Biggs' Bladder Battle
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This is the story of Biggs Pawlighter, our furry moral support behind the webcomic, Blue Milk Special. Our cat, Biggs, is the unsung hero behind the creative team, and he's in a battle for his life at the moment. :-(
We got back from the emergency vet clinic at about 2 am. Biggs (our cat, not Biggs Darklighter, his namesake) had been howling in pain on and off since Saturday afternoon. We were really scared and couldn't work out what was causing his dramatic change in behavior. Although he has a wonderfully loving temperament and personalty around us at home, he turns into a wild little demon whenever we step through the door with him at the vet clinics. So bad that he actually savaged our regular vet's hand and the guy had to get it bandaged up. They prescribed gabapentin to help prepare and relax him for future vet visits.
So we gave him one of the tablets with the plan to take him to the only place that was open on Saturday, which was the emergency clinic. However, he seemed to be doing a lot better on the drug and slept most of the afternoon and evening. Our hand was forced when we finally started to get a clue what was wrong. We noticed he was constantly licking at his privates, which confirmed our suspicion he was having some sort of trouble going to the bathroom. Which was a potentially fatal situation for him.
And, indeed, that's what it turned out to be. He has a urinary tract blockage. Basically it has swollen up so big that he can't do anything in the litter tray. He is obviously in a mighty level of pain. According to our doctor brother-in-law, the male cat's penis is the worst invention in all of nature. Super prone to these sorts of things. You learn something new everyday. Cat penises are bad!
The vets confirmed the urinary tract blockage and put a catheter in him. Leanne called them this afternoon and the nurse said that he's a lot calmer now because he's on pain meds which is keeping him less stressed and manageable. However, he has been working his way out of the cone around his head to protect him from pulling the catheter out, which he has managed to do already. He's too clever and determined for his own good.
Right now they're waiting for his urine to clear of blood so they can take the catheter out and give him antibiotics. The doctor said once that's done he can be discharged and they'll give us a prescription for special food he will have to be on for the rest of his life which should prevent that from happening again. If we chose not to give him this prescription diet, then it is much more likely the urinary blockage would occur again. Future options would be to basically change his plumbing so that he no longer uses his male cat bits to pee and does it all via the backdoor exit. A major op in terms of cost, no doubt. So we prefer the idea of the diet and we're sure Biggs does too.
Biggs should come out of this fine, we hope. Provided things don't somehow deteriorate, and there aren't any other issues. But the house is lonely, and there's always that fear that something could still go wrong.
Unfortunately, the worst case estimate for the costs of what it has taken to save Biggs' life, has come to pass. He will have to stay for a second day under observation and hooked up to a different catheter. All up, it will be $2500 dollars. We could almost buy our own ship for that! And I'd pilot it. I'm not such a bad pilot myself. Anyway, I was floored. So I'm opening up a GoFundMe campaign called Biggs' Bladder Battle. If anyone is able to contribute, it will be of great help to us in weathering this unexpected family crisis. Any little bit would help. If you can donate more than $20 we will send you a signed BMS postcard. Make sure to include your mailing address.
So, we're very tired, very broke, and very worried about the little guy. When we left him he was not happy and was struggling with his medical hook ups. He's the furry moral support behind Blue Milk Special. The unsung hero. :-/
We need your help and Biggs needs our help. Urgently. :-/
I will post updates and pictures as soon as I can.
We got back from the emergency vet clinic at about 2 am. Biggs (our cat, not Biggs Darklighter, his namesake) had been howling in pain on and off since Saturday afternoon. We were really scared and couldn't work out what was causing his dramatic change in behavior. Although he has a wonderfully loving temperament and personalty around us at home, he turns into a wild little demon whenever we step through the door with him at the vet clinics. So bad that he actually savaged our regular vet's hand and the guy had to get it bandaged up. They prescribed gabapentin to help prepare and relax him for future vet visits.
So we gave him one of the tablets with the plan to take him to the only place that was open on Saturday, which was the emergency clinic. However, he seemed to be doing a lot better on the drug and slept most of the afternoon and evening. Our hand was forced when we finally started to get a clue what was wrong. We noticed he was constantly licking at his privates, which confirmed our suspicion he was having some sort of trouble going to the bathroom. Which was a potentially fatal situation for him.
And, indeed, that's what it turned out to be. He has a urinary tract blockage. Basically it has swollen up so big that he can't do anything in the litter tray. He is obviously in a mighty level of pain. According to our doctor brother-in-law, the male cat's penis is the worst invention in all of nature. Super prone to these sorts of things. You learn something new everyday. Cat penises are bad!
The vets confirmed the urinary tract blockage and put a catheter in him. Leanne called them this afternoon and the nurse said that he's a lot calmer now because he's on pain meds which is keeping him less stressed and manageable. However, he has been working his way out of the cone around his head to protect him from pulling the catheter out, which he has managed to do already. He's too clever and determined for his own good.
Right now they're waiting for his urine to clear of blood so they can take the catheter out and give him antibiotics. The doctor said once that's done he can be discharged and they'll give us a prescription for special food he will have to be on for the rest of his life which should prevent that from happening again. If we chose not to give him this prescription diet, then it is much more likely the urinary blockage would occur again. Future options would be to basically change his plumbing so that he no longer uses his male cat bits to pee and does it all via the backdoor exit. A major op in terms of cost, no doubt. So we prefer the idea of the diet and we're sure Biggs does too.
Biggs should come out of this fine, we hope. Provided things don't somehow deteriorate, and there aren't any other issues. But the house is lonely, and there's always that fear that something could still go wrong.
Unfortunately, the worst case estimate for the costs of what it has taken to save Biggs' life, has come to pass. He will have to stay for a second day under observation and hooked up to a different catheter. All up, it will be $2500 dollars. We could almost buy our own ship for that! And I'd pilot it. I'm not such a bad pilot myself. Anyway, I was floored. So I'm opening up a GoFundMe campaign called Biggs' Bladder Battle. If anyone is able to contribute, it will be of great help to us in weathering this unexpected family crisis. Any little bit would help. If you can donate more than $20 we will send you a signed BMS postcard. Make sure to include your mailing address.
So, we're very tired, very broke, and very worried about the little guy. When we left him he was not happy and was struggling with his medical hook ups. He's the furry moral support behind Blue Milk Special. The unsung hero. :-/
We need your help and Biggs needs our help. Urgently. :-/
I will post updates and pictures as soon as I can.
Organizer
Rod William Hannah
Organizer
Bennsville, MD