This is one of my cats. Her name is T.C. (unimaginatively named The Cat) she has been sick as of late. This story might get a bit rough and quite long, please bear with me.
I got her around 10 years ago. That day in the shelter was strange. The girlfriend I had at the time was insisting on me having a cat and I really wasn't into the whole idea. I relented and went with her to a shelter to pick up a cat she was already getting and she was kind of a weird animal hoarding type. So there was a major push to get one. She already had 5 cats at her house.
I looked unimpressed and reluctant to even be there. This was when I saw this little scrappy kitten. Barely 2 months old totally no selling the little kids shuffling by. She was cute but unfriendly to everyone. Then I walked by the cage. She stood up, marched over and climbed on the gate. Taking a swipe at my leg to get my attention. She made loud noises and wouldn't let me walk away. Se seemed oddly smarter than most cats. Kind of picking me instead of the other way around.
I broke up with the girl long after, the one constant was this cat. I later got another cat who is a polar opposite. TC is an insanely smart one. Even when the other cat got cancer at 3 years old, it was TC who helped nurse the other one back to health after massive surgeries. Insanely loyal, follows me around the house. All around awesome.
The other day she got extremely lethargic. Vomiting twice. She stopped following me around. Wobbling when she walked. Taken to not moving much at all. I fear the worst. So I took her to the vet.
For one, every time I've gone to the vet it's been an insane cash grab for them. As soon as we got in and they barely looked at her they start talking cancer and heart issues and bad kidneys. If this were a human child (not really equating the two) and you take them to the doctor with a tummy ache, they don't immediately start talking cancer without tests. The doctor unloaded every bad situation. Then had a lady come in with a list of charges. Breaking us down. I fortunately took an unrelated party to this to stay objective, I suggest this should you ever go to a vet, or make funeral arrangements, anything really.
The doctor squeezed at her belly hard first it was obvious checking to feel things. Then hard enough to make her scream and get stressed enough to open mouth pant. Then checking her heart say its abnormal. I leave her for tests because I had no other choice. Charging me $500 right off the bat.
He called me later telling me he wants to do an additional $400 ultrasound. I told him that the blood and urine tests need to be run and we will decide only if those tests warrant it. I don't have a job, I have nearly nothing in the bank. So trying to charge me for shit I didn't ask for was bullshit.
He says there may be a mass near her intestines. So I requested when we pick TC up that I look at the X-ray films. Now unbeknownst to him I know how to read an X-ray. I don't know everything and I'm the first to admit this. My father, back in the days working with him liked to show me how things worked and how to read things. He was a biomedical engineer. He ran an independent business installing MRI and X-ray machines. I worked on a tear down of an old X-ray machine and taught me damn near everything about that machine as I tore it apart. He found some films and went over them. Showing me how cancer looks on one. How anomalies look. This came up when my other cat got cancer, the vet that time didn't spot the tumor on her heart. I did. Sure enough it was what I thought it was. So I'm not an idiot.
He put the films up and he started pointing at things. Which were nothing. Her lungs were fine. Her heart was fine. Only thing odd was her intestines but no masses at all. I pointed this out and mentioned that she hasn't evacuated feces in a number of days. Which could account for the odd slight shadow on the X-ray. He then dropped his assumption. There could always be cancer there, but it doesn't appear on 2 films.
He then said that it looks non life threatening as far as the X-ray goes. Now I'm waiting on the bloodworm to come back.
The short story is that she is anemic, dehydrated. No heart issue. Possibly kidney failure, but might just be infection. I'll know the rest tomorrow. She isn't out of the woods yet. I might have to make a horrible decision.
Which is hard. TC has been a loyal friend. To think of losing her is hard. I don't think of her as a child, but she stuck with me through many bad things. She helped nurse the other cat back to health. She consoled in times of crisis. When my father died she didn't leave my side (even when that same ex tried to profit off my misfortune.) so I feel I owe to to her to do everything I can to help her.
Problem is, broke with no job prospects thus far. So I'm trying to raise funds through commissions. So if you need website stuff, book or album covers, even simple sketches. I need the work and can use the help. I don't want charity, I will work for it.
Even if worse comes to worse I can't even afford to properly end her pain, I'm looking into alternatives but nothing yet.
I know in the grand scheme of things this is minor to most. First world asshole problem. I get it and I'm sure I'll catch shit over it.
If this falls on mostly deaf ears, at least take my advice. If you end up with a sick pet or dead relative or any unfortunate situation, take someone who isn't invested in the situation to keep things objective. If you go in with raging emotions the bastards will take advantage every time.
Thanks, and sorry I'm long winded. Hopefully I get good news.
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