Lost Art Press

Health Update on Bean the Shop Cat

Posted on by Lost Art Press

This story has a happy ending. Promise. 

On Christmas Eve, Bean the three-legged shop cat suffered a blockage to his urethra and had to be rushed to the animal hospital. He was in bad shape. His bladder was full and hard, his heart was racing and his bloodwork was troubling. 

The good vets and technicians at MedVet in Cincinnati went to work immediately. They removed the blockage and catheterized him. But his blood – particularly his potassium levels – were in the deadly range. For the next couple days they monitored him, but he was listless. 

On the third day, a switch flipped in his body. His blood returned to normal at a shockingly fast rate. And he was his normal self. The vets removed the catheter, and he immediately became blocked again. So he went to surgery and got a shiny new…hole.

He’s now home and confined to a bedroom without furniture. Downside: cone of shame. Upside: fentanyl patch.

Bean is expected to make a full recovery in the next three weeks. And he will be back to work as our Walmart greeter, smeller of new people’s shoes and lead toolchest investigator. On the other hand, our bank account’s recovery will take much longer. But this is what money is for. 

Long live Bean.

— Christopher Schwarz

P.S. Shoutout to MedVet (it’s a chain of hospitals) and everyone who works there. At every step they did everything right: communication, care, compassion. I hope we never have to use them again.

50 thoughts on “Health Update on Bean the Shop Cat”

  2. Been there. Got a 13 year old male that’s had that. Switched him and the other house tigers to Iams Urinary Health cat food and he’s been golden since then. Glad Bean is on the road to recovery.

  3. Hi Chris,
    So glad you recognized the problem in time to save Bean. We lost one cat during the surgery, he was just too weak by the time we got him to the vet. Another cat suffered the same problem but we spotted it early on and he only needed modest surgery for his first blockage and the 2nd time, the vet relieved the blockage with massage. Most cat owners don’t even know of the problem until it is too late, as it was for our first cat.
    I hope Bean is up and about and sniffing just fine in the near future.
    Happy New Year to all,
    Bob

  6. So glad things worked out, Bean looks like such a sweet and personable character. We have a LONG history of putting our vet’s children through college, from their taking care of our cat’s health need. Our furry family members bring such joy, they are worth every dime…

  7. This is what we do if we have pets. I have four cats so I’m happy that this turned out well. Go Bean!

  8. I am so glad to hear this good news! Please say hello to Bean for me with my warmest wishes for a full and speedy recovery!

  10. It’s amazing what veterinarians can do these days and what we do for the pets who own us.
    They are family members for sure.

  15. At first I was afraid this was turning into an obit for your poor boy…I am SO relieved he is recovering and I hope he will continue be your ‘Workshop Ambassador’ for years to come!

  16. You should start a gofundme for Bean’s medical bills. We have four cats, so I understand how expensive the Vet can be. Very glad this story had a happy ending.

    1. We got him a soft cone late yesterday. He now looks slightly more comfortable (and a bit like an Elizabethan).

  18. Thank you SO much for that first sentence.

    Add us to the “been there, done that” contingent with our Spanky. If they haven’t prescribed a urinary food yet, ask your vet. Downside is that the Canin SO is so tasty, all 4 have to have it now. Four times as fast consumption, and Canin is … not cheap.

  19. So glad that Bean is doing better. We lost out puppy on Sept. 8th due to chronic kidney failure. We took her to Colorado Animal Specialty Emergency (CASE) in Boulder. The staff was amazing and did dialysis for 3 1/2 weeks. Ultimately, the potassium level is what got her. Like your animal hospital, they were amazing people there – if only the human doctors would care for their patients like the animal doctors, our health care would be phenomenal!

  22. I’m so glad that Bean is home and in recovery mode. I certainly understand how stressful it is to have a sick furry family member.

  23. I built a tool chest and a sawhorse with Megan at LAP. The courses and instructor were outstanding but…there was nothing like a visit from Bean. Thank you for keeping us apprised of his condition. –John

  25. This is what $ is for…we just went through a similar experience! Thanks for doing the right thing!

  26. Very happy for Bean’s recovery! Dog guy here, but all our furry (or not) family members have a place in our lives that no one else can occupy. Our last dog nearly died three times during her life, but always came back – with a lot of veterinary care. Here’s to a great remaining life for Bean!

  27. Bean, I wish you a speedy recovery — and may that cone soon be a thing of the past. Live long & proper!

  28. Glad to here of Beans’ recovery! Love the fact that Bean is more important than cash. Good emergency vets are worth what you have to pay! Happy New Year!!

  29. That isn’t a cone of shame, it’s a Cuteness Concentration Device. Its special shape collects the Universal Background Cuteness and focuses the rays on the creature at the center to the betterment of the creature and any human on whom the creature chooses to focus the reflected cuteness rays.

    Seriously though, my dog spent Christmas on the vet’s surgical table because a supposedly safer-than-bones-or-antlers dog toy sent sharp particles into his tummy where they gathered hair and formed a bezoar, clogging his… um… outlet tunnel. (There’s a lot of concentrated Universal Background Cuteness around here right now.) So I feel for you. Glad Bean’s okay.

  30. Hey Great News!!! Planning a LIVE visit to your company store in the spring. going to Cave City,Ky for some aromatic red cedar lumber and will stop by to scratch Bean’s ear and say hey to you all. we will see if Chris remembers my fuzzy face, he was my teacher on 2 occasions. HAPPY NEW

  31. So glad to hear Mr Bean, is on the road recovery.
    Our little 2 human, and 2 cat family, are sending him all our love, positive vibrations, and wishes for a full recovery.
    Namaste.

  32. Mr. Bean, and I have have something in common, we both had our potassium levels on the fritz. No doc for me just eat a banana and adjust meds

  34. I literally have a side gig just to fund my senior kitties’ savings account ($15k to MedVet in the last year alone). Glad Bean is doing better. It’s everything.

  37. Glad to hear that Bean is on the mend. Done the urinary tract thing with one or the other of our kitties several times. Years back we switched from the cheap dry food from the grocery store to higher quality foods – been OK ever since. But I do think I’ve got one that will give everyone a chuckle. My daughter’s childhood kitten passed after fifteen courageous years – a three year is not typically super gentle with cats. So a few months after the loss she comes home with a 6 month old rescue show shoe Siamese. Best cat ever – almost like a dog. But after a year the cat is sick, really sick & the princess, that would be my daughter, takes her to the vet where it is determined that there is a large foreign object in her stomach. We agree to the surgery quickly, damn the cost, and the vet finds in the cats stomach – a tampon! This cat gets into everything, loves to destroy cardboard and when said cat saw a new box of tampons sitting on the counter in the bathroom promptly knocked the box to the floor, destroyed the box and a bunch of the tampons and, evidently decided to eat one – never said she was a smart cat. So that was a $2000.00 tampon. Vet said that in 20 years of practice she’d never seen this – pretty sure she framed the Xray…

  38. Viva Bean! Our small Poodle-Shitsu mix is 3-legged, moving towards the 3rd anniversary of his encounter with an SUV. And, yes, that’s what the money is there for.
    In the Middle Tennessee area, the go-to place for similar animal surgeries is Blue Pearl Veterinary Hospital. I can’t praise them, or their surgeons, enough.

  39. Nice to hear Bean is doing well. And yes, the team at MedVet is awesome; but my accountant and I hope we never see them again too.

  42. Chris. I love cats and woodworking and have 2 of my own so glad to see your kitty is on the mend. Happy New Years!

  43. Sorry to hear that Bean got sick.
    Glad to hear that Bean is recovering nicely.
    I wish him a speedy and complete recovery.
    Can’t wait to see a pic of the Bean’s Elizabethan cone!
    Best wishes to Bean, the Schwarz family, and the LAP crew for a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!

  45. As the owners of six adopted feral cats when they were kittens, mostly because they had health issues, we have had our share of visits to the local animal hospital! While they sometimes strain our patience, they enrich our lives and make the days worth living. I guess it goes with being zoologist! LOL. Now if I could only train at least one of them to mark out my wood for milling!

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