Yeah, don't beat yourself up for not realizing that the guy's an idiot, and kind of a douchebag. He should be home with his wife, not acting like an asshole at work.
I volunteered to look after a friend's cat while he was away. All my friend told me was, "Kitty is injured, please don't let him out." I had no idea how bad kitty was until I got there - he's emaciated and can barely walk. He hadn't eaten anything in 48 hours yesterday, and was visibly weaker than the day before. He drank some water, then threw it all up, winding up stretched out flat on the floor dry heaving.
He had the demeanor of a cat who was ready to die. My friend got back today, whisked kitty off to the vet, where he was told that Kitty most likely has cancer. I don't think Kitty is coming home from the vet.

When I answered the email Friday morning I didn't know I was signing up to be grief stricken for someone else's cat that I've never even liked very much - he was never much of a people cat.