My poor baby

One of my kitties is sick. And I know that cats get sick and it’s not a big deal, but this one has had a lot of problems, so we worry a lot when he gets sick.

Last year, when he was a few months old, he started throwing up all the time. We didn’t think much of it at first, because sometimes cats throw up, but after a few days, he was looking kind of thin, so we made an appointment with the vet. We took him in, still thinking he was probably fine, but just wanting to make sure, and ended up having emergency surgery on him that night.

The vet felt a lump in his stomach, and figured (since he was a kitten) that he probably had gotten into something and swallowed something he shouldn’t, and it was stuck in there. So they did surgery (not cheap!) and found out that there was nothing stuck in there, and the lump was a hugely swollen lymph node pressing on his stomach. They gave us some anti-inflammatory medicine, and he got better.

Then a month or so later, he started throwing up again. I took him in right away, and the vet said the lump was still there. She told us that he had cancer, and we needed to either start treatment or put him to sleep. We tried to argue that, since no matter what was wrong with him, he was NOT at the point where he would need to be put to sleep, but the vet basically said that we were just in denial because we didn’t want to believe he had cancer, and pretty much made us feel like we were horrible for keeping him alive.

I don’t know what was up with her, because my dad has been going to this vet for years, and never had a problem, and we haven’t had a problem with her since then, so I don’t know why she was so adamant about this, especially since she hadn’t done any tests to know for sure whether it was cancer–she was just going by her own opinion.

So needless to say, we didn’t put him to sleep, and gave him some more of the same medicine, and he got better. And stayed better for a year. I had to take him in for an eye infection a couple months ago, and the vet felt his stomach, and said that the lump had disappeared, and he seemed fine.

So then a couple weeks ago, he started throwing up again. I took him in and they gave him a shot of something, and he got better for a few days, then got sick again. I took him in yesterday morning, and they gave him the same shot, plus something to keep him hydrated, and gave me some antibiotics to give him at home for a week. So far he’s been fine since then.

But I’m so worried about him, because no one has been able to figure out what’s wrong with him. I know there’s the pet food scare right now, but that’s not what this is, because first of all, our other cat eats the same food and is fine, and also, this problem started over a year ago. He’s been eating the same food for most of that year, so it’s unlikely that he’s allergic to it or anything. The vets don’t even have a guess anymore about what he has.

So we just have to hope he stays better. I’ve been watching him obsessively to make sure he’s not throwing up. Since the appointment yesterday morning, he has been eating a lot (which is good, because he had pretty much stopped eating), but he just seems to not feel well.

He’s such a good cat that I just feel horrible when he gets sick. When he was getting the shot at the vet (which involved them holding a needle in him for about 5 minutes), he barely struggled, but he just looked at me the whole time, like "how can you do this to me?" Last year when he had his surgery, the vet who monitored him overnight said that he woke up purring and wanted to cuddle with all the vets, and they all wanted to steal him and take him home.

Anyway, I know it sounds stupid, but please pray for my kitty. He’s just so sweet and doesn’t deserve to be going through all this.