About a week and a half ago, my cat Clive stopped using his litter box. Within a day or two, I noticed he was straining and clearly uncomfortable, so I had a family member take him into the vet, only to find out that his bladder was completely blocked. The vet told me it can turn fatal fast, sometimes within 48 hours. He was admitted to the kitty ICU that same day.

He spent four nights there where he got round the clock care by incredibly attentive and skilled veterinary professionals. I visited every day, which I'm honestly not sure made things better or worse. The moment Clive saw me, he would start pressing his nose against the grates of his enclosure, trying to get to me. He just wanted to be out. He wanted to be in my lap.

And I had to keep leaving without him. He didn't understand why I kept leaving without him. And no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't possibly explain it to him.

The stress of being confined got so severe that his nose and lips actually swelled up from pressing against the grates so persistently.

Seeing him hooked up to tubes and monitors, looking small, confused and so very tired, was heartbreaking in a way that I struggle to put into words.

I'm still struggling to shake the image.

On his last day there, he had surgery to remove four bladder stones, which had caused the blockage in the first place. It went well. A few days later I got to bring him home.

He's doing okay now. Back to being annoying in the best possible ways.

However, he's going to need ongoing treatment to make sure this doesn't happen again, and the bills from the hospitalization and surgery have already been a massive financial strain. I've had to empty my savings accounts, and then some. Any help, even just sharing this, genuinely means a lot.