Catheterized, Constipated, and Cranky Cat. (Definitely no knitting content ahead.)

I visited Boris today - he has a catheter sticking out of his backside, an IV taped to his leg, he looks even skinnier than ever, and is far from his normal self, but of course, he has a catheter in his rear and an IV in his front leg and I'm sure feels nothing like his normal self. He didn't give me much of a greeting, either because he's feeling awful or he blames me for all of this. He is still constipated, too, so the vet wanted to give him a second enema today. And we still have no idea what has caused this - testing for kidney function is up next today. His kidney output was all out of whack because of the blockage(s), and now that he's been catheterized they'll re-test his urine to see if his kidneys are screwed up. If it's not his kidneys, the next suspect is his thyroid. He is due to be unhooked from all of the torture devices later today, and I may be able to bring him home this afternoon, and we'll see if he eats and seems better back in his familiar environment.

His medical bills are creeping up toward a thousand dollars. Heavy Sigh.

UPDATE: It's almost certainly kidney failure. I'll be bringing him home later today, to see if he eats more and is more comfortable here. I'm leaving for Baltimore on Friday, so I'll have to see how Girlchild feels about this - I may take him back to the vet and board him while I'm gone, so they can monitor his eating/fluids.

UPDATE 2: I brought him home after 5, and he greeted the dogs with head butts and sincere purring. Smooch was really glad to see him, and he head butted her and purred back. He nibbled some chicken pieces from my hand, and then retreated through the cat flap to the "cat hangout" in the garage. He's out there, sleeping in the heat. It may be just what he needs, after several nights in a noisy, busy strange cage at the clinic - a good sound sleep in his own familiar space. I put water near him. I carried him in a little while ago and got him to eat a few more bites of food, but I haven't seen him drinking anything, and when I left him to decide what he wanted to do, he just wanted to go back to his garage floor and stretch out.

I'm not going to leave him like this on Girl's watch, when she's going to be busting her butt to deal with working and her own household and mine. She can't do the kind of monitoring he needs, so if he's not at least halfway back to himself tomorrow, he'll be back at the vet Friday morning. Damn, Friday is shaping up to be a damn long day. Unofficial Cousin J better have some jalapeno poppers ready when we arrive Friday evening. With a side of mega-margaritas.