This Might Be His Last Picture

There is an update below the original text for this post.

Cosmo's having a health emergency. Unstable on his hind legs, thick dark blood coming out of his penis, bladder and urethra blockage.

We're trying to find an emergency vet to work with us on payments, but if we can't, we might have to surrender him so he can receive the life-saving treatment he requires.

I don't want my baby to die. He's been mine for fourteen years, ever since he was little bitty. I don't want to give him up, either.

But I'd rather give him up and him live than him dying because we can't afford to save him.

My heart is completely shatteted.

Please pray for him with a passion that you've never prayed with before.

I hope you all are doing better than we are.

I love you all so much.

Take care of yourself and yours. Never stop telling and  showing the people and animals in your life how much you love them.

You never know when it might be your last chance to do so.

UPDATE:

Thank God, we were able to find a vet.

I'd called Banfield (the vet chain we take our cats to) and got the addresses and numbers for two animal hospitals. I called them up. They couldn't work with us on payment, so I called up a local animal rescue and shelter and asked them if they could help at all. They gave me the names of two vet clinics that are willing to work with people on payment. Called them both up, one didn't answer, one of them did.

The vet that did answer doesn't accept payment plans on emergency visits because he usually gets stiffed (I can't blame him at all) but I called him back and asked if he'd accept collateral, as B gets paid tomorrow. He asked me in a suspicious and skeptical tone (again, can't blame him), "What's collateral?"

I told him we could leave a PS4, an Xbox360, and a computer tower with a very expensive graphics card and processor with him. That changed his tone, and he told us to go ahead and bring Cosmo to him. I asked if he wanted us to bring the collateral and he told me no, just bring Cosmo in so he can be looked at.

I think our willingness to give him so much for collateral made him realize that his (Cosmo's) situation was serious and also that we weren't gonna stiff him.

When we got there, Cosmo left a trail of blood (coming from his bladder) all over the parking lot and sidewalk, and into the building. The vet carefully voided Cosmo's bladder, which yielded much more blood.

I don't even think there was any urine in his bladder, just blood.

Further examination revealed that Cosmo was hypothermic, his blood sugar was really high, and he was very dehydrated. He's also obviously in a lot of pain.

The vet is keeping him overnight, in an incubator and with IV fluids. He'll call us as soon as he can get a better assessment of his condition (which very much depends on how he responds to warmth and fluids), which probably won't be until sometime tomorrow. On the phone the vet wasn't nearly as concerned (and I don't mean that in a negative way at all, he wasn't being insensitive) as when he saw Cosmo. The vet is now very concerned.

I feel really bad that I pulled him and his kids away from Worlds of Fun (a very popular local amusement park), but I am so very very grateful that he decided to see Cosmo. We're gonna try to do something nice for him when we have the ability to. Regardless of what happens to Cosmo. Because he cares enough to see him and to work with us on payment.

Cosmo is in pretty bad shape. It's pretty much impossible for him to have not sustained kidney damage from this. We just won't know the severity of it yet. The vet definitely didn't want to say anything to lead us to believe he'd pull through. The vet is being very realistic to the situation.

My heart is shattered.

Since the first day I had him, I knew that Cosmo was part of me. I was incomplete before he came into my life. He's part of my soul.

I don't want to lose him like this. I can't lose him like this.

I know that I'll eventually lose him. And that's something I've been trying to be prepared for for quite some time.

But he was running around and playing yesterday.

Tuxie's been harassing him, and Cosmo was getting revenge all day yesterday, as well as playing with Nova and Apollo.

And then today, I see him lying in the bathtub, positioned under the dripping faucet.

I knew immediately that something was seriously wrong with him. Yeah, cats like to sleep in bathtubs and sinks, but not Cosmo. Never Cosmo.

I'm so glad that I went with my gut feeling instead of telling myself that he was fine. He probably wouldn't have made it through the night if I'd just brushed it off as odd behavior.

Please please please please please pray for him. If praying isn't your thing, please send positive energy and wishes his way.

Along with this update, I'm including an extra picture I took at the vet so you can see for yourself.

I love you all.

Take care and be careful. And please, don't pass up any opportunities to tell and show the people and animals in your life that you love them. You never know when they might be ripped away from you.