Both my cats will be 18 in April, and one of them is prone to respiratory infections. Yesterday morning, he quit eating and drinking, and he had bright yellow snot around his nose. Thankfully, he already had a vet appointment scheduled for an infected claw, and he'd been on Interferon for a week because I could tell he was getting a cold (my vet always gives me extra to keep in my freezer, specifically for these occasions). With his paw, it looks like maybe he got one claw stuck on something and partially ripped out the nail, and it got infected at the base.
Anytime he gets sick in the winter is usually incredibly stressful, because, for various reasons, I can't take him to the vet myself. There's really only one person who can drive me, and we have to fit in vet appointments around her work schedule.
My old boy is now on two antibiotics, has ointment for his paw, and is sleeping peacefully in bed next to me.
However, my other cat is now having problems. He's thrown up everything he's eaten this morning. He's tried to use the litter box twice; as much as he strained, he couldn't go the first time, and he barely pooped out a little nugget the second time. He's acting kind of strange, not really hanging out in my room much and lying down in places he normally doesn't. He finally came in and fell asleep on my bed about ten minutes ago.
I'm worried it's an intestinal blockage. I don't know what else it could be, but I can't do really do anything until I have a ride. So, I'll most likely have to take him to an emergency animal hospital. He's drinking water on his own, and I've been giving him Pedialyte to keep his electrolytes from tanking. That's about all I can do on my own, though.
Not going to lie, I'm fucking dreading the bill. I know you're supposed to have money aside for your pets' medical care. They're your responsibility, and you shouldn't take them in if you can't afford to take care of them. But I never expected to need $5k set aside for this.
Update: Sick kitty #2 is currently staying overnight at the emergency vet. It was an intestinal blockage, but it's not huge. He won't need surgery to fix it. The vet isn't sure what caused it in the first place, though.
In other news, they found he might have some kind of asthma or chronic bronchitis. They also found a small nodule in his lung on one of the x-rays, but only in one view. Since they were taking x-rays of his abdomen, it wasn't set to get clear pictures of his lungs. So, they're going to take more tonight to check. It might be nothing. We'll have to wait and see.
$1,500 spent so far. They needed 60% of the max estimated total cost before they would keep him overnight. Still not cheap, but fuck it, I'll take it. The little guy is still drawing breath. That's all I care about right now.
