The fates seem to like teasing me – I really ought to start knocking on wood more often or some other hocus pocus. Remember how I said I was so eager to get to sleep? Right. Kinda didn’t happen.

When I fed the cats last night, I noticed that Gambit did not come running like he usually does. When I went to find him, I found him sitting on my bed. Squatting on my bed is a more accurate description, actually. Squatting and crying. He was trying to urinate, but nothing was coming out (fortunately for the state of my bed, unfortunately for the state of my cat). After a quick internet search to verify that this was something that warranted a trip to the emergency vet and a phone call to the vet’s office to obtain the after-hours location, Gambit and I headed out. He must have really known something was wrong, because the second I put the cat carrier on the floor, he made a mad dash to get inside.

So, it turns out my Gambit’s got feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD). They opted not to do a urinalysis, since it was more expensive than what it would cost at my normal vet’s office, and it wouldn’t change their treatment for the night (IV fluids and a shot of pain medicine), but I have to take him back into my regular vet’s either today or tomorrow if I can get an appointment to get a better idea of what is causing this and formulate a plan to get rid of it.

I spent $188 and didn’t get home til after 2:00 am. I am more tired than I thought humanly possible. And of course I’m going to worry about Gambit all day long while I’m at work. There’s luckily no blockage yet, but it could possibly be only a matter of time, so it really needs to be addressed very soon. If blockage occurs, it can cause renal failure leading to death in as little as 48 hours.