Little

32 Days Post Surgery…

Hey all! We took a week or two hiatus to get back into the swing of things, October is pretty crazy in Denton, Texas. ALL THE FESTIVALS. So let’s do a quick recap of Little’s recovery.

Strength training…

Little is gaining strength EVERY DAY. Running from window to window in our bedroom, watching the birds she used to hunt. Her jumps onto the couch and her little table are so much better! She has been very interested in “playing” with Benny who is still a little unsure of what happened to her. By the way — she NEVER wanted to play with him before.

personality upgrade…

For a cat who NEVER claimed to be a lap cat, she sure is warming up to the idea of being snuggly. She spent 30 minutes laying on my lap while we talked and I scratched her ears. I was on the verge of tears. And not only does she think my lap might be cool, she BEGS for attention. Little was never one to beg for anything but food. Don’t get me wrong, we gave her attention but only because WE wanted to pet her.

Now let’s discuss the drugs…

Little spends a lot of time in my office/closet with me in front of her window. She’s had an end table on this side of the house for five years so we placed a rubbermaid tub in front of the table as steps so she can get up and down while recovering.

I started to notice when she would step down onto the tub off of the table, her hip would rotate out and spasm. She would repeatedly try to get her balance but it would start what could only be explained as an “I Love Lucy” style comedy bit. She would wobble around and around until finally giving up and flailing herself down on the ground. Think Lucille Ball trying out for any of Ricky’s dance numbers.

After reading multiple posts on the tripawds site about spasms, massage and Gabapentin, I called the doc. We’ve had her on it for a few days but not being SUPER consistent. An all natural/hippie at heart, I would rather try something without meds first in hopes that she doesn’t have to spend most of her days sleeping and drowsy. The good news is, it HELPED big time. I’ve only seen her have one I Love Lucy episode since the meds started! But I also think the additional massaging and rubs have made a difference. So we’re being half-way natural hippie around here.

A huge thank you…

I want to close this post by saying thank you. Little received the grant from the Tripawds Foundation a few weeks ago and the gratitude we have for this amazing community is enormous. My family is so thankful that we found all of you and that we were able to apply. It has made Little’s journey so much easier and a lot less stressful for us. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

XO

Exactly 2 weeks post surgery…

If you haven’t read my last few posts about Little’s disdain for Saturday Night Live and her inability to find a onesie that fits, let’s do a quick recap. She had a small abscess at the tip of her surgery wound. Luckily not life threatening, she was forced to stay in the cone for another week while we waited for it to heal all while on a huge dose of antibiotics. We even upgraded to this crazy $30 life preserver thing and she could still reach her wound, she’s thrilled you can tell.

We sent photos to her surgeon every day this week and explained we were VERY concerned about how bad it looked. Yesterday the office called us back and thought maybe she needed staples which sounded just awful so we cruised up to the office a little sad about what that meant for her.

To our surprise, the doctor and the surgeon both agreed that it’s a surface wound, more like a skinned knee and it is time for Little to heal. If she wants to lick her wound then we should let her, it won’t get any worse since she’s full of antibiotics. They removed her stitches and we were on our way, life preserver FREE!

It was a good day…

She spent the first 2 hours cleaning her belly and another 45 minutes washing her face, then enjoyed a long nap on the couch with a new blanket. We’ve got a lot of healing to do but we’re so happy to see her on her way to recovery… even if that Wilford Brimley chin of hers says otherwise.

photo courtesy of New York Post

 

The struggle is real y’all…

If you read my latest blog about Little and her small infection, you know we’re struggling to keep her wound untouched and healthy so she can eventually heal and have her stitches removed. She is a natural escape artist, super flexible and what humans would consider “skiddish”. One of her nicknames is “Little Skiddle” for a reason. Attempting to keep her from her wound is like … well, it’s like keeping a squirrel out of your birdfeeder. She’ll do anything to get to that wound.

My onesie is too big…

I purchased a brand new onesie at the thrift store for .99 — I’m a natural at the thrift store, my whole family has been shopping at this particular one for about 17 years. It was sized for an 18 month old baby and my first impression was “this looks long enough for her”. I watched a YouTube video on how to fashion a onesie for a cat and thought stitching up the left armhole would do the trick. She escaped it in 5 minutes. WITH THE CONE ON, she kicked her one back leg and unsnapped it.

My onesie is too small…

Same thing as above — this one was $2 and had dogs on it which I thought was perfect, and it was sized for 6 months. I pretty much strangled her with it because it was so small.

Today…

We’re not attempting another onesie so for now she can still reach her wound. We’ve sent a photo to the doc and they actually think it looks “healthy” so we think the antibiotics are doing their job. The goal is Friday for stitches removal but I’m not getting my hopes up. I’m staying patient, I’m gently applying warm rags to help her feel cleaner and of course attempting a positive attitude.

Can your tripawd benefit from a onesie?

Check out the link above and consider stitching up one of the arm holes for a rear amputation. Good luck to all!

 

10/8/19

I called the vet to let them know that Little could reach her wound. She is a loooong kitty and really bendy so the cone was like one inch too short. She wasn’t ripping out her stitches but gently licking around the area — it was pretty clumsy but she could still do it. Vet says, (I’m paraphrasing by the way) .. “don’t sweat it, it’s normal and as long as she isn’t chewing or opening stitches she’s fine”. Because I’m not cat doctor, I say “cool” and continue watching her every 20 minutes like normal.

9:30 pm 10/12/19 

Husband notices that Little’s wound is slightly “weeping”. WHAT IS HAPPENING? My anxiety kicked in full speed and I immediately text my vet-tech friend. I should say that at this point, Little is still eating, drinking and using the litter box which are all signs she is NOT like septic or dying right?

Saturday Night Live

An explanation …husband and I are HUGE SNL fans. We try to watch with friends on most Saturdays but with Little being in a cone and in the process of detoxing off the pain meds like a heroin addict, we thought a night in was the way to go. The kids were with their dad so a nice “date night” at home watching SNL in our pajamas with a few beers was like the best idea. Little was clearly not having that.

Moving on…

My vet-tech pal was working and couldn’t respond right away so I call up the Emergency Vet here in town. This place and I are not in great standing, this is a whole other story that needs no explanation so I’ll leave it at that. I explain Little’s situation and they immediately shoot my anxiety into full on panic. “She could have an infection in her bone, you need to bring her in right away and prepare yourself to spend $500”, again paraphrasing here. I hang up and pound another beer, I’m in no position to spend $500, it’s three days away from payday and this surgery has already set us back a month. I frantically wait for vet-tech friend and try to enjoy “Weekend Update”.

Midnight arrives and friend-o calmly texts back and forth with me. She seems less concerned but DOES recommend I take her somewhere in the morning for an antibiotic shot. She says to call the OTHER ER in the area and ask for a second opinion because it will probably make me feel better. I take her advice and call ’em. They were great! “Girl, finish your beers and try not to panic. She’ll need an antibiotic shot first thing and then you need to call your vet Monday. Watch her like a hawk and don’t hesitate to call us. We wish we were 3 beers in and watching SNL, have a good night!” 

10/13/19

Banfield Pet Hospital inside of PetSmart was great, well at least the one a town over was. They said she’s about 2/3 of the way healed but has a small abscess under the skin so she’ll need antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory. They tell me “she’s such a trooper and she’s not going to die from this”, take my $150 and send me on my way.

This cat y’all..

We get home from the vet and she has wiggled out of her cone. Insert eye roll here. We try to get a beautifully fashioned baby onsie on her and that lasts like 5 minutes. I am internally bawling my eyes out most of the day.

10/14/19

Our vet has been updated and recommend we give her a few more days to see if the antibiotics are doing the job. If she gets worse, bring her in right away but for now she is coned for probably the rest of the week. I love this cat y’all but I’m so ready to see some progress and SO READY for her to go back to sleeping with me. I miss her so much and I miss the sassy and playful attitude. I’m worried about how much this cone has affected her depression and I want her to be happy.

Have any of you dealt with post surgery infections?

How long did they take to clear up? How comfortable do you feel with your vet telling you to “be patient” when your animal has a slightly oozing wound?

Thanks all!

 

 

Ok, first off. Little is doing VERY well this morning. She has made it from our office/closet, thru the bedroom, up one step to the kitchen and down one step to the laundry room where the litter box is. She even used the box!

Now to my drunk best friend. The vet had us pick her up at about 5:30pm last night and mentioned that she was still very out of it, which we hoped would keep her sleepy thru the night. I thought bringing her home that soon would be a.) dangerous — couldn’t she pop a stitch?! what if she falls?!  b.)  amazing — we missed her, she missed us and “she’s gonna bounce back so quick”.

Well friends, it was BOTH. According to my vet tech friend (and cat mom of 5), some cats get a little wild on surgery meds and some cats sleep for hours dreaming of butterflies. On the way home she was moving all over the place and flopping her head up and down at the excitement of hearing our voices.

Quick funny: Husband sat in the back with her on the way home. He said “this feels like I’m on an embarrassing date with a really drunk girl and you’re our Uber driver, like I have to tell her to try not to puke in the car.”

Back to home and Little wanted to go everywhere and see everything (DANGEROUS). She was flopping all over the place and couldn’t sit still and refused to be alone. The slightest sounds of my husband’s voice and she wanted to go find him. She was frantically making biscuits on a blanket but just could not rest. Watching her flop over and struggle was terrifying. It was like watching your drunk best friend on New Years, wander around screaming at everyone, “I’M FINE!”. We knew she wasn’t fine and immediately took her keys away from her.

For a cat who will NEVER let you hold her, this girl needed me to hold her like a baby and rock her for hours (AMAZING). Finally we got her into my office closet and the crazy drunk best friend fell asleep with a few visits from us for 20 minutes at a time for pets and tears (ALSO AMAZING).

Watching her get down from the bed this morning onto the DIY “steps” consisting of a rubbermaid tub and a footstool, I am so proud of how well she’s doing. She’s a fighter.

To end, I will say I was a bit disappointed that my vet didn’t really expand on how the meds may have a different effect on her. They also didn’t recommend a small crate or anything like that to keep her a bit confined. I made a semi-frantic call to my vet tech friend around 7pm and these are all things she recommended. I probably could have done some more research, looked at the forums on here but you just don’t know until you know.

She’s passed out on a comfy blanket under her favorite chair now and all I can think is how thankful I am that my husband and I work from home so we can be with her all day, watching her and loving her. Thanks everyone for your support and I’ll see you in the forums soon!