Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Rebel: The Death-Defying Cat


Rebel's "parents" got divorced. He needed to be in a pet carrier with his brother for six hours when his dad moved from South Carolina to Florida. Eventually, their dad had a new girlfriend and they moved into her house. But the relationship was shaky that their dad was usually not around. Most of the time, he and his brother were left outside without food and water. His brother died because of poisoning. Rebel was already skin and bones but was still fighting - surviving. 

I know Rebel's dad so I asked him if he would like me to take care of his cat. I offered my help not only because he was being kicked out of his ex-girlfriend's house but also because I can't endure the thought of Rebel being left alone on the street to die.

I never had a cat before. Though my grandma has a cat and my aunt has four cats I was not around their pets that much. I used to be allergic with animals' hair. I was surprised that I didn't sneeze when I held Rebel the first time. I guess I got immune to fur within years of having itchy nose and watery eyes while living with my dog, Lexus. 

During the first week that Rebel is in my house, I noticed that he pees a lot. Being a new cat owner, I thought it's just normal because he drinks a lot of water. So, again I got surprised one day when Rebel won't stop meowing and I found blood on the bathroom's floor. Rebel was peeing blood!

I panicked so I rushed him to an emergency clinic. They ran several tests. All the results are OK, the only problem was Rebel has Urinary Tract Infection (UTI).Vet said he just need to take the prescribed medicine and he should be up and running again in two days. But the next day, Rebel was vomiting and when I lifted him, I felt that there was a bump on his tummy. It was so hard like a stone.

I hurried again to another emergency clinic. The vet put catheter on him. They said the lump was his bladder being too full with urine because Rebel was not able to pee. After presenting me the bill, the vet's assistant said that they really recommend that Rebel stay for the night with them. There could be a blockage again. I already paid $600 the other day and this time they are asking for more than $1,000 just to keep him overnight. I only have $5 on my pocket and if I paid the admission fee that night using my card, I'll surely won't have enough to even feed my other pet.

I decided to take Rebel home. I researched about what can I do if  ever my cat cannot pee again. To my horror, the very first search result says, "a cat that cannot pee is a dead cat." I kept researching. The other articles are not as direct as the first one however, they still end up saying that what Rebel went through was an emergency situation. If not given proper and quick medical attention, I could have lost my very first cat whom I had just few days ago.

It took another doctor's visit and another two weeks of medications before Rebel recovered. I'll tell you more about all the things he went through on my next posts. He was very weak that I thought I'll just see him dead any minute.

Good thing, Rebel is a real rebel. He is against loneliness. He opposes sickness. He defies death. 

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