Octopus Overlords

Last night Gus came in around midnight, as he often does when the weather's nice. His brother, Beery, comes when called and always spends the nights indoors, but Gus has a mind of his own -- as we say, "Gus gonna be Gus."

He acted normal enough and had a nosh. I went to bed. Routine night.

This morning Beery woke Wife to let him out. They usually do that together, being eager to get back on the job, but Gus sometimes sleeps thru the day after he's been on a bender, especially on these hot humid days, so we didn't think much about his absence. He was in the house, after all. The day wore on. Still no sign of Gus. This was starting to get unusual. I checked his favorite haunt down the cellar -- a high shelf near a window where he likes to doze. He wasn't there, and the crap on the shelf was scattered all over the floor, so he'd been there. Puzzled, I walked around calling. No response. But he's a private cat and a good hider, so I was only mildly concerned. Gus gonna be Gus.

Dinnertime rolled around and still no Gus. I should mention that Beery had been acting normal all day, so no signs that anything was amiss there. I checked the cellar again, more carefully this time, and I heard a weak distress cry.

Much of our cellar is taken up by piles of crap that Wife stores down there forever -- stacks and stacks of boxes and containers full of who knows what, some of them unopened since we moved in 30 years ago. The sound was coming from the pile of crap. Had he been caught in a cave-in? I found him wedged tightly between a filing cabinet and a stack of heavy containers full of Wife's old clips...ancient magazines and newspapers containing articles she'd written. She's been writing for nearly 50 years and saves everything, so that's a big portion of the pile of crap. Point being that these were very heavy containers.

I dug down to where he was laying and lifted him out. He was listless, but not visibly injured. When I set him down he got up and walked a few unsteady steps. He obviously wasn't feeling well, but apparently he wasn't broken. Probably just needed some fluids and nutrition after being trapped down there all day, I thought. We whisked him off to the 24-hour vet hospital just to be safe. These things always happen on weekend nights, so his regular vet was not an option.

And there he still is. They didn't find any physical injuries, but he's got neurological problems. His reflexes were off, pupils not responding. A neurologist gave him a once-over and will get on the case full-time tomorrow morning. Interest is centered on his brain stem. Working hypothesis (after $1700 spent so far) is a tumor or an infection (he's on antibiotics). They don't see evidence of trauma, and as I replay the excavation in my mind I don't think that the pile had actually collapsed on him. It's touch-and-go whether he will survive the night. If he does, it's questionable how much brain function he'll have when he finally comes home.

We might have to put him down, and it might cost more $thousands to make a firm determination. We don't want to take care of a mentally defective cat and our pockets are not bottomless -- I'm not going to spend $10,000 for brain surgery, for example, so euthanasia is on the table. Ffs, the cat's only 3.5 years old and was in fine health yesterday. But if Gus ain't gonna be Gus anymore....

A couple hours ago I came up with my own hypothesis that he was poisoned and crawled into the pile to die. We will float that idea to the neurologist tomorrow. I have no evidence for it, but it feels right.

(Meanwhile, just for context, my BIL is in the hospital after stubbing his toe at home a couple days ago. He's a diabetic and needs to have two toes amputated. There's a chance he might lose his foot. Wife will probably have to spend a week in MI taking care of him. Her other brother isn't doing very well, either, although he's not facing anything acute yet.) We were just saying today how lucky we are to escape all the doom that's striking around us.

This is Gus being Gus.

So sorry to hear that Kraken. I know the anguish you're feeling and the terrible position you're in having to weigh a loved one's existence against a pocketbook. I hope he pulls through and goes on to be an old Gus.

Hoping for Gus to pull through.

That's a bummer man. It does sound like it might be poisoning.

It is just so heartbreaking when our pets get injured or sick. All our dogs are getting olde and I am so happy every time I see them eating well and getting around good.
I am so sorry about Gus.

Oh wow I hated seeing this thread when I opened OO. Then I see the name Gus and thats the name of our 10 year old big dog. I worry every day. Im so sorry about your Gus. Maybe he'll perk up still. But I wish you all the best. I know how our little ones can be a worry.

Seems odd that a 3.5 year cat would suddenly decline like that so poisoning makes sense as a possibility.

Sorry to hear about Gus. I hope he pulls through

Thanks for the kind words. Writing these posts makes me feel, however irrationally, like I'm doing something about it.

Gus made it thru the night and is stable, although not noticeably improved. Neurologist doubts poisoning because the damage is asymmetrical -- today one of his pupils is dilating a little in response to bright light, but the other isn't. He's largely unconscious of his surroundings and acts demented, inasmuch as he shows any activity at all. Most likely culprit is either an infectious agent such as toxoplasmosis (which we should know when his bloodwork comes back tomorrow; that would be good news, as it responds favorably to long-term antibiotics) or a tumor (which will take a $3,000 MRI to determine and is probably a death sentence -- but he's at a weird age for cancer likelihood: too old to develop a young-cat disease like leukemia and too young for old-cat diseases). They have asked multiple times about his rabies status, because this resembles that; I am quite sure that he's up-to-date on all vaccines. Both cats get a comprehensive exam every year.

So the money meter is still running and we won't have any answers until tomorrow. I put a Do Not Resuscitate order on him, which the vet heartily concurred with -- if he declines to the point of death, there's no chance that he will ever come back to a decent quality of life. With cats this young and (formerly) healthy, we didn't expect to deal with life-and-death issues for at least another 10-12 years. Vet promised to give us another update at the end of his workday in a few hours.

Tiberius is anxious about his brother. I don't know how well he'll adapt to being an only cat, if it comes to that. He and Gus have been together since the womb. Also, vet said the chance of transmitting Gus' infection (if such it is) is near zero, so that's a relief.

This seriously sucks!

Hoping for the best for Gus.

EOD update was a little more optimistic. Gus should survive the night, and might be responding to the antibiotics. We'll know better tomorrow morning. I've been steeling myself for the euthanasia decision all day and this is the first time I've thought we might not have to go there.

Good luck to all three of you! I hope Gus can be well.

I was without a pet for 25 years until we adopted our dog (Gus, actually) a year ago this month. Now I feel like I was missing something for a quarter century.

Is Gus his only name? Our dog is actually Gustav Achillis Maximus. Gus being short for Gustav of course . Gustav because wife wanted something Russian like. Achillis(yes correct spelling) from the show Andromeda, and maximus because we both loved the movie Gladiator.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sun Aug 04, 2019 6:22 pm Is Gus his only name? Our dog is actually Gustav Achillis Maximus. Gus being short for Gustav of course . Gustav because wife wanted something Russian like. Achillis(yes correct spelling) from the show Andromeda, and maximus because we both loved the movie Gladiator.

Our dog is Augustus because we adopted him in August, but he only answers to Gus, Gustopher, or (my favorite) Augie Doggie.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sun Aug 04, 2019 6:22 pm Is Gus his only name? Our dog is actually Gustav Achillis Maximus. Gus being short for Gustav of course . Gustav because wife wanted something Russian like. Achillis(yes correct spelling) from the show Andromeda, and maximus because we both loved the movie Gladiator.

Gaius Octavius Caesar Augustus or Augustus Piccard, take your pick. He has many nicks, including Guster Buster and Guster Meier Wiener.

Guster Buster

Lol our little chihuahua is Buster. Buster Boo. When we got him at the shelter his name was Buster and the wife said for me to pick hi ma second name to go with it. So Boo it was.

Anyways still hoping for great news on your Gus.

Gus looks just like my cat Coal, I sure hope he pulls through and is back to normal.

Tiberius and Augustus just a few days ago. Gus is in the foreground.



If Gus doesn't make it, Beery will feel the loss the most.

Improvement this morning exceeded the vet's expectations. He's regained around 20% of his lost brain function (mainly the optic nerve) and is still on the mend. If he starts eating reliably he can come home, possibly as early as tonight or (more likely) tomorrow. It turns out that you can't keep a cat going with IV feeding indefinitely; if they don't eat for 3-4 days their liver starts to shut down, and that cascades to other organs.

His leading theory is still toxoplasmosis, but he allowed as how it might have been a stroke, which became my leading theory after ruling out poison. Gus had been previously diagnosed with an intermittent heart murmur, so a circulatory problem is plausible. Whatever happened to him happened suddenly, I'm pretty sure of that.

Whatever the details, it looks like he's going to come home. Hard to say yet what condition he'll be in -- he's got a 50/50 chance of recovering full vision, so blindness or partial blindness is a high threat. Despite the cost, we will keep him hospitalized for as long as that's advantageous. I'm a little more tolerant of a massive vet bill if we get back a live cat.

Glad to hear that things are progressing positively.

Pulling for the little guy. Hope he gets home soon.

I was not aware of Toxo causing those types of symptoms in cats; my impression was that toxo infections for them were usually benign. From what you described it sounded more like a stroke, but I honestly don't know much about pets and stroke risk; can't say I even know someone that has owned a pet that had one. Hopefully you get good news and things continue to progress.

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Mon Aug 05, 2019 5:08 pm I was not aware of Toxo causing those types of symptoms in cats; my impression was that toxo infections for them were usually benign. From what you described it sounded more like a stroke, but I honestly don't know much about pets and stroke risk; can't say I even know someone that has owned a pet that had one. Hopefully you get good news and things continue to progress.

I know. I guess if their immune system is compromised, toxo can take 'em down with some neuro symptoms that fit the case. I'm shocked that it can hit like a ton of bricks, if that's what it is. He seemed fine the night before, and was at death's door when I found him 15 hours later. I too favor the stroke hypothesis, but I'm not the high-paid neurologist.

Not to hijack your post, our kitten got diagnosed with cancer to a kidney and up to six weeks to live. That was 14 month ago and she is still hunting light-reflections from my mobile on the ground. She has her issues and it might be over quickly one day, but right now she is running strong. Hope Gus will, too.

Hope she keeps doing well.

Tonight's update was ungood.

Toxicology tests were all negative, meaning it's not toxo or any other infection. That leaves us with (most likely) a brain tumor or (possibly) a stroke.

We have three options:

1. Spend $3,000 for an MRI. With his low level of brain function, odds are high that Gus would not survive the anesthesia, and even if he does, finding out exactly what's wrong doesn't mean that it could be fixed. I'm the sort of person who likes to have as much info as possible, but not the sort who can pay that kind of money for it.

2. Bring him home and "see how he does." This would entail giving him antibiotics 3x per day, "encouraging" him to eat and drink (which he still isn't doing in the hospital), and generally babysitting him full time. He is completely blind and only marginally aware of his surroundings. Would he even recognize us or know that he's home? This is a euphemism for bringing him home to die.

3. Euthanasia. His blindness is probably permanent, his awareness and personality are never going to be what they were, he has a known heart condition, and at this point he's not even taking nourishment. The odds of this ending with anything like a decent quality of life are near zero.

When pressed for a recommendation, the vet recommended either 1 or 3. #2 would be hardest on everyone, including our other cat.

We are going to wait for one more update tomorrow morning. Unless there is significant unexpected progress, we will most likely euthanize before the end of the day. His hospitalization is costing us something approaching $1,000 per day so we can't drag this out any longer. We are deeply unhappy about all of our choices, but euthanasia seems like the best ending we're going to get.

So sorry to hear it, Ken. Losing a pet is never easy.

So sorry .Was really hoping for a better outcome.

Not meaning to be silly here but $1000 is an expensive vet. Of course I haven't had to leave one in at least 15 years. But I could swear it was like $80 for the same type care..almost. And $3000 for a mri? Geez why cant they do a xray? I see tumors on xrays all the time. Maybe its because he is little?

Anyways I still hope he improves. I wish I could help . Pray is all I can do.

WOW… and this morning was sounding so much better. This really sucks.

My sympathies to you and your family. Really sounds like option #3 is where you are going to have to go barring a miracle overnight.

Any chance a new cat might help ease the lose on Tiberius?

Sorry about your cat. Those prices have me wondering if there's such a thing as medical tourism for pets?

...and what do you know, there is https://www.theyucatantimes.com/2017/07 ... -pet-care/

Zenn7 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 06, 2019 12:10 amWOW… and this morning was sounding so much better. This really sucks.

It does suck. Sadly, there always seems to be a final rally before the ultimate decline.

I'm sorry to hear that it's not going well.

I’m sorry.

Augustus died overnight in the hospital.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Mon Aug 05, 2019 11:39 pm Not meaning to be silly here but $1000 is an expensive vet.

The VCA Animal Hospital is notoriously expensive. It used to be our primary vet, long ago, until they un-affiliated with Tufts and went for pure profit. Got too expensive and impersonal, so we switched to a small practice after Toke died (geez, that's 27 years ago now) and we didn't need their cardiologist anymore. Unfortunately, when disaster strikes on a weekend night, the 24-hour emergency room is where you go. If we'd called our own vet, they would have referred us there. I'm not exaggerating when I call it a hospital -- this is their building.



So we paid top dollar of necessity, but we're at least confident that he had the most expert care possible.

Zenn7 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 06, 2019 12:10 am Any chance a new cat might help ease the lose on Tiberius?

Neither of us wants another one, but if Tiberius seems depressed for too long we might consider getting him a kitten.

So sad to hear this news. Rest in peace, Augustus.

Sorry to hear this. I know it was tough.

RIP.

Sorry to hear it. My condolences to you and your wife.

My condolences to you and your wife and Tiberius.

Wow that building looks like a place I should go for treatment.

Very sorry for Mr Gus and you and your wife and Tib.