Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The Fat Cat


Saturday night around 7 Handsome Hubby and I noticed the cat hadn't been around. This is totally normal for him when it's hot...he hides out in the basement. Plus, we were rushing around a lot, T1 had a friend over...lots of commotion. The boys were playing outside and going in and out...that was the red flag. Four is an indoor cat and is always trying to sneak out. Once he gets out, he never knows what to do so he usually goes back to the door and cries until someone lets him in.

So I searched the house...no Four. Searched around the neighbors houses, no Four. (he'll sometimes chase a bird over to the neighbors but never goes far...and never for very long...he's kind of a pansy even though he has claws)

Earlier Saturday morning our friend that lives next door told HH that he'd had to pull a cat out from his car. The cat had crawled up inside the engine and couldn't get out when he started his truck. The car was running funny so he pulled in to Midas (about 7 blocks away)...it took 3 mechanics 30 minutes to get the cat out. It was badly burnt but moving and alive. He took it to the local animal emergency hospital. Now, when he told HH about this we didn't think anything of it. Four is an indoor cat, there is no reason we'd think it was him....until 7pm when we realized he's missing.
Our friend/neighbor insisted we go down to the hospital to check...we honestly didn't think it was him b/c our other neighbor swore he saw Four around 6pm. We have a lot of strays around here, so it's hard telling. Jared finally went down there around 9:30pm...it was him.

I went down after the boys passed out. He was all wrapped up but he still had the fur on his face, tail and hind legs. There are no strays that are that fat and his face/paws are the same.

We don't know when/how he got out. We're guessing he must have run out at some point Friday night. How I didn't notice him missing, I don't know, b/c he sleeps on my feet every night.

They said he was critical, if he made it 24 hours then they could go from there and we could decide what to do. I bawled for hours. Cats are different from dogs and some people will probably read this thinking how on earth can you be that attached to a cat...but I was. And even though HH complains about the fat cat, he was upset too.
HH went down on Sunday to get the good and the bad news. At that point, we had to talk money. You can't put a price on a member of your family but at the same time, we knew there was a max at what we could afford to help our kitty. Luckily, the vet rocked and was willing to give us every discount he could and while the bill hurt...bad...it's something we're willing to do. We might be eating rice and beans for the next month, but in a week we'll have our partially bald fat cat home.

I just called to check on him, he's doing well but still not eating on his own. He managed to pull his tube out so they had to re-sedate him to get it back in. Poor Kitty, I'll bet he misses his big food bowl and our nice comfy couch that has a permanent indent on the top from his fat ass.

And when I say fat ass...I'm really not kidding and I say it in the nicest way possible. That cat weighed in at 17 lbs!






3 comments:

Kati said...

AhhhH! Pooor thing. I am so sad for him!

Sara Elizabeth said...

I am crying. I cannot imagine. You may or may not know, but we have four pet children (all indoors). I am always affraid they will get out. I cannot imagine. I am giving my babies extra love right now, and praying for your fat cat. I am wishing him a quick and easy recovery.

♥ Noelle ♥ said...

oh, poor fat cat! that is so sad:( i hope he is able to recooperate!!

hugs!