Pho

This is Tony, he's around 15 years old ♡ I adopted him from the shelter in California 8 years ago. When I was walking through the aisle of little cages they let us open them to see the cats, when I opened his he leaped into my arms I knew he was mine right away. They said he could be anywhere from 3 to 9 years old so we just went with what the vet guessed. He is an inside cat only. (click read more for the full story) He was very quiet and timid, hiding at first. Then he started wanted to be held and cuddled 24/7 and meowing for attention. The older he's gotten, the quieter he's gotten, especially after losing his companion cat about a year ago. However, he still wants love ALL the time. He cuddles me to sleep every single night. He doesn't have a mean bone in his body even when it comes to other animals, he just wants to rub and love on everyone even other cats and dogs. He's always had a heart murmur and something wrong with his heart, but I take him every year to a heart doctor to check if he's okay. It's always been fine to live with, just keep an eye on it, so we do yearly checks. He was diagnosed with hyperthyroid shortly after my other cat, Fru Fru, had passed away. So I give him a pill for that every morning and night every day. Otherwise he's been a healthy kitty!!! This is my first real BIG health scare with him. Like where I wasn't sure he'd live. I'm still not completely sure. It started in February, I noticed a wound on his foot that just wouldn't heal. I took him to the vet multiple times while they kept it wrapped to heal. He was in the vet at least 3 times in one week toward the end of February just to check on it. However, a couple days after all that he was asking to be held one night at bedtime and when I picked him up he screamed in pain. I then saw him limp and a big bump was bleeding on his butt. Even though it was 11 pm and my car battery had died that day, I called a good friend and rushed Tony to the emergency vet. They said he had an anal abscess and he needed emergency surgery. They couldn't really say how it happened. I sat there that night until 2 am, when they said I could finally go home without him. They did the surgery overnight and I stayed up all night waiting to hear if he was okay. I was terrified with his age and heart about him being put under. He made it after surgery, though. I had another friend drive me to pick him up the next day because my car was still dead. It was horrifying seeing the drain and how big the stitches were from surgery. They gave me 5 medications to give him, most for 8 days. Some medications were 3 times a day, others 2 times. That's on top of the 2 pills I already have to give him daily for his hyperthyroid. I also had to hot compress his wound and wipe up any drainage. I had to keep him separated from our other cat and dog in my room, which he and the others HATED. It was not easy. He couldn't poop for days and when he finally did he was in pain. He accidentally pooped on my bed several times. He threw up some and I contacted the vet every time, anytime something was strange to me I called to let them know. We also had three rechecks with the vet, so I thought they'd catch if anything was wrong. They said he was healing great on the last visit I went to. Then he stopped eating for several days and I called the vet every day to let them know, they had me wait until my appointment to check on Tony. The vet checked his blood and said he was VERY sick. The doctor was very serious with me. She said he might not make it with his age and he's lost a lot of weight. His kidney levels were a 9, which is extremely high. His pancreas levels were also sky rocketed. I was told I had to hospitalize him with another vet, so I drove him to a different emergency vet (which thankfully ended up being where his heart doctor was). I trust this vet much more than anywhere else. They did the intake and I got one last lil visit with him to give him love, then they got him in the back and gave him antibiotics and IV fluids. This vet was able to tell me they think this happened from one of the medications the first emergency vet had given me. The next day his number went down to an 8 and when I visited he finally ate again after not for 4 days. The day after that it went down to a 6, which they said is great and is showing a trend of the numbers slowly getting better. So treatment is working. I have been visiting him every day and he seems to be happier, eating and moving around!!! Today an ultra sound expert will be in to check his organs. They said those numbers are still extremely high and he can't come home yet. He'll stay hospitalized until it's safe, however they do not believe his kidney and pancreas levels will ever be what they were before. This has been absolutely horrible for me. Tony is my comfort ♡ a piece of me has been so broken watching him hurt. I would do anything for those I love if they're in pain or need help. At the end of February my last grandparent died, a week later I had to put my dog down because she had an incurable carcinoma covering all of her lungs and she couldn't breath. While all that was happening, this started with Tony. This has been one of the hardest times of my life, being a mom to one lovely son who is 6 years old. My main support is a long term partner and he's been gone most of this year touring. Sleep has not come easy, yet every day I still have to work so we all can survive and thrive. I still have to be a parent no matter what. My other fur babies need me to love and take care of them too. On top of everything I have a chronic illness myself, endometriosis and the past couple years have been the hardest for me discovering more about that for the betterment of my health. I have many financial responsibilities that I take care of, but this with Tony has caused a HUGE debt. I used Care Credit for all vet bills, which I am very thankful exists for emergencies like this. The surgery on Tony's abscess cost me over 2k and the emergency vet stay is 8k. I need your support, anything helps Thank you so much, Pho