![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Another Cat is probably dying Gambit
Feb. 9th, 2021 08:51 pmI got Gambit shortly before Socrates died. They had maybe a month to get to know each other before Socrates started getting listless over Pesach. When I brought Socrates to the ASPCA they did an x-ray and tried to talk me into euthanizing Socrates. I took him home instead and let him die in my arms. I don't regret that. The next cat that died was Wilhemina and I feel like maybe I should have taken her to the vet to die. But anyhow I got Gambit when he was about a year old? A little older? I don't remember. I should just check to see when Socrates died. I tend to use this blog to either review books or talk about dying cats.
Anyhow Gambit was an abused cat and he hid from me. In fact, I ended up with four cats because the next cat I got after Socrates also hid, only she hid under the radiator and scratched the hell out of me. So I replaced the most affectionate cat I've ever had with two cats that probably didn't hate me, but certainly didn't like me. So Oskar and Felix came next.
Anyhow it took me years to get Gambit to get used to me enough to tolerate when I petted him. Often I would pet him when I fed him. He would also play with the other cats. That's why I always figured that as long as I had Gambit I would have to have more than one cat. If for some reason Sugar (Mom's cat) becomes the only cat I will probably let him be the only cat for awhile. He is more of a people cat.
I may write a fuller post about Gambit when I know what is what but I took him to the vet. It's the same vet that I took Felix to a couple years ago. I think I'm being superstitious since Felix was fine afterwards. Basically Felix only needed antibiotics for a few days.
Gambit was listless. Not so much listless. The thing about Gambit is that he likes to hide. He hides in boxes. He hides behind bookcases. He likes to be left alone unless he's chasing the other cats. He was playing with Sugar only last week. Friday most likely. So the only way I knew that something was wrong was the fact that he wasn't whining at 9 in the morning or 7 in the evening. Those are the times when he really wants to be fed and he's very unhappy with me delaying it. Usually I get to pet him when he comes up to me in the morning. But he would rather eat.
Then it's the ritual of feeding where I open up one can and three cats run to bowl. Usually Gambit eats out of the can. Then I open a second can (usually Fancy Feast because that's Sugar's favorite brand) and then all three cats go to the next cat food. Sometimes Oskar stays with the original food. Often Sugar goes back to the original food.
So the last two days I opened up a lot of cans hoping that Gambit would eat it. I'd even lock the other cats away from it. But Gambit didn't eat. Gambit would drink and piss, but he wasn't eating. At least I don't think he was eating. Like I said, Gambit is very shy. But I don't think he was eating.
I brought him to the vet today. The vet did a lot of the same things he did the first time, like noting that my cat was dehydrated. Gambit was scared. I held him most of the time. The vet also came in to talk about UTI but then changed his mind when he saw that Gambit had peed on me. So it's all guesswork.
I think that the bad review of this place was probably something I should have paid attention to. They almost charged me $2000 for tests including an ultrasound.
So what I know.
Gambit has yellow in his gums and eyes so Jaundice. Gambit hasn't been eating. Gambit is pissing and he's dehydrated.
But also they found something on the X-Ray that could be a tumor.
Only it's weird because he just got sick a week ago at most. With a tumor he'd be sick for awhile.
Anyhow, it's most likely liver disease. But it could be cancer. Either way, I'm not having him euthanized. Like with Socrates, I'd prefer to have him die where he's comfortable.
But I'm worried about my cat. He kind of smooths things over between Oskar and Sugar. He's also the youngest cat at 10 years old.
I guess I'll knokw more tomorrow. In the meantime I have a paper to write. I better get it done tonight. It's due tomorrow and I could push it off tomorrow, but I might be even more sad tomorrow.
Anyhow Gambit was an abused cat and he hid from me. In fact, I ended up with four cats because the next cat I got after Socrates also hid, only she hid under the radiator and scratched the hell out of me. So I replaced the most affectionate cat I've ever had with two cats that probably didn't hate me, but certainly didn't like me. So Oskar and Felix came next.
Anyhow it took me years to get Gambit to get used to me enough to tolerate when I petted him. Often I would pet him when I fed him. He would also play with the other cats. That's why I always figured that as long as I had Gambit I would have to have more than one cat. If for some reason Sugar (Mom's cat) becomes the only cat I will probably let him be the only cat for awhile. He is more of a people cat.
I may write a fuller post about Gambit when I know what is what but I took him to the vet. It's the same vet that I took Felix to a couple years ago. I think I'm being superstitious since Felix was fine afterwards. Basically Felix only needed antibiotics for a few days.
Gambit was listless. Not so much listless. The thing about Gambit is that he likes to hide. He hides in boxes. He hides behind bookcases. He likes to be left alone unless he's chasing the other cats. He was playing with Sugar only last week. Friday most likely. So the only way I knew that something was wrong was the fact that he wasn't whining at 9 in the morning or 7 in the evening. Those are the times when he really wants to be fed and he's very unhappy with me delaying it. Usually I get to pet him when he comes up to me in the morning. But he would rather eat.
Then it's the ritual of feeding where I open up one can and three cats run to bowl. Usually Gambit eats out of the can. Then I open a second can (usually Fancy Feast because that's Sugar's favorite brand) and then all three cats go to the next cat food. Sometimes Oskar stays with the original food. Often Sugar goes back to the original food.
So the last two days I opened up a lot of cans hoping that Gambit would eat it. I'd even lock the other cats away from it. But Gambit didn't eat. Gambit would drink and piss, but he wasn't eating. At least I don't think he was eating. Like I said, Gambit is very shy. But I don't think he was eating.
I brought him to the vet today. The vet did a lot of the same things he did the first time, like noting that my cat was dehydrated. Gambit was scared. I held him most of the time. The vet also came in to talk about UTI but then changed his mind when he saw that Gambit had peed on me. So it's all guesswork.
I think that the bad review of this place was probably something I should have paid attention to. They almost charged me $2000 for tests including an ultrasound.
So what I know.
Gambit has yellow in his gums and eyes so Jaundice. Gambit hasn't been eating. Gambit is pissing and he's dehydrated.
But also they found something on the X-Ray that could be a tumor.
Only it's weird because he just got sick a week ago at most. With a tumor he'd be sick for awhile.
Anyhow, it's most likely liver disease. But it could be cancer. Either way, I'm not having him euthanized. Like with Socrates, I'd prefer to have him die where he's comfortable.
But I'm worried about my cat. He kind of smooths things over between Oskar and Sugar. He's also the youngest cat at 10 years old.
I guess I'll knokw more tomorrow. In the meantime I have a paper to write. I better get it done tonight. It's due tomorrow and I could push it off tomorrow, but I might be even more sad tomorrow.
Tags:
