything, but it's a memory I treasure nonetheless.

So, yeah! Stein is doing really well now. We're back at the neighborhood and he's discovered that he likes playing fetch with a crochet tulip. As I'm writing this, he's asleep on the table next to me. He's still on the urinary s/o diet, but he isn't taking any meds as of right now.

This experience spawned something in me. As someone who isn't overtly religious, God was really who I leaned on during this experience. I started praying. I mean, as a Catholic in the Philippines, we do usually pray every single night, but for me it wasn't really...serious, if you get what I mean. But since Stein got sick, I started praying every. Single. Night. 

I prayed for his health and his happiness and a long life for him. I still do. It's a part of my nightly routine now. Occasionally, I'll throw in a prayer for my own sake like "please help me do well tomorrow", but I never skip a prayer for my cat.

I'm really happy that my cat is healthy now. I would probably do something terrible if ever something happened to him again. Thanks, God!