Our older cat, Calhoun, is almost 8 years old, but has aged quickly in those years.  It's funny to think about cats having nine lives because if there was ever a cat who fit the bill, Calhoun's the one.  As many who are reading this blog know, he suffered a traumatic event as a little kitten.  Let's jump in the "way back machine" and understand what has been Cal's past....

We suspect - from the type and extent of injury - Cal fell from the second story balcony in Crystal's old house, to the hardwood floor below and shattered his right front arm and his rear hips.  Not a common mistake for cats, but a possibility if he had tried to jump up on to the railing When Crystal's mom arrived back home after the accident, Cal was (understandably) a mess.  She rushed him to the vet and at the time, the vet was so focused on his front arm, that the broken hips in back went unnoticed.  They doctored his arm, but the rear end was left alone.  Unfortunately, his arm never fully recovered or mended properly, and ultimately he had it amputated to save his life (infection was looming).  Also, some cats can have crazy reactions to certain medications, and Cal is one.  Ever since this original accident, he's been unable to be sane in the vets office for health checks due to the pain and trauma he experienced.

As Cal grew up, he managed on three legs (and a broken, improperly fused back hip) like a champion.  Like it was natural; as if all cats eventually lose a leg.  Even with the three legs, he's been able to jump around and run through the house.  One of his favorite things to do is jump up on the bathroom counter and drink water straight from the spout.  Actually, one of his favorite things to do in the world is to simply drink water.  Strange, I know.  As Crystal and I got a better understanding of our pets and animals in general, we noticed his constant affection with water (and subsequent large volume of urine when using the litterbox) could be an indication of Chronic Renal Failure (CRF).  This is a condition a cat can live with for a LONG time, and if progression is slow enough, it's not TOO much of an issue.

Fast forward to last month.  Crystal and I started to notice fur loss on Cal's back end - the back of the legs, under his belly, and base of his tail.  It really started to worry us just recently because it wasn't getting better (but slowly worse) so Crystal made an appointment for him at the vet - the first in a while due to his "love" for vets.  But because he needs to be anesthetized (for the vet's and his own safety) they couldn't take him for a few weeks.  We decided that was fine, because he'd get a proper check up, and Crystal made a list of things the doctor needed to look at.

Now, fast forward to two weeks ago.  Crystal and I woke up and found a partially chewed up bag containing aspirin on the floor of the cat room (yes, they have their own room!).  It was removed by one of the cats overnight from Crystal's purse (don't worry too much, all the money was still there).  This is bad because aspirin is poisonous to animals, especially cats.  We kept our cool and monitored the cats for any changes to their behavior.  We eventually noticed that Cal couldn't eat without vomiting a dark, gooey vomit.  Since we had already scheduled an appointment for the following week, we decided to see if the situation would improve at all - his spirits were still high and he was eating (even though it wasn't all staying down) so we figured we could wait.  But over the weekend he started to become less social, stopped eating, and hid in closets and other dark, lonely places.  We decided that the Wednesday appointment was too far away, so we scheduled an emergency appointment on Monday morning (of last week).  After all the blood and urine tests, we found that, indeed, his kidneys were experiencing acute renal failure.  It's a scary situation, and the vet used the term "50/50" when discussing his outlook.

Have you ever had a pet (or loved one) given a 50/50 chance of survival?  They may as well say a 99/1 chance at survival, because the alternative option can't exist.  At 50/50 chance of survival, we're going to survive.

Since last week, Calhoun has been doing much better.  We are giving him 200 mL of subcutaneous fluids each night and an oral medication to fight potential ulcers from vomiting.  His energy level is high, and he's purring and chirping as we walk by or stop to pet him.  He's not hiding in the dark, lonely places around the house anymore, but actually being very social with us and the dogs.  We even think he's starting to grow back fur on his backside (still not sure what the cause is)!  We still find an occasional vomit around the house, one a day max, but he's capable of holding most of the food down at this point.

We are nervous about our upcoming vacation to Cayman Brac (March 16 - 26) because he'll probably still need sub-Q fluids and constant monitoring.  As such, we've lined up our normal dog sitter to come twice a day to feed Cal and administer the fluids.  She's a vet tech at the dogs' vet and rescues cats so she's very familiar with Cal's needs and we're very comfortable with her.

We're holding positive for Cal.  We expect him to get better, and we hope you all can stay positive for him too.  He's such a great pet and a good friend, cuddly, talkative, handsome.  It such a shame he's had a tough go at this life thing, but we want to show him the love and devotion he deserves.  My friend at work made a comment about "wow that must be expensive" when I told him about Cal's situation.  I didn't know how to respond.  Obviously money plays a role in most of life's decisions, but we're no where near that point.  Cal is 8!  He deserves a healthy, happy existence.  We owe it to him.

Please keep him in your thoughts.  When you see a cat, think a positive thought for Cal.  We can use all the support.  :-)