Cat Mom Diary #04 |An unexpected trip to the Vet Clinic. Osiris is in pain!

Fear crept up in my veins after just 10 minutes of watching my pet cat Osiris struggle to pee. He was just in this sitting position about to urinate but nothing happens. I'd notice he was straining all the time as he constantly moves from one spot to another but still no signs of urine. And with this, I panicked.  --- I panicked because Osiris is my first pet Cat. It's my first time having a cat as my companion. Cats are more independent and stubborn compared to dogs which I like since sometimes I'm out or traveling, and I don't need to worry about him most of the time. However, living here at the beach with him, we get to spend most of the time together so I would notice a lot of stuff going on with him. He still was doing great the night before, even chasing a giant lizard around the room. At first, I didn't want to be dramatic or be bothered with it so I contacted my go-to fellow cat parent and told him about my situation. As far as he was concerned, Osiris should be taken to the vet to ease my nerves. But I knew something was wrong as I googled the internet as to why my cat was acting the way he was. It might be urinary blockage which was already a serious thing for male cats! Anyways, 2 hours has passed and nothing seemed to change and so I decided to rush him to the nearest veterinary clinic which was in the next town! Thirty minutes of tricycle ride going to Bogo, Cebu. Good thing, Osiris was calm during our short trip. --- It isn't my first time visiting the **Bogo Claws and Paws Animal Clinic** as they were the only ones selling cat litter in this town!  Everything was "almost" smooth as I visualized it to be. Once I got there, there was only one pet and fur parent waiting in line for the doctor. And just 5 minutes after filling up the form, it was our turn. I like the doctor's energy - calm and reassuring. I explained to him what I've observed from Osiris's behavior this morning. Then, the assistant took Osiris and held him down as the doctor checked on his lower body. Osiris got so mad or was screaming in pain when the doctor touched his lower legs. After that, the doctor asked me if Osiris was intentionally hit by a vehicle as he was in great pain. And I swear, I didn't know that Osiris was injured and simply hiding his pain. I assured the doctor that no such incident happened (*that I know of*). After a few more minutes of feeling into Osiris' body, the doctor informed me that his bowel isn't distended yet so nothing critical to worry about so he might just have some bacterial infection causing the difficulty in urinating.  Antibiotics were injected into Osiris - two shots! Osiris was so pissed and mad. The doctor informed the assistant to let Osiris run loose inside the clinic after the injections were administered as he knows he will be in pain. And we did just that. Osiris was running around the clinic - verbalizing his intense anger at us and to the fellow cats inside the room. The doctor was even sweet and comforting when Osiris jumped into his chair and was directing his anger at him. 😭 Agatha (the doctor's cat) wanted to come close to Osiris but to no avail.   After that, I was given a list of medications for Osiris. Hopefully, we won't have to go back to the clinic anytime soon! After a couple of minutes, Osiris didn't seemed to calmed down. That's when they had to catch him using a towel and put him inside our travel bag.  Although the check-up fee was only Php 350 or $6.25, the medicines made the visit more expensive. So we ended with a total bill of Php 2,180 or $38.9. But this is simply nothing compared to the relief I had after the doctor said that Osiris was in no critical condition and should be doing well in a couple of days. Last advice: Always trust your gut instinct with your pets. Don't wait for a couple more hours or even days to have them check with a doctor. Animals are so good at hiding their pain and it might be too late for us to help them if we delay that trip to the doctor.  _{Shoutout to the amazing doctor and staff at [Bogo Claws and Paws Animal Clinic](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bogo+Claws+and+Paws+Animal+Clinic/@11.0515776,124.0081884,20.08z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x33a86937cbc3397f:0x5a3a45f573044f26!8m2!3d11.0517469!4d124.00823)!} --- *Update: Osiris is eating and drinking well and has been able to pee normally after we visited the vet.*