Thanks, Deb. Sadly, it was something major, and Buddy won't be on the mend. It was a complete urinary blockage, and the vet said that if he had gone untreated (or unnoticed), that this would probably have killed him in 12 to 24 hours. Buddy is no more.
The vet was very honest with us, and told us that although she could fix it temporarily (for $900 to $1300), that it would soon come back. She could do that twice, and then surgery would be required, which would be even more expensive.
We liked Buddy, but were never truly emotionally attached to him. Our niece took him in as a stray, but her husband couldn't get along with the cat, and we suspect he abused him. Finally he said the cat had to go, and our niece begged us to take him in. We took him, and he got along well with our two cats, so we let him stay. He's always been skittish, didn't like to be touched, and wouldn't allow much contact. He had an issue that made him a frequent (daily) puker, so he was a lot of work to keep up with. He lived here, happily enough, it seemed, for several years.
Given his prognosis, and the estimate on his cost of care, we decided to have him put down. The vet agreed that she thought it was the humane thing to do. Elaine and I are fine, and we're convinced we made the right call. Sometimes these things just happen....
