Well, we got another sickie on our hands
Got up this morning - Tubby nowhere around. Took a shower - still no Tubby. Had breakfast and headed down to clean the litterboxes and there was Tubby, just sitting in the litter box. He acknowledged me with one of the mrrwwowws from his throat, but wouldn't come out of the litterbox. I cleaned the other ones and kind of nudged him so I could clean that one. He moved out of the box, but went to another one, pawed around a bit, took up "the stance" but nothing happened. I thought to myself that this was kind of weird....
Went upstairs and continued to get ready. I sprained my elbow or something so Terry and I were in the bathroom with him wrapping up my elbow when Tubby saunters in and starts pawing at one of the throw rugs. He has pooped on these rugs in the past, but he only does it when his tummy is upset because we normally find puke nearby too. So I say forget wrapping the elbow and pick Tubby up, carry him downstairs and put him in a litterbox. He paws at it a bit, takes up "the stance" and I leave thinking he's ok and just has an upset tummy.
Go back upstairs, resume wrapping the elbow, determine it's not right, rewrap it, finish getting dressed, head downstairs to check on Tubby and he's still in the same litterbox, still in "the stance." He hadn't moved in over 5 minutes, and nothing had happened (nothing in the litterbox).
Now I'm starting to get worried so I call the vet, but they don't open until 9:00, so I call the emergency #, explain what's happening and she says I should get him to the vet as soon as they open. She said it could just be that he was constipated, but with his failing kidneys she said it's best not to take any chances. So now it's about 7:45, I call my boss and tell him I'm going to be late and finish my morning routine. All this while, Tubby is pacing around the basement from litterbox to litterbox (we've got 3) attempting to do something, but producing nothing. He would also sit down and lift his leg like he was going to clean himself, but then he would just sort of sniff at his belly or something. He seemed uncomfortable and would only let me pet him for a minute or two before it was back to the pacing and the litterbox shuffle.
Anyway, to try and shorten this up, I got him in at 9:15 and explained the whole situation. She said his coloring was good, he's not dehydrated and didn't have a temperature (didn't seem to mind the thermometer so much 
), which were all good signs. It has been 4 months since his last check up where everything checked out real well, but she said it wouldn't hurt to do a whole blood check again - especially since he was having problems.
She eventually came back to the room with him and said she had gotten a little urine out of him, and it was bloody, so that indicated a bladder infection. She had also give him some fluids intravenously just to make sure he doesn't get dehyrdated, and took some blood for the blood tests.
She gave me some antibiotics for him and told me to call back tomorrow for the results of the blood test. She said to make sure he keeps eating, using the litterbox and to make sure he drinks a lot to help the infection. A bladder infection is always serious, but especially so with his kidneys not being in the best shape. 
I had him on the counter while I paid (yup, credit cards are a good thing) and he peed two little drops on the counter, and it looked to me more like he dripped blood instead of peeing. As usual he couldn't wait to get out of there, and as soon as we were in the car he went in the footwell of the passenger seat and tried to pee again. Just a few more red droplets were all he could squeeze out - poor guy.
I got him home and the first thing he did was head for the litterbox. I gave him his medicine - and made sure he swallowed it so he couldn't spit it out, and then I gave him some Cat Sip diluted with water to try and get as much liquid in him as possible. He did try to eat a little too, which was good because right before we left he threw up - and it was a lot, so his poor tummy was probably empty. He should be ok with fluids for the day since she gave him some, and I told Terry to watch him and get him to drink if he can. Terry's not very good with sick kitties - or sick me for that matter - or sick himself even - so I'll be glad when I can go home and babysit my poor sick boy. I'm hoping by that time the antibiotics will have kicked in a little so he's at least not so uncomfortable. I know how awful bladder infections can be, so I really hope he's feeling better soon.
I'm sure he'll be ok, it's just worrying because of his kidneys. He hasn't lost any weight since his last trip, so hopefully his blood counts will be similar too, which would indicate it's just a bladder infection and not a sign that his kidneys are getting worse.
Sorry for being so long-winded, but my big boy has never been sick a day in his life until his stupid kidneys started giving out on him.
So, Phred, how did you shoot the water into Boots' mouth? Was it with a reqular syringe like you can buy at the drug store - without the needle on it? Or was it with the pill popper thing that I can get at any PetSmart or PetCo?
Tubby
Spring 1986 - Dec. 11, 2004
RIP Big Boy
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Peanut
Fall 1988 - Jan. 24, 2007
RIP Snotty Girl
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Robin
Fall 1997 - Oct. 6, 2012
RIP Sweet Monkeyhead Girl
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