state of the kitten

Those of you who follow me on twitter will know we rushed Huey to the catmergency room on Sunday. His back legs stopped working & they confirmed a blood clot, and recommended euthanasia. HELL NO! we said, and he’s home now and resting.

This is a cat who adopted me. He “belonged” to my neighbors, who named him & basically turned him loose. Right before I moved into an apartment in Oakland (4 years ago) my landlady had him fixed because he was establishing his reign of cat king over her cats in her backyard. 6 months old then, he was lanky and feisty, but we bonded right away and he turned my tiny bathroom window into his own personal cat door in and out of my apartment.

& then, the neighbors moved away, and took Huey with them. A week and a half later, I heard a crying at my back door. It was pouring rain, and when I opened the door Huey ran in, went straight to the trash can and started eating old popcorn out of it. He looked like he’d lost about a 3rd of his body weight. He’d walked god even knows how far, for a WEEK AND A HALF, to get back to my apartment. So that settled it.

Sunday night, the situation did not look good. Cats who survive the first 24 hours of a clot usually only live about 2-6 months after – it’s usually caused by severe heart disease and by the time clots are being made, it’s bad news. As it turns out, Huey has a heart defect, something the doctor had never seen before, and his heart was healthier than they expected. They also told us he is the strongest/best acting cat they’d ever seen with this issue. As of this morning, he’s already trying to propel himself around and regaining movement in his back legs. So. We are super hopeful and guardedly optimistic that he has a little more time with us, at least. We’ll see how the kitten rehab goes. According to the internet, the people who did not listen to the vet and euthanize had good luck getting their cats walking again.

In all of this, Sean has basically been the best kitten dad EVER. Pill feeding, bladder squeezing (ew) & general all around calmness while I burst into tears watching Huey hop-drag himself around. I am crap with this stuff, and he is a champ. I think about all the health stuff my parents went through with my brother, who was really sick as a baby, and it boggles my mind that people are strong enough to handle everything life throws at them.

And now I’ve written a really long blog post about my cat, securing my crazy cat lady status for all eternity! Cats!

Drawing by Holly Bobisuthi

 

15 Comments

  1. sending big prayers for Huey. My dad’s dog people keep giving him shit for saying put her down because she has kinda a lame hip but it doesn’t seem to really bother her. So he just started these laser treatments and it has GREATLY improved her mobility in three sessions. He said they are $32. a visit. I don’t know if this is the kind of thing that might help Huey?

  2. Pets in pain are just the saddest thing, I hate how helpless you feel in that situation. I’m the same way, when my cat was very ill, I decided I would pretty much do anything humanly possible to save him, and we pretty much went broke at the time from paying for his vet bills, but it was more than worth it. Huey is so lucky to have you, and what an amazing story about him walking all that way to get to you! I really really hope he continues to get better. I saw on instagram that your other cat was having problems too, I hope he’s okay!

    1. Yep, Little Cat (he has like 20 names but we can’t stop calling him Little Cat, or Leetle Kit) is better today.

      Huey is also a TOTAL CHAMP. The vet called this afternoon and I’m like “yeah whatevs he just walked over to the (very low) window on his back kitten knuckles and dragged himself up. Also he went to the litter box alone” and they were all “!!!!! WTF!”

      So I’m really really hoping he’s going to rally and get a lot more movement back in his legs. He’ll be on meds forever that are about $80/month, but yeah. I can eat less cheese so the cat has a fighting chance.

      1. It’s great to hear that Huey and Little Cat are both doing better! I know, we have to buy Lily this fancy pants food that you can only buy at the vet’s for like $60 a bag for the rest of life, but it’s like, oh well, it’s worth it! Oh and sorry about accidentally posting my comment twice before, I hate when that happens.

  3. Oh no! Sending good energy toward your sweet kitty.

    I’ve had so much cat/vet drama this year, so I know how you feel. At one point, I couldn’t sleep for more than two hours, just because I was so anxious for her and every noise in the apartment woke me up. I just had to go check on her.

    <3 C'mon Huey!

  4. Oh, I am SO happy to hear this. I never knew this story and thank you for sharing it with us. What an awesome cat — I’ve always thought the best ones know how to find the best owners. Cats are so smart.

    Get better Huey! xoxo

  5. I really hope the little guy will be ok. Our little Casper has just started on heart medication, he’s had sinus and respiratory problems for a year. It’s really hard when your cat is unwell. Well done for sticking by him and trusting your gut instinct. x

  6. Serious blessings for not giving up on him… I can’t believe he made his way back to you. Every pet should be loved like this.

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