u/KiraSakura

Surprisingly, Momo has made it through. No reoccurring urinary blockage and a shocking amount a fluid out of his lungs from the IV flood, went from oxygen box to room air, overnight to this morning.

The vets and I both understand he’s a complicated case, and while I’m still upset about the fluid complication, the huge improvement to stable and active, is enough for him to come home and see where we go from here.

He’s currently soaking up the sun at home.

My boy was dumped during COVID 2020 out of a car. I live in a culdesac and I guess they thought he could live in the woods behind the houses. Instead he came into my yard crying for food. I petted him and ran out and got some. I didn’t know he was dumped, thinking a new neighbor cat was begging for more food until after two weeks and him sounding rough, I looked back on the camera and saw.

He had worms, a slight heart murmur, kidney stones allergies and asthma, his microchip had him at 8 years old, but when I called he was registered to a SPCA who called his owner, saying he didn’t want him; they couldn’t tell me at what age he was microchipped so he could be older.

His name was Buddy, but I call him Momotaru, Momo mostly and other sweet names - we got the worms out, his heart murmur was low enough he didn’t need meds, they didn’t hear it on the last few visits (but still there I’m sure), his allergies he takes Zyrtec (like me) and saline drops when he gets snotty, and asthma daily asthma meds (like me) and give him the C/D food, but the stones are still there. As he got older, we added miralax so he could go easier. We decided against surgery with the heart murmur and hope he wouldn’t block with the stones.

Most days the medicine and all that is secondary, he runs and plays and talks and begs for treats, runs to the door when I get home and tells when it’s bedtime and curls by my pillow.

Momo is 14 now, and my Dad just had heart surgery last week, and he’s been staying with me as I take care of him as he’s not been well since.

With allergy season I’ve had to give Momo some steroids as he was getting wheezy, but that had ended.

I blame myself with the miralax dosing, maybe I haven’t been giving him enough or skipping to make sure he got the Zyrtec, but know it could have been the steroids or anything, I know.

He had a hard stool he couldn’t pass on Friday, I have a litter robot and a camera, saw he peed, pooped a little then was straining. I took him to the ER vet at 8pm when I noticed, feeling it hard at his backside, they wanted to keep him until morning and I agreed. He unclogged easily they said, the block at the end and I took him home Saturday morning. He was so stressed, never had to be there more than an hour, and it took a while to get him calm but he eventually got there. They said they didn’t think he peed when there, so keep an eye, I put him in the box and he wanted nothing to do with it and looked round.

I took him back Saturday night, he was blocked, they think from the straining and inflammation of it all, maybe, said the catheter unblocked him easy, was mucous, didn’t look like the stones and they wanted the cath in for 24hrs to prevent inflamation. They said he was active, eating and talking after they unblocked him.

Sunday they said he was breathing harder, and put him in the oxygen box, I asked to visit, again so stressed, wondering if it’s the stress putting him into an asthma attack.

I of course questioned if this was too much for him, if I should take him home to monitor if he was stable enough or consider making a decision for him with the stress of it all. But I saw the IV and asked about fluids, with his heart murmur. They said they didn’t hear one, and giving him normal fluids, but would reevaluate him now because I was there for 1.5hr instead of a 15min visit, they x-rayed him, he had fluid in his lungs. It could be ‘heart failure’ OR ‘IV Flood’ with his heart condition. They sent me home. They took the IV off, gave him a quick acting directic and suddenly an hour later he’s breathing easier and is calmer. They called at 8pm saying he was doing much better, they would keep him in the oxygen box overnight as caution, that I “shouldn’t visit” and they’d call in the morning.

So, called this morning, said he’s out of ICU and the oxygen box, should remove the catheter today but is refusing food. Which I understand after all this.

If you’ve read this far, thank you. I just need to get all of this out.

I’m waiting for the doctor to call for the real update. Still not out of the woods, not sure if he still has lingering fluid and not sure if he’s going to reblock. The big issue. Of course, I don’t know anything, but I’m now worried more about there treatments, because of the whole IV flood thing.

They were originally pushing surgery, which I said no to, I don’t know he can handle that, especially after these days and especially with the heart condition they now believe he has (they have a cardio here at the same place, that we saw, all that cardio stuff is there…). He could, maybe, make it through the surgery, recover, not block again, but even that’s not a guarantee.

The hope is he could have just had a stress/mucous block and it’s clear and the 24hrs cath kept the inflation down, can pee normally and come home for however long more he has with me. But, it’s hope, I know.

Thanks again if you got this far. I’ll at least be able to see him today it seems and that’s what I’m holding to.