You are my cat.
Therefore you must rock.
I took Oscar to the vet today. He has an infection in his tooth, same tooth (or at least area) as last summer. When I took him last summer was when I found out about his Kidney issues, and they basically said he had 1 – 2 years left. Last visit at the end of October was fantastic. He was doing great, they pushed back bringing him in from every 6 weeks to 6 months this time.
So when I brought him in for his tooth I figured everything else was fine (Kidney wise). I knew he had lost some weight because he wasn’t eaten much at all, but he was a full 4 pounds lighter than his last visit. The vet still thought it was just his tooth, but wanted to do blood work anyways. His blood work revealed that he was basically in the end stages of Kidney failure. He had weeks essentially.
They offered to keep him there and super hydrate him with fluids, but there were downsides to that as well. I told them I’d rather take him home with me. So he’s on antibiotics, pain medicine (for his mouth) and I have to give him an IV every night. It sounds like a lot, but its not. Even with all this they said it wouldn’t be a recovery so much as a postponement, which I’m ok with if that’s all I get.
I went in with some worries, was picked up when she said she thought it was just his tooth and antibiotics would help, and then kinda crushed when the blood work came back. When the vet come back with results and she has tears in her eyes and is having trouble talking its definitely not good news.
Before I left they told me to “Get him whatever food he likes best, take him out for lots of walks to his favorite places, give him treats and make him comfortable, he’ll let you know when its time.”
I got Oscar three years ago from my friend Dani. She was moving and couldn’t take Oscar with her. It took him a long while before I considered him mine. ALmost a year really. I was used to Angelo, and Angelo and Oscar are two completely different cats. Angelo is a perfect apartment cat. Independent, quiet, loves to cuddle. He doesn’t need anything from you but your warmth, food, water and a clean litter box. Oscar needs and craves attention. He wants adventure, whether a laser pointer, toy mouse, or running around in a park. And that last bit is how I really bonded with him.
I spent a whole summer taking Oscar to the park with me. I don’t have a ton of friends out here in Cleveland, and going to the park and reading, or walking around, or laying on my hammock was always more enjoyable with Oscar there with me. He would run about on his leash and harness for a while and then just settle down on the grass in the shade. After a particularly windy storm out here there were tree limbs all over. Oscar had a ball. He once found a tree with a big hole in the bottom that he could crawl into. He sat vigil in that hole for over an hour.
Almost two years ago when I was dating Sarah we got a ferret. Oscar and the ferret were best friends. It was crazy to see them jumping around and chasing each other. Oscar never attempted to hurt the ferret, just loved playing with her. It was a bizarre relationship between them, they were like siblings. Awesome to see, and made me never worry about them being lonely.
Oscar and Angelo on the other hand are like brothers who love and kind of can’t stand each other at the same time. They’ll lay near each other, groom each other on occasion, but you’d never think they really got along. Usually they are at opposite ends of the bed or couch or even apartment. They fight occasionally. But on the other end of the spectrum Angelo won’t leave the apartment unless Oscar is in front of him blazing the trail. If the door is open and Oscar is out there Angelo will go out. No Oscar and he stays right in the safe apartment.
Oscar basically became family.
So yeah, it was kind of crushing to hear that news today.
