September 25 "The fragility of life" by Anapaula Ochoa

This summer, I was reminded of how fragile life truly is when one of my cats faced an emergency, which turned into a fight for his life. On June 18th, I noticed significant changes in my cat Megatron, symptoms I had overlooked until they worsened dramatically. He was lethargic, deprived of his bodily autonomy, and had little to no appetite. I was alarmed by the sight, as Megatron is often an energetic, lively, and food-motivated creature. I isolated myself with him in my room, in order to watch him and his condition more closely. After a while, I attempted to feed him some of his favorite treats, which were received well. This relieved some of my worry, only to be crushed once again soon after. He made his way to the litterbox where he laid bloody stool, indicating that he was in fact, not okay.

I had suspected something was wrong earlier that day and made an appointment with my regular vet. His bloody stool alarmed me deeply and I decided it couldn’t wait until his appointment the next day. I walked out of my room and begged my dad while sobbing to drive me to the emergency vet, the closest one being 40 minutes away. I scooped Megatron into the cat carrier and secured him in the backseat of the car. I remember frantically searching for the emergency vet in the GPS, worried deeply about my cat’s health. The whole way to the emergency vet I was glancing back at him, worried that he had succumbed to his illness on the way to help.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that I would lose him, due to my awareness that his condition was critical. His gums were as white as paper, an indication that he was extremely anemic. He was unable to stand properly; he wobbled and was extremely weak. Little did I know, the reason for his inability to put weight on all fours was because he had so little blood there was no oxygen reaching his limbs. As we arrived, it was 7:30, the date and time engraved into my mind as one of the worst I have ever lived. It was then we learned how sick he truly was, and it began his battle for his life.

Megatron is now doing much better!

The recovery was rough and expensive, but I am incredibly grateful that he pulled through. Any added time with him is so very significant. He is one of my four cats, and I have had him for about a year now. The whole experience with him this summer put an immense amount of stress on me, and I am so grateful for the Emergency Vet in Fresno and my regular vet in Kingsburg. Without their valuable services and dedication to the betterment of Megatron’s health, my time with him could have very well been cut short.