A Little Prayer for Greybeard

It was a whirlwind weekend flying cross-country to Seattle to attend my nephew's wedding and getting back home Sunday evening. My neighbor who was taking care of my cats mentioned that Greybeard was acting strange, not moving when she came by, sleeping so deeply she had to really shake him awake. She actually thought he was dead two times. Well, that wasn't the Greybeard I saw when I came home. He hurried up to me with his croaky meow, jogged up the front steps and dashed in the house where he drank some water, ate a few bites of kibble and basically just followed me around the house purring the entire time. When it was time to go to bed, I put him out on the front porch since I was so tired, I just didn't want to deal with cleaning up cat urine in the morning.



Monday morning came and Greybeard was nowhere to be found. I did eventually see him around 6:00 last night on the back deck. I motioned to him and he sat up but I noticed one of his front legs was dangling. I rushed over to him and picked him up. I gingerly touched his leg, no pain response. I pressed his paw, no pain. I then started more vigorously manipulating his leg and shoulder to see if I could find a break or a bite wound. I found nothing, and it was just as limp as a rag doll and when he walked (or hobbled), the leg would just drag along. So, I've made an appointment today at 3:00 to bring him in. I honestly don't know what it could be...a minor stroke? A blood clot? I would hate to have to make the decision to put him down due to financial conditions but I honestly can't afford a battery of tests, let alone possible surgical solutions to the problem. And, with his urinating in the house, I can't keep him in the house all day and he obviously can't be outside now. So, say a little prayer for Greybeard that the problem is minor and temporary, but I don't have my hopes up.



I will keep you posted.

Here is a photo of Greybeard last fall helping me on the computer.