"How's the kitty?"

He's very sick, but we're just waiting. He has a good shot, but he's not exactly on the way to better yet. If that makes any sense.

It doesn't.

Oh. Sorry.

What was the matter with him anyway?

He's "blocked."

Um, ok, and that means what?

It means he has/had "sand" (debris/crystals) in his bladder and it's clogging his urethra when he tries to pee. This is very painful and if not discovered within 24-48 hours can be fatal.

Wow. How did you know that he was blocked then?

A couple weeks ago there were pee drops on the floor. I thought they needed a new litter box, so we did that and I thought the problem went away. Then, Monday afternoon I stepped on something damp and saw that we had pee dirbble again. Damn. So I planned to call the vet the next morning (it was nearly 5.) I went to my bathroom and saw on the light colored tile a tiny spot of blood. So I walked the rooms that the kitties frequent and discovered a few other drops that I'd overlooked. I decided to call the vet right then.

They asked me a few questions and told me to bring him in IMMEDIATELY.

Did they really speak in capital letters?

Yes.

That's strange. Why?

Well, the male urethra is very narrow and easily blocked. The blood is a bad sign. If a cat strains and is unable to urinate, his bladder will fill up.

I have a full bladder all the time. What's so scary about that?

Well, if he can't empty it, it will become toxic. Then the kidneys will stop bothering to make urine because there's no place for it to go.

Oh, I see. What do they do for that?

Well, step one was to unblock him. They did this while sedated and with a catheter. He then got a ton of antibiotics and painkillers. Then they waited to see how he was, took the catheter out to see if he was better. He did well, peed right away.

Then why is he still sick?

Because they watch the kitty for 12 hours to make sure he doesn't re-block. My guy failed this test. He re-blocked and they had to put the catheter back in. There's still stuff in his bladder and without the catheter it would keep blocking his urethra.

Can you wrap this up please? You're saying "urethra" a lot.

Ok, I have to go anyway because Birdie is waking up. I'll finish this later. Come back to read about a very very awful Plan C (it will make your husband cringe.)