OK, folks, I am at my wit's end - sleep deprived, worried, frustrated.
As if Billy's tooth infection, Pretty's lameness, BooBoo's UTI, and Mew's overgrooming weren't enough, on Saturday Phantom started acting "off". Unlike a "normal" cat, Phantom typically spends most of the daylight hours hanging low under a piece of furniture. On Saturday, however, he chose to spend most of the day on the couch with me. He was eating fine and not acting sickly or in pain, but the fact that he was wanting to be so exposed was odd. By Saturday night, I was beginning to suspect that he may be becoming blocked (he blocked once a couple of years ago), so I decided I'd better not wait and should take him to the vet Sat night as an emergency. Of course my vet was out of town once again and didn't have anyone covering his clinic for after hours emergencies, so I was going to have to bite the bullet and take Phantom to a clinic that I absolutely ABHOR with vets I can't stand.
For those of you who don't remember Phantom or didn't read the story of the Three Mouseketeers back in 2005 when they first showed up, Phantom was VERY feral when he arrived. It took about 4 mos before I was able to touch him after his capture. These days, Phantom is an exceptionally loving boy, BUT he is still feral at heart and very timid and spooky by nature. He's fine as long as he is the one to approach me, but he will still run 99% of the time when I try to approach him. So you can imagine how easy it was to get him into a carrier to take him to the vet.
Or maybe you can't imagine me spending a couple of hours late Sat night, following him around the house, using a broom to push him out from under furniture, actually managing to get a hand on him once or twice only to have him rip himself out of my grip, until I finally gave up in utter exhaustion and exasperation, then waking up every couple of hours to make sure he was still alive and to try again to catch him ... unsuccessfully. Sunday morning Phantom went into the guest bedroom for breakfast, and I was able to sit on the floor and coax him over for some loving, as long as I didn't try to restrain him in any way. I had observed that he was still able to pass a few drops of urine at a time, so I knew he wasn't completely blocked. I opted to watch him to make sure he was still passing a little urine so that I could hopefully wait until Monday to take him to my regular clinic.
Monday morning Phantom came into the guest bedroom for breakfast again, and again I sat on the floor and tried to make nice with him to rebuild his trust. I even managed to get a shot of penicillin into him. I saw then that his urine drops were pink-tinged. Monday night he started growling while trying to pass urine, so I knew his condition was deteriorating. Still, he was able to pass drops, and he was still eating, so I knew he wasn't in critical condition. Every time I looked at him, he ran, so I knew I wasn't going to get my hands on him again.
By Tues morning, I was almost hoping Phantom would be comatose so I could catch him and rush him to the vet, but no such luck. He was still fully alert and on the defensive - so much so that he wouldn't even come into the guest bedroom for breakfast. His hunger finally got the best of him, however, and I did wrangle him into the bedroom to eat. I sat and petted him and got another shot of penicillin into him. I also noticed that his urine drops had now turned very bloody. But again, he was still able to pass drops, and he was still eating. I had an appt for Billy on Wed for routine bloodwork, so I decided to give Phantom until then to try to relax with me before making another attempt to get him into a carrier to go to the vet with me and Billy.
That was a mistake. By Tues afternoon Phantom had stopped passing urine, though he was constantly straining in the attempt and growling each time he tried. I was sure he had finally completely blocked, though the doggone cat was still eating! I tried all Tues afternoon and late into the night to get him into the carrier without success. On Wed. morning Phantom finally refused to even consider eating breakfast, and he wouldn't go anywhere near the guest bedroom where I would at least have the slightest chance of cornering him.
It was day 5 after he started showing symptoms of partial blockage, and I could NOT wait any longer. I HAD to get him in that crate! I shooed him out from under the couch with my trusty broom and immediately blocked off access to the couch again by stacking boxes and books all around it. I chased him out from under a few other smaller pieces of furniture until he was in such a panic that he raced into my office. I shut the door before he realized he had trapped himself. I grabbed a carrier and carefully entered the office. Two or three other cats were in there, also, so I had to remove them. Then I resolved that I wasn't leaving that room until SOMEONE was in the crate! After some mad dashing and evasion tactics around the room, I finally cornered Phantom on top of my file cabinets. I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, he curled up stiff as a board with eyes as big as dinner plates, and I finally shoved his terrified little butt into the carrier.
A 40 min car trip over snowy, slippery roads delivered him to the vet where he was sedated, catheterized, and flushed. NO blockage, NO crystals, NO mucous plug. He did have some inflammation and both white and red blood cells in the urinalysis, and the vet suspected muscle spasms in the urethra along with a probable UTI. They gave him a Baytril shot and pumped him full of fluids. They also sent me home with additional "chewable" Baytril tabs which, with any luck at all, Phantom will eat on his own. The most important instruction, however, was to try to get more fluids into him to help flush out his system. Yeah, right. This cat is not going to let me get anywhere near him. Not now, and who knows when!
At least he did eat his dinner last night and his breakfast this morning, but he wouldn't touch either until at least an hour after I left the room. The vet said that urinary spasms are usually the result of stress, and Phantom is UBER stressed right now. I have him restricted to the master bedroom/bathroom so that I can monitor his urine output, but the restriction is scaring him to death. If I let him out of the bedroom, he might be able to relax a bit in the rest of the house, but I won't be able to monitor his urine output, and I don't know how I'll be able to feed him. He's so spooked now that he will NOT enter a bedroom on his own to be fed, and I can't leave food out for him with the other 14 cats lurking around, ready to steal whatever food they can find. And of course if he's out of the bedroom, there's zero possibility that I could get him to take his antibiotics.
I just don't know what to do for my boy. He's so stressed in the master bedroom that it's likely to make his urinary spasms worse, but letting him out makes monitoring his condition, feeding him, and medicating him all but impossible right now.
I almost wish he had been plugged. At least then the blockage could have been cleared, and he'd be feeling better. It seems like I can't do anything but makes things worse for him right now. If this had happened to any cat BUT Phantom, we wouldn't be having these problems. Phantom's in survival, self-preservation mode right now, and there's nothing I can do to help him.
I need a hug.
Laurie
