September 7th 2006 2:52 pm
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After a few days of being scarce, I finally thought, "You know, I think Milphey is sick." Now, sometimes he would hide if Muffin was picking on him, but he's spent most of the time just lying around. He didn't even care that Muffin was in the room He won't even purr if you pet him and he purrs when he just looks at you!

So I wasted no time and took him to the vet today hoping it was something minor like the flu. It isn't. He has a blockage. Evidentally that happens with male cats once in awhile. Their urine crystalizes and gets all sludgy and it blocks the urethra since the urethra is so small. The bladder then gets big and hard and if left alone can back up into the kidneys and cause kidney failure. No one really knows why this happens, but it's a disease called....something. At its least severe it can only pee a little bit in spurts and at its worse it blocks entirely and the bladder becomes hard like an orange.

Well, the vet says it was good he came today and we got it in time because a few days ago they got a 10 year old cat that they waited over the weekend to bring the cat in Monday and by that time it was too late and the kitty was in kidney failure. Milphey has to stay overnight. They are going to stick a catheter in him, drain his bladder, give him fluids because he's dehydrated, and make sure that sludge is gone. Then they keep him a day to make sure that the blockage doesn't come back right away and to make sure he has antiotics so he doesnt' get an infection.

Now, sometimes this happens and the cat never has another blockage ever. Milphey is 4 years old and has never had a problem. However, in some cats they'll get it again a month later, a year later. It all depends. Therefore, Milphey is going to have to be on a special diet they say really helps make sure it doesn't reoccur. He also will need to eat canned food at least once a day for moisture to help with the rehydration. I was sent home with the assurance that they would call me when he was waking up.

So, they just called me and said that Milphey is waking up. He's doing all right. There was a lot of blood in his urine so it was a good thing that I came when I did. I am so relieved and so proud of myself that I didn't ignore kitty signs. This is just a rule to everyone that if your kitty is feeling bad, it is NOT a good idea to wait to see if it will clear up on its own. That wait could mean death for your kitty!

Here's hoping Milphey can come back home tomorrow.