What's Going on with Sparta?

Well, that's a good question!! No one really knows.
During the first week of May, Sparta started acting bizarre. He hid under the bed, which he only does if there's a bad thunderstorm or heavy rain. He didn't want to play or be petted. It didn't take me long to see him favoring his back left paw. It was raw-looking, red, and irritated. I was so worried that he had been stung by one of the wasps that get into my trailer or had something stuck in between his toes and foot pad. On a Saturday morning, we rushed to Franklin, North Carolina to the only vet that was willing to see him. It was nearly an hour trip of absolute MISERY!

Back when he still loved me...!

First, Sparta was placed in his cat carrier just in case he injured his foot more from climbing all around the car. The cat carrier was placed in the floor in front of the passenger seat. Barely fifteen minutes into the drive, Sparta started dry heaving. He got car sick unable to see anything and getting tossed about as I took the curves a little too quickly trying to get to the vet on time.
Ten minutes from the vet's office, Sparta decided he really had to go!!! All over his cat carrier and my bath towel, Sparta took a crap and peed. The smell was horrendous, and then the poor cat sat in his own excrement for the remainder of the journey. I couldn't speed to the vet fast enough.
Well, the vet didn't have anything to say for the situation, except to charge me $38. He said it wasn't infected and that there wasn't anything wrong, probably just irritation.

A week later... the foot looked worse than before. We went to a different vet! They gave Sparta a shot, some pills, and some cleaning pads for over $50. Every day, Stuart and I had to hold down a squirming cat to administer half a pill and clean between his toes with a moist pad that turned his foot blue!
But Sparta started getting worse! He wouldn't move, just flop from one spot on the living floor to another. He wouldn't play. He hardly ate anything. All he did was sleep... which is normal for a usual cat, but not Sparta! He was also constantly frustrated and aggravated. If I so much as made a slight contact with his fur, he growled and moved a few steps away so I couldn't touch him. Sparta's the friendliest cat in the world!! He loves people. This behavior was unacceptable.
Back to the vet... We got a $20 bill for them to say, "Oh yeah, his foot looks great. Let's not give him that type of medication again. That must be it. Keep cleaning it, though."
One day later, Sparta was back to his normal self! He was purring, friendly, playing with his toys, and enjoying life again.

Bring your cat to work day

Cue two days ago... He starts throwing up everything that enters his stomach. On a regular basis, Sparta will regurgitate his food because he's dumb and eats his food too fast. Lately, he's been good about not eating too fast too often since we switched from putting his food in a bowl to putting it on a plate. It leaves room for the food to move around, and Sparta is forced to chase it down instead of taking large gulps of kitty kibble. But the other night, he was actually throwing up partially digested food, and no matter what I fed him (Blue Buffalo dry, Friskies canned, Temptations treats) Sparta would throw it up after a 20-minute interval of swallowing. The bizarre thing was that he was still acting like his happy-go-lucky, playful self. Great... now he's got a hairball or something blocking the entrance to his intestines. This behavior continued for over 12 hours, and I called the vet.
That was probably the worst vet trip of all!!! After the anal insertion of the thermometer, which always puts a priceless, horrified face on Sparta, he got a shot to help with nausea that the vet describes as "it stings really bad." I've never seen Sparta react in such a manner!! It took two tries to administer the entire shot because Sparta bucked and hissed so much that they had to try again. When I picked him up after the exam, he nearly tore my face off because I brushed against the sight of the injection. What a miserable kitten! He refused to sit near me for the rest of the day.

Kitty in the sun!

So far... no vomiting since the most expensive vet visit yet. I'm wondering since it was so close together if he's still having adverse reactions to those pills and is trying to purge his system.
Well, here's hoping that will be the last vet trip for awhile. I'm going out of town for a week next week, and I hope that I'm not getting a phone call from Stuart in the middle of the week that says he's rushing Sparta to the vet because he can't stop vomiting. If there's something wrong with my cat, at least let me be present so I can fuss over him and hold him close.
When we got home from the vet, I read to Sparta from a library book about a cat that lived in a library in Spencer, Iowa. Yeah... I know, I know. I read to my cat!! Whatever, haters gonna hate! He also has a brand new kitty bed that is warm and snuggly, which he seems to be enjoying.
Hopefully, this will be the end of the vet. I just want him to be healthy and happy. He's a family member, and no matter the cost, his health is a top priority.

New kitty bed!