Hey everyone, got another update on Camper. Since his vet visit on Monday, he has been quite lethargic and unwilling to walk. We got him some pain meds thinking maybe he's just really sore, and I definitely saw improvement in his demeanor with those meds. However, he hadn't pooped since Tuesday, and he's been incontinent for his peeing, as well as having some labored breathing.

So I took him back to the vet today and we did X-rays, and found he was *very* constipated. He also has pretty bad arthritis on his spine, which explains his unwillingness to walk. Unfortunately he also had fluids around his abdomen. Vet is thinking either FIP or cancer. We aren't willing to give up on him yet, so we drained the fluids around his abdomen and sent sample out for testing for FIP. I am very much hoping it is FIP, because then we would have a treatment option. If it is cancer, unfortunately with everything else he has to overcome, and his estimated age, it wouldn't look good.

In addition to the fluid drain, the vet helped express his bladder which was enlarged, and when I tell you he pissed a river I am not exaggerating. Poor baby must have been so uncomfortable. His incontinence was happening when he slept, so the running theory is that because of the arthritis he wasn't willing to go into the squatting position, so he was holding his bladder and poop. But when he slept, his muscles relaxed, and because his bladder was so full it just leaked out when those muscles relaxed. For the constipation they did an enema, and I'll be giving him a tiny bit of miralax with each meal to help prevent constipation again. It does mean I'm likely going to be doing a lot of pee pad/towel/bedding changes for the foreseeable future, but that is just fine with me. If it turns out he's got FIP and we go with the treatment, we can also work on pain management for the arthritis, to hopefully get him back to being able to use the litter box regularly again.

Obviously all of this means we've got another big vet bill 🥲 Working on that. The important thing is he's got soft bedding, a nice warm room to himself, fresh water, good food, and all the love I can give him. Whether he's with me for another several years, only a few months, or less...he will have a much better life than he's had before. I'll continue to update as I get more info or have more stories to share about him. For now, he's resting off the light sedation they gave him and I'm sure later tonight he'll have some words for me about the whole ordeal.

Enjoy some pictures from the last few days and especially the goofy one I got mid-indignant meow at the vets this morning. I shouldn't laugh, it was a very serious visit, but he just looks so stinking outraged it's adorable 🥹

Update: Camper had another vet visit, not the greatest news, but we aren't done yet