Well, this is the 3rd time I've written in this forum since yesterday and it never seems to be for a positive reason. I wrote earlier talking about my oldest cat Sox who I love dearly, who has an eye problem (or so we think), but now its on to another one of my cats. As I've mentioned before, I own 4 cats, ages 6-12. All of whom are unbelievably great pets and are hilarious on a daily basis. However, the youngest of the group, Simon, may have to be put down.
Its such a shame. We think he may have bladder stones again, and I say again because he had them 2 years ago. It can be with some cats a very serious and re-occuring problem as we are finding out. We noticed he was peeing outside his litter box (this was 2 years ago) and as we all know, cats wont and dont like to do that unless of course, something is wrong. So, we got him checked out, thinking it was a UTI. Well, low and behold, it was bladder stones. The vet informed us that he needed them out A.S.A.P, as they could form a blockage that would not allow him to urinate, something he could die from. Realizing the seriousness of this problem, we agreed to have the surgury. Before we did that, the vet also informed us that there are two kinds of bladders stones. I'm not remembering the technical terms, but basically, theres a "good" kind and a "bad" kind. The good kind could be surgically removed and would probably never come back, the second kind had a 50/50 chance of re-occuring. Not fun.
The vet then told us that JUST for the surgury it would cost $1000. Something we werent willing to spend. So the option was to then put him down. I couldnt bear to do that to a 4 yr old cat who was once a street kitty. (he followed me home after a i went for a walk and never left my front porch)
So, I called around to some other vets and found a good deal. $600 for the surgury, anti-biotics, and testing of the stones to see what kind they were, etc. So, the surgury was done and Simon was once again back to his normal self and urinating in his litter box. Some discomfort followed the surgury obviously with stitches along his entire belly. He got better though.
We also found out through the testing, he had the "bad" stones. Not good news. But up until now, he was fine...no bladder stones. We thought we lucked out thinking he'd never get them back.
However, for the past little while we've noticed him peeing outside the litter box. Not good news either. As we havent taken him to the vet yet, we are discussing which path to go down. We can spend the $600 AGAIN....make him have the surgury AGAIN and wait until they come back AGAIN some years later to do it all over again....OR, just put him down. So far, everyone has opted for putting him down, not that they really want to. I certainly dont want to. But can we really keep spending $600 every 2 years? and even worse, can we keep putting him through surgury after surgury? What kind of life is that for a cat?
So...I feel as though I'm at a loss no matter what route I take. I would much rather get him the surgury then put him to sleep. I've never in my life had to do that yet or even experienced a death of a pet. So I'm not sure how I'll deal with this if that's the conclusion we come to.
Simon is a wonderful cat - he's a 6 yr. old Bombay cat, (he pretty much looks like a panther, all black...shiny fur, thick too...big nose...big ears...big green eyes...well, he's just a BIG cat all around - he also weighs in at 20-22 pounds! He's not all fat though, he's a big boy...lots of muscle) He's our gentle giant, intimidating on the outside but an affectionate suck on the inside. *sighs* This is so sad for me and the rest of my family. Our 4 cats have made such an impact in our lives, it'd be weird to only have 3.
It's odd, we have 2 boys (sox and simon) and 2 girls (tabitha and molly)....only the boys have had health related issues...never the girls though. I wonder if this is common? Probably not. But, it seems to be that way for us. Anyway, I guess this is pretty long...I just needed to get my thoughts out.
Thanks to whoever read this
Its such a shame. We think he may have bladder stones again, and I say again because he had them 2 years ago. It can be with some cats a very serious and re-occuring problem as we are finding out. We noticed he was peeing outside his litter box (this was 2 years ago) and as we all know, cats wont and dont like to do that unless of course, something is wrong. So, we got him checked out, thinking it was a UTI. Well, low and behold, it was bladder stones. The vet informed us that he needed them out A.S.A.P, as they could form a blockage that would not allow him to urinate, something he could die from. Realizing the seriousness of this problem, we agreed to have the surgury. Before we did that, the vet also informed us that there are two kinds of bladders stones. I'm not remembering the technical terms, but basically, theres a "good" kind and a "bad" kind. The good kind could be surgically removed and would probably never come back, the second kind had a 50/50 chance of re-occuring. Not fun.
The vet then told us that JUST for the surgury it would cost $1000. Something we werent willing to spend. So the option was to then put him down. I couldnt bear to do that to a 4 yr old cat who was once a street kitty. (he followed me home after a i went for a walk and never left my front porch)
So, I called around to some other vets and found a good deal. $600 for the surgury, anti-biotics, and testing of the stones to see what kind they were, etc. So, the surgury was done and Simon was once again back to his normal self and urinating in his litter box. Some discomfort followed the surgury obviously with stitches along his entire belly. He got better though.
We also found out through the testing, he had the "bad" stones. Not good news. But up until now, he was fine...no bladder stones. We thought we lucked out thinking he'd never get them back.
However, for the past little while we've noticed him peeing outside the litter box. Not good news either. As we havent taken him to the vet yet, we are discussing which path to go down. We can spend the $600 AGAIN....make him have the surgury AGAIN and wait until they come back AGAIN some years later to do it all over again....OR, just put him down. So far, everyone has opted for putting him down, not that they really want to. I certainly dont want to. But can we really keep spending $600 every 2 years? and even worse, can we keep putting him through surgury after surgury? What kind of life is that for a cat?
So...I feel as though I'm at a loss no matter what route I take. I would much rather get him the surgury then put him to sleep. I've never in my life had to do that yet or even experienced a death of a pet. So I'm not sure how I'll deal with this if that's the conclusion we come to.
Simon is a wonderful cat - he's a 6 yr. old Bombay cat, (he pretty much looks like a panther, all black...shiny fur, thick too...big nose...big ears...big green eyes...well, he's just a BIG cat all around - he also weighs in at 20-22 pounds! He's not all fat though, he's a big boy...lots of muscle) He's our gentle giant, intimidating on the outside but an affectionate suck on the inside. *sighs* This is so sad for me and the rest of my family. Our 4 cats have made such an impact in our lives, it'd be weird to only have 3.
It's odd, we have 2 boys (sox and simon) and 2 girls (tabitha and molly)....only the boys have had health related issues...never the girls though. I wonder if this is common? Probably not. But, it seems to be that way for us. Anyway, I guess this is pretty long...I just needed to get my thoughts out.
Thanks to whoever read this
