I am soooo worried

[lotsocats]

As I was driving to Nashville last night to take my husband to the airport (its a 3 hour drive), I began thinking about some odd behavior Nathan (the formerly mean feral I've been caring for) has been exhibiting over the past week. As I sat there driving, I put two and two together and realized that I think his urinary tract is blocked (which is odd because he is less than a year old). Of course I became very worried and panicked, but drove on to Nashville. Well, my husband had to be at the airport at 5:30 a.m. so we stayed in a hotel. I was freaking the whole time and couldn't sleep because I was worried about Nathan. I should have just left my husband there and come back home, but he will be out of the country for a month, so I felt torn about just leaving him there. So....as soon as I dropped hubby off at the airport at 5:30 this morning I high-tailed it back to Kentucky and was home by 8:30. But, now I can't find Nathan. He always stays in the back yard, but he is not here. To top it off, there was a big storm last night. So, I have this mental image of Nathan hiding somewhere unconscious and dying. I can't find him anywhere.

I am hoping I am being a big worry-wort and that I'll be kicking myself for rushing home rather than keeping an appointment I had in Nashville.

Please send your healing and come home thoughts to Nathan (and your calm down thoughts to me).

 

[nora]

Oh, I hope you find Nathan. Sending my prayers your way.

 

[lotsocats]

Thanks Nora!

Here is my old thread about Nathan when he was such a trouble-maker. He is a real sweet-heart now.

 

[nora]

I really hope you find him soon, especially if he is ill. Poor Nathan. Thanks for sharing his story with me.

 

[hissy]

Renae,

I hope you find him. They go to ground when they sense a big storm coming their way. He will show up!

 

[lotsocats]

Thanks Mary Anne. I just feel awful. Right before we pulled out yesterday Nathan trotted toward us, stopped and squatted and sat in that squatting position for the longest time with the oddest expression on his face. I thought at the time that he must have had a huge pee stored up because he squatted for so long. But then I thought about the fact that I saw him do the same thing a couple of days ago and about the fact that he curled up in my lap the night before, which he has never done, and that he has been much less active than usual. Of course his sluggishness might be due to the heat, but a feral just doesn't pee in front of people and certainly doesn't just curl up on a lap out of the blue.

Oh...I hope I am being silly. I'll be really irritated if I am just being a kitty-hypochondriac because I cancelled an appointment I had to wait two months to get and cancelled a day of shopping at a huge outlet mall in Nashville so I could get back home right away.

In the meantime I am nauseated with worry. I hate this so much.

 

[princess purr]

I sure hope he is okay! Sending tons of healthy kitty vibes.

 

[valanhb]

Sending lots of Nathan Come Home and Be Well! vibes.

 

[houseofcats]

Originally posted by lotsocats
Thanks Mary Anne. I just feel awful. Right before we pulled out yesterday Nathan trotted toward us, stopped and squatted and sat in that squatting position for the longest time with the oddest expression on his face. I thought at the time that he must have had a huge pee stored up because he squatted for so long. But then I thought about the fact that I saw him do the same thing a couple of days ago and about the fact that he curled up in my lap the night before, which he has never done, and that he has been much less active than usual. Of course his sluggishness might be due to the heat, but a feral just doesn't pee in front of people and certainly doesn't just curl up on a lap out of the blue.

Oh...I hope I am being silly. I'll be really irritated if I am just being a kitty-hypochondriac because I cancelled an appointment I had to wait two months to get and cancelled a day of shopping at a huge outlet mall in Nashville so I could get back home right away.

In the meantime I am nauseated with worry. I hate this so much.

He could be blocked! Can you get him trapped and to the vet? We went through this with one of our cats. He would continually squat for a long time and it turned out he was blocked. Keep us posted.

 

[lotsocats]

I can get him to the vet with no problem. I took him in only just about 2 or 3 weeks ago to get his booster shots. I can pick him up and put him in a carrier, though he doesn't like it one bit. So...the instant I see him, we will go to the vet. The problem is that he isn't here. And...that is a bad sign because he is ALWAYS here in my back yard.

It is now almost 1:00 and there is no sign of Nathan yet. I am so scared that he is dead. I feel so guilty for not turning around immediately and coming home last night.

 

[ldg]

Renae, please, please, please do not feel guilty. You will not be seeing hubby for a month or so, and we do have obligations to our human families too.

I'm sending NATHAN COME HOME prayers! I'm sure it's the storm, Renae - let's just keep thinking positively and believe that to be the case.

If your conscience continues to bother you, do you live in the kind of neighborhood where you can walk through neighbor's property? I don't know that looking for him would help, but it might help ease your conscience.

Over the winter Tuxedo didn't show up for several days after a big storm. Finally I told Gary to go unbury the groundhog hole where the kittens were born... and sure enough a couple hours later, Tuxedo appeared...with a little trail of kitty feet coming down from the hole.

This is an instance where we knew exactly where to look, even though it was a bit of a long shot with all the many, many places around here he could have been buried....

But between all of our prayers and Nathan-come-home vibes, perhaps if you took a walk calling for him....???????

Even if you don't go snooping through your neighbor's yards, maybe just a quick walk through the neighborhood down the street or sidewalk calling for him? At least it'll help you feel better?

 

[lotsocats]

Thanks Laurie.

I appreciate your telling me not to feel guilty, but I am just torn up knowing that if I just came back last night I might have been able to save him. I will always see my husband again, (though not for a while), but because I didn't want him to worry while he was gone, I didn't share my suspicions with him about Nathan once they started to gell in my mind during the drive.

It is 4:30 now and still no sign of Nathan. Around noon I wandered the neighborhood looking into garages under bushes and inside large hedges. I had no luck at all. Cats know that when they are sick they need to hide so predators won't get them. So I am sure he is well out of sight. Also, he is a light gray tabby, so his coloring makes him extra hard to see.

I keep checking my whole back yard about every 15 minutes to see if he has made it over here.

Keep sending your thoughts this way.

Renae

 

[lotsocats]

Right after I logged off I went outside again to look for him. I sat on a bench we have in the back yard and started playing with my neighbor's cat who spends most of his day on that bench in my yard. About 15 minutes later, up strolled Nathan! He looked perky and happy to see me and he wanted to play with the stick I was using to play with the other cat. I swooped over, grabbed him, looked in his eyes and felt his bladder (both okay) and then dropped him in the carrier I had sitting in my car. We zoomed to the vet's office, screeching around the corners because the vet closed in 2 minutes. Nathan is crying loudly (probably protesting my driving more than anything), and I am sobbing like a baby because I am so relieved. We pull up, the vet checks his bladder and also finds that it is not distended, but suggests that I leave him over night so he can get a good sample from him later. Anyway, I will hear in the morning what he finds.

Of course Nathan looked and acted perfectly fine, which is exactly why I drove off to Nashville in the first place without a thought in my mind that something was wrong.

Besides being exhausted from literally not sleeping last night and being emotionally drained from crying all day, the big irritation is that by the time Nathan showed up, I would have been back from Nashville even after going to my appointment and shopping all day. -- I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

I think I'm gonna go to bed.

Thanks for all of your support. It meant a lot to me.

 

[ldg]

Oh Renae, what WONDERFUL news!!!!!!! I opened the thread with trepidation... and almost didn't see there was a second page! *PHEW*

THANK GOD!!!!!!!!!!!

...and I know you can't help but feel guilty when stuff like that happens. Logic and emotion don't move hand in hand, but if you hear it enough, some times it starts to sink in....

 

[houseofcats]

Great news! You're a wonderful person for caring so much for him. YIPPEEEEEEE

 

[hissy]

Yippeee Renae - now maybe you can get some sleep!

 

[valanhb]

YAY!!! I'm so glad Nathan came home and is where he belongs now - at the VET!

 

[nora]

I'm so happy Nathan was found! Whew, what a relief!

 

[a_loveless_gem]

YAY!!!

I started reading this thread worried and I am so happy it's turned out ok.

*Sending get well vibes to Nathan*

 

[lotsocats]

Turns out that Nathan has a really bad UTI. He had lots of blood and bacteria in his urine, but no blockage. Whew!

Now...the trick will be getting meds into a semi-feral cat. I'm going to go buy a bunch of tuna and will try crushing the pills and mixing them into the tuna water. Hopefully the pills won't make the tuna water taste too bad and he will lap it right up. Mary Anne, do you have any suggestions on pilling a feral?

I went to bed at 9:00 last night and slept like a baby. Didn't even miss my hubby...I was too exhausted to even think about him not being there!

Thanks again to all of you for being so supportive. It was such a horrible day, and your positive vibes helped me make it through.