Over the last several days my cat Artie has been out of character. There is something physically wrong with him because he is not himself and is sedentary with a trance like stare. He also is off his food and water. He keeps moving around and yesterday I was so bothered by his inaction that I took him to my Vet to see if anything could be diagnosed. Well after an examination the Doc said that he could have just eaten something that was bad for him or he could have a pancreatic problem. So for $175 of which this poor guy really couldn't afford I paid for not only his office visit, but a water injection, an antibiotic, and a pain killer for him. Now the waiting begins to see if anything changes.
He stayed under my bed last night without moving except to change places but not his position. Which is upright with all four legs under him. Normally my boy would be lounged out with his legs spread everywhere. Not now. It has been about 20 hours since we got home and no change in his behavior. I have been through this several times with other animals and the outcome is rarely a happy one. I have only had Artie for about 8 months but he has worked his cool ways deep into my heart. You see Artie is a very cool dude for feral cat who was trapped as a 3 month old and brought to my house along with his companion Betsy. They are inseparable for the most part but not for the last few days, although Betsy spent a few hours under the bed with Artie last night. I know because I got up through the night many times to check on him without disturbing him.
This is the worst time right now because either he is going to improve or he will drift off into some kind of comatose state. I don't have the funds to run blood tests and then pay for whatever treatment the blood tests suggest. So it is now out of my hands and I will have to accept whatever fate has in store. It angers me that we carers of animals are not able to help our pets without putting impossible costs on ourselves. Not only are we Americans horrible at not helping our own with health care but we are even worse when it comes to health care for our animals. I will say this now and it is so very true to me. My 4 animals are like children to me in how I feel about them and not being able to care for them when they need me is heartbreaking and emotionally takes a part of my life away.
He stayed under my bed last night without moving except to change places but not his position. Which is upright with all four legs under him. Normally my boy would be lounged out with his legs spread everywhere. Not now. It has been about 20 hours since we got home and no change in his behavior. I have been through this several times with other animals and the outcome is rarely a happy one. I have only had Artie for about 8 months but he has worked his cool ways deep into my heart. You see Artie is a very cool dude for feral cat who was trapped as a 3 month old and brought to my house along with his companion Betsy. They are inseparable for the most part but not for the last few days, although Betsy spent a few hours under the bed with Artie last night. I know because I got up through the night many times to check on him without disturbing him.
This is the worst time right now because either he is going to improve or he will drift off into some kind of comatose state. I don't have the funds to run blood tests and then pay for whatever treatment the blood tests suggest. So it is now out of my hands and I will have to accept whatever fate has in store. It angers me that we carers of animals are not able to help our pets without putting impossible costs on ourselves. Not only are we Americans horrible at not helping our own with health care but we are even worse when it comes to health care for our animals. I will say this now and it is so very true to me. My 4 animals are like children to me in how I feel about them and not being able to care for them when they need me is heartbreaking and emotionally takes a part of my life away.
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