At the Hospital With Renn

Renn went to the hospital today. He has been visiting the litter-boxes a great deal, usually leaving only tiny drops of urine behind. Now and then, he would leave healthier-sized lumps. He did not seem to be in discomfort, and I was certain it was not a blockage. It was simply that, when he needed to go, he didn’t always leave the amount he should.

The veterinary felt a hardness in Renn’s bladder. He was treated with an ultra-sound, and a mass was revealed. It is a puzzle to the doctor, as it was to a second doctor to whom she showed the resulting pictures. The mass does not cast a shadow like a bladder-stone would, nor was it in the place - where the drain out of the bladder is situated - at which cancer normally forms. The veterinary was reluctant to take a biopsy of the mass since, if it were a cancer, the insertion of a needle - or, rather, the retraction of it - would cause the cancer to pull apart and spread.

Renn has been scheduled for another ultra-sound on the first day of February. This will tell us if the mass has grown. In the meantime, he has been prescribed an anti-inflammatory drug to ease any discomfort. I will also be trying to collect a sample of my big boy’s urine at home, for analysis. If Renn experiences greater discomfort, or even if the drug has no effect, I will contact the doctor once more, as the medicine can be harmful in the long-term to Renn’s kidneys. In the short-term, however, it may be beneficial.

In May, Renn will have been with me for fourteen years. Nonetheless, I would be most reluctant to part with my big boy just yet.