Chatham's at the Vet's

Chatham at 10 weeks, 10 years and 17 years.

Chatham is at the vet's today. This morning I saw the symptoms of urinary tract blockage and/or infection, so I took him in right away. Urinary problems can kill a cat pretty quickly. He had his first trouble with it around 11 years ago and we monitored it for many years. It seemed like he was over it, but, alas, he's got it again. The vet says it was a good thing that I suspected it and brought him in, because later today Chatham would have been in dire straits.

Since he's 18 years old, we want to try and avoid anything that would lead to anesthesia. The vet was able to do a bit of manual "rotor rooting" (doesn't that sound awful). She'll keep Chatham all day and tomorrow, unless he seems too stressed to stay overnight, then he'd come home. She wants to see if he can urinate on his own.

Keepin' our fingers crossed, but I think he'll be okay since we caught it this early.

ADDENDUM: The vet called to say that Chatham "gave" her a good stream with lots of volume ~ lol ~ so she'd like him to come home tonight. Apparently he's been growling all day and she doesn't want him to be stressed any more than necessary. The last time he growled for hours he lost his voice. So, it's a new diet and more pills for the old boy for awhile. We'll have to keep an eye on his use of the litterbox. Since we've two cats, this is a challenge.

Remind me, if I haven't already, to tell y'all how DH got Chatham to give a urine sample on command. Twice.

ADDENDUM to the ADDENDUM: Chatham has spent most of his time home again under our bed, growling in a very low, very angry, very menacing manner.

Oh, yeah, Chatham left a little poopy gift on our bed. Doing laundry now.