07/01/2025
This is not the update we wanted to give but I believe in being transparent, sharing the stories of our precious feline friends, and ultimately sharing a part of my heart and the heart of our organization with you all.
Yesterday evening I went to the shelter to do night rounds and make sure Herbie had his medications and food before a certain time (he was going to have surgery this morning but it got bumped to the afternoon and I’m waiting on an update). Our little broken leg orange dude Gerard had not been wanting to eat much so I picked him up to give him a squeeze treat and try to stimulate his appetite more. That was when I felt his belly and what I knew was his bladder which was huge and turgid. I was able to express him a little and reduce the size of the bladder but it was very difficult and I knew he could not stay like that overnight. Bladder obstructions are deadly if not treated swiftly and having experienced a few of those with adult male cats over the years, I was not about to take my chances with Gerard who we have worked so hard on fixing up for the last two weeks since he arrived. So I called MedVet in Asheville and made the necessary arrangements, reached out to one of our board members to see if they’d go with me, packed him up and headed out.
Sebastian and I arrived at MedVet shortly after 10:30PM and met with a sweet technician named Kaitlynn who listened to my concerns and Gerard’s history. She took him back to the doctor who shared my concerns about bladder obstruction. However, things were super busy there (of course, it’s a Sunday night) and they thought he would be better off being seen at SAVES (South Asheville Veterinary Emergency Services) where there was a specialist in neurology who could check him out. It is rare for a kitten to get blocked like this - it usually happens to adult male cats. (Why it’s very important to monitor your cat’s litter box behavior and activity!) But given his leg injury and healing wound around his back end, it would be prudent to have more help if we needed it and if we went to SAVES, he would get relief faster.
So we packed him up and headed to SAVES and got there after midnight. The kind folks at the front desk immediately sent him to triage after learning about his blockage and we met another sweet technician who got his history from us. After a short wait, Dr. Franke led us into a room and explained what he initially thought was going on. Gerard was painful because of retaining urine and they could try to reduce the bladder as much as possible, send him home with pain meds and antibiotics, etc… we explored some different options and opted to try for just getting him more comfortable and able to come home so we could take him to his regular veterinarian who is very familiar with his case for follow up.
More waiting. Then Dr. Franke brought us back to the room and delivered some tough news. He discovered that Gerard had actually developed a fistula in his wound that bore into his bladder and that was what was causing the extra swelling that was backing him up and causing the pain. Due to his tiny size and particular anatomy, and the extremely friable tissue there, the prognosis was very poor for him to be able to survive the surgery necessary to repair all of his issues. We went over all of our options, weighing in many factors including his quality of life, likelihood of successful surgery and recovery, and costs and resource allocation… and we were ultimately left with the most heartbreaking choice we ever have to make for our beloved charges: we needed to let Gerard go. He had been acting like a maniac kitten earlier and now we had to make this decision for him?! It didn’t seem real but it very much was.
We were all preparing to say goodbye when without warning, Gerard suddenly arrested and passed away on his own without intervention. It was shocking and upsetting but in a way sort of comforting that he went out on his own terms. It eases some of my anguish to know he was comfortable and being doted on by the staff and it was quick. The doctor and staff were devastated. I was able to hold him one last time and kiss his little head like I had been doing every day for the last two weeks. The med team even took a flower and laid over his little body when they placed him in a box so we could have him created with our local friends at Peaceful Paws. .
This kitten had been through so much pain at only 3 months old and yet he only wanted the comfort and companionship with people. He never stopped making biscuits and purring and trying to get attention. Even with a dangling leg and maggots eating him alive when we he first came to Catman2, he was the sweetest baby. And he had so many people working hard to help him. Dr. Black and her team at Sylva Animal Hospital saw him several times for wound care. And the kind folks at MedVet, and Dr. Franke and his team at SAVES did all they could to help him. I am grateful for all of them and for all of you, who shared his story and donated toward his care. Your support means the world to us as an organization and to me personally.
I’ll be honest; this loss cuts deep in a brutal kitten season which continues to inundate us with grossly injured and sick cats and kittens. The calls and messages and surrender requests don’t stop just because we had a sad, sleepless night. We will continue to do what we can to help sweet broken babies like Gerard, even if only for a short time to show them what it means to be loved. But we may need to turn the phone off and take a three hour nap surrounded by paperwork sometimes. That’s okay, too.
Be good to yourself and each other.
- 💚 Kaleb
