an uncomfortable moment

[phil]

Yesterday I got home to my kitty , ongoing saga but she needed to go to the vet so I packed her up in her little kitty carrier and got out to the car. I put her down beside the car and got in. wow it is hot in the car I thought so before putting the cat in the hot car I did the humane thing and rolled down all the windows. It wasn't until I opened the sunroof, which I almost never open that to my surprise I got a hot splash. It wasn't till I exited the car, now covered from one end to the other that I realized I had put a great big travel mug with no lid on top of the car and that was why I was absolutely soaked with hot coffee.

I get to the vet after showering and changing my clothes and he prescribes four different medications to give miss kitty. a hunger stimulant that I am to grind up and put in her food. An antibiotic, a laxative and a pain medicine that makes her mouth froth up and causes her to drool all over the place. each thing is a separate shot in the mouth and down the hatch.. wow it is a lot of catch and release.. twice a day.l.she's been on the antibiotic and the pain meds since the accident and the vet thinks the reason she can't poo is because that part of her still hurts from the bite wounds. I thought I was making headway getting her off the pain meds but as fate will have it these things are sometimes a step ahead and two back before you reach the finish.

Kitty is going to hate me if she doesn't now. I have been battling issues for two and a half weeks since the pitbull next door tried to kill her and was pulled off. I have been stuffing stuff down her throat ever since , continuously offering her water and trying every imaginable way of trying to get her to drink water. Yesterday I thought well maybe if she thinks I like it she'll do the monkey see thing. so here I am with a clean dish lapping up water with her watching on wondering about her master's sanity.. well the other day contiuously dipping my finger and sucking it worked so It seemed reasonable at the time..I am sure I hard her laugh. she hasn't been pooing or eating much so that's why the vet visit

so last night I get her to eat , yeaaaa ! and in it the appetite stimulant, ok this will be a breeze I thought. before bed I shoot the antibiotic in her mouth without her biting me, the laxative, then I think ok just one more and it is bedtime for me .. and the pain killer but yea as fate would be the pain killer was just too fast or too much and she throws up all over my bedroom..
so I have to force feed her the food but she wasn't that uncomfortable, gave her the drugs again , hoping she didn't get a double dose.. I figured she threw them up so what to do?

at 4 AM she goes down to the kitchen and starts yowling for food, that appetite stimulant kicked in , I hope the couch is still there and hasn't been eaten. there is poo in the kitty litter box and hopefully the laxative hasn't made the war torn house even worse.. wow doing this twice a day is really going to be a challenge, at least I learned my lesson with the sun roof ! I am amazed she still likes me with it all. I hope she knows I am trying to save her and not trying to be abusive. I think she does.. she still purrs a lot if that means anything.

Phil

[heartwood]

oh my gosh poor phil and poor kittie......i animals love and trust us but 4 shots down the gullet twice a day? i wish the pharma companies would make medication that is appealing to animals not unlike cherry cough syrup for kiddies....

i do hope your baby is on the mend and that once this is over and done with that you will be the only one with the memory of the misadventure....you are a very good daddy!

...jade (mom of jeffrey and simone kittie kids)

[SkipW]

Phil, you are a great dad! Taking care of an animal that cannot tell you what hurts and cannot also tell you what feels good is tough. Your kitty loves you and I'm sure understands that you are trying to help. You will both survive this and your bond will be even stronger.

Good luck and best wishes for a fast recovery for your baby.

[phil]

she's going to live now I am sure of it. I am seeing her go from dragging her hind legs, to going up the steps one by one in zig zags one by one getting all four feet on each step. this weekend I saw her going up with two feet on each step, no more zig jags. she walks like a dinosaur with her back up in the air and moves rather slowly but she is gaining speed especially as she tires from all the stuff i have to keep shooting down her throat. Just antibiotics and pain killers at this point. she can pee and poo now without too much trouble. Last night I stayed up a bit late and she came down and meowed at me just because she wanted me to go to bed with her. there was nothing else she could have wanted, just company. so cute! She likes a lot more petting now, it did bring us closer. what a great feeling it has been to help save her little life. I know she appreciates it. I had no idea what would be entailed when she was bitten, I think if I could have known the cost I would have just said I can't afford it and that would be sad. But as it turned out it cost me about 1000 dollars and it was money very well spent, and the time it took was one of the most gratifying things I have done.

[Don M]

Good for you & Miss Kitty that's great!

[phil]

This kitty is now able to go up the stairs without even touching them, it is fascinating to see ! Now she wants to go outside especially since I am working out there a lot. It is so hard not to let her out but I know the dangers and we have had several long conversations around the issue. She will walk on a leash and seems to enjoy that but if I take her out on a leash it seems to just make her even more bent on getting out.
she did escape a couple times and came right to me and back in the house so at least she isn't bolting too far. She has a boyfriend next door and he comes and sits outside the window and they make eyes all the time. I am ok with that because neighbor kitty is smart enough not to travel far. I don't' think mine is that mellow though , she's adventurous and frisky, so I told her that until she can promise to stay in the yard she can't go out. No results so far but she's talking a lot about other things.

[Don M]

Cats take messages & will get back to you!

[heartwood]

my cats say "meet us behind the shed in your yard for some chipmunk chasing!"

glad your little has recovered...

...jade

[Kashka-Kat]

Phil, great job nursing kitty back to health! Google "cat enclosure" or cat fence.... I have been on a mission to present this option to cat lovers - those of us who live in urban or other environments where it's just not safe to let kitty be free-range... but whose cats cannot accept being in lockdown the rest of their lives. Some can... others frankly cannot.

I am just using metal poles and 7 foot black mesh deer fence in the back yard - and then planting in shrubs to conceal the fence and make sort of a refuge where I will want to spend some time too with the cats. The black mesh really does not look bad at all. Actually I like it better than big heavy wood fence.
Cathy in Wis.