The Homecoming

This past Monday (2008-12-29), my cat Ozzy needed to be taken to the vet, because it seemed he was unable to control his bladder. Upon taking him to the clinic, the vet told me that his bladder was plugged up, probably by stones, and he need to take blood work, put him under anesthesia, and insert a catheter later that night. So, I didn’t feel too worried when I left him there, for what I thought was a couple days.

That night the vet called me and said the blood work was really bad looking, and that he could be having severe kidney failure. Putting him under anesthesia was risky, even for just the catheter, but there wasn’t any choice. I was told it was possible I could lose Ozzy because the kidneys could be that damaged. The vet called later that night, after the surgery was finished putting the catheter in.

The next morning I went to visit Ozzy, not sure what to expect. Ozzy seemed in pretty good spirits. He was drinking and eating, but it was still wait and see. I had some hope he would make it because he was just so alert, and not lethargic at all, which are signs of renal failure. The next morning the vet called me to say that Ozzy’s blood work was now normal, after just 36 hours. The major hurdle appeared to be over. Next, was surgery to get the stones out of his bladder.

There was a problem with that part, though. The stones had move out of his bladder and into the urethra, which threatened to plug his bladder up even more. The only option was to basically remove the penis part, and build him what is called a “drip board”. That surgery went well, and Ozzy was handling the anesthesia as well as one can expect.

Three days later, I was able to Ozzy home, just this morning. Other than large portions of shaven skin and missing chunks of fat that he lost during the whole ordeal, Ozzy is pretty much back to normal. As soon as I walked into the room where Ozzy was kept, he started meowing. When I didn’t get him immediately, he got a little annoyed and knocked his water dish over and made a mess. That is the Ozzy I’ve always known.

So, the long term prognosis is pretty good. He will probably need to be on a special diet for the rest of his life to prevent stones, and there is still the chance he has a little kidney damage, but at his age (10), he hasn’t had his life expectancy really affected. As I write this post, he is curled up next to my laptop like he always is when I work in my hobby room. He was just as pissy waiting to be fed as he always is. I’m grateful for all the work Dr. Morris and his staff from the Animal Clinic of Kearney did, as well as the updates I received every morning. I appreciate that Dr. Morris was up front in the beginning with the chances of losing Ozzy, because really, the odds at one point weren’t really that good. But Ozzy must be pretty tough and heal well, because he went through everything really well. I’m really glad he’s home.