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tarotgalSo last night we noticed one of the cat's eyes was not looking good. It was red and watery and was bothering him. It looked scratched, actually, and bad. Very with the bad. Parents took Butterscotch to the vets this morning and then to the cat opthomologist. Turned out to be a very bad scratch, and very deep. He ended up in surgery, which took a few hours, and then a few more hours of recovery. When we brought him home tonight around 9:30, he went CRAZY because of the cone/collar he has to wear and we had to pin him down to keep him from hurting himself. He was literally running into the walls and freaking out. We were keeping him in the small spare bedroom (which is usually the dog's room, but we took out his cage and put in water and a litterbox.
Anyway, he finally squeezed under the bed and then felt safe and fell right to sleep. We have to give him pills twice a day and put drops in his eye four times a day. We did the drops a few minutes ago and it was hell. Worse than shooting the diabetic cat up or doing his blood tests, even. I had to crawl on my stomach under the bed and drag him out. I'm sure I hurt him, but he wouldn't move and just went heavy and limp (and the thing weighs, like, 18lbs and is big and strong). Plus he had an anal gland problem so he smells gawd awful and can't clean himself with the collar on. But he can't touch his eye or pull his stiches out so he must wear it. My task was to 1- get him out from all the way under the bed, 2- keep him from running back under the bed while I'm trying to squeeze back out again at the same time and 3- hold him down. Mom's job is to drop two drops of eye drops into his eyes and get mad at me for not holding him well enough... and then go into a panic attack in front of my eyes because she can't figure out how to put the collar on. So as I'm trying to hold the cat down so he doesn't run away AND hold his front paws because he keeps trying to scratch his eye AND trying to explain how the collar goes on, Mom goes into a panic attack and I have to calm her down too. FUCK. And now I get to wake up at 7-fucking-thirty in the morning on a Saturday to do this all over again. I can't wait!
I am bleeding in SO many places right now. Tiny little cuts and scratches and I put on hydrocortisone cream. But, seriously, we have to do this for 2 weeks. I'm already freakin exhausted (I haven't been able to fall asleep all week) and I'm emotionally broken from worrying all day about my kitty.
I'd do anything for the little guy- I'm not bitter or anything like that. It's certainly not his fault and all I want is for him to get better and not be in pain. I'm just terrified I'm going to hurt him pulling him out like that and holding him so tightly. And I wish I could get a little help because I seriously cannot slither backwards out from under a bed AND hold a cat in place at the same time. It's a physical impossibility. And the damn collar is velcro- doesn't take a bloody rocket scientist. I swear...
And I'm literally crying cause I'm so worried about him. He's not eating or drinking and he's clearly still hurting and terrified and the last time I tried to hold him while he was thrashing about he started panting hard/loudly and GAH! I'm a mess. Gonna try to go to sleep. I'm overly emotional because I'm so exhausted. I'll go to bed and read Spike comics and calm down. *sigh* What we do for our aminals, huh? Poor Butterscotch kitty cat.
Anyway, he finally squeezed under the bed and then felt safe and fell right to sleep. We have to give him pills twice a day and put drops in his eye four times a day. We did the drops a few minutes ago and it was hell. Worse than shooting the diabetic cat up or doing his blood tests, even. I had to crawl on my stomach under the bed and drag him out. I'm sure I hurt him, but he wouldn't move and just went heavy and limp (and the thing weighs, like, 18lbs and is big and strong). Plus he had an anal gland problem so he smells gawd awful and can't clean himself with the collar on. But he can't touch his eye or pull his stiches out so he must wear it. My task was to 1- get him out from all the way under the bed, 2- keep him from running back under the bed while I'm trying to squeeze back out again at the same time and 3- hold him down. Mom's job is to drop two drops of eye drops into his eyes and get mad at me for not holding him well enough... and then go into a panic attack in front of my eyes because she can't figure out how to put the collar on. So as I'm trying to hold the cat down so he doesn't run away AND hold his front paws because he keeps trying to scratch his eye AND trying to explain how the collar goes on, Mom goes into a panic attack and I have to calm her down too. FUCK. And now I get to wake up at 7-fucking-thirty in the morning on a Saturday to do this all over again. I can't wait!
I am bleeding in SO many places right now. Tiny little cuts and scratches and I put on hydrocortisone cream. But, seriously, we have to do this for 2 weeks. I'm already freakin exhausted (I haven't been able to fall asleep all week) and I'm emotionally broken from worrying all day about my kitty.
I'd do anything for the little guy- I'm not bitter or anything like that. It's certainly not his fault and all I want is for him to get better and not be in pain. I'm just terrified I'm going to hurt him pulling him out like that and holding him so tightly. And I wish I could get a little help because I seriously cannot slither backwards out from under a bed AND hold a cat in place at the same time. It's a physical impossibility. And the damn collar is velcro- doesn't take a bloody rocket scientist. I swear...
And I'm literally crying cause I'm so worried about him. He's not eating or drinking and he's clearly still hurting and terrified and the last time I tried to hold him while he was thrashing about he started panting hard/loudly and GAH! I'm a mess. Gonna try to go to sleep. I'm overly emotional because I'm so exhausted. I'll go to bed and read Spike comics and calm down. *sigh* What we do for our aminals, huh? Poor Butterscotch kitty cat.
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Date: 2008-01-05 09:04 am (UTC)Cats are resilient, so rest-assured you're probably not going to actually harm him by squeezing too hard or hauling him from under the bed. Sure, he won't like it one bit, but he also won't like it if his eye gets worse from being untreated.
Also, if this surgery just happened Friday, I wouldn't panic yet if he's not eating. Anesthesia does not a happy stomach make, for kitties or for people. Eowyn didn't eat for a day or so after being spayed, though it seemed longer to me at the time.
You are 100% correct about it being impossible to drag a fighting clawing pissed adult cat out from under a bed while trying to slide out yourself, btw! I don't know if you have the extra room, but have you considered removing the mattress/box springs if there are any and just leaving the bed frame there for the duration of the cat's treatment? Just a suggestion that might save you a lot of struggling.
And giving eye drops to cats is HELL! Shortly after I adopted her, I had to give Eowyn eye ointment for an infection I'm suspecting she picked up at the shelter, and I know the only reason I managed to do it was because she was a kitten and I could overpower her. If I tried that now, she would cover me with many deep bleeding gashes from her back claws of razor-sharp doom! And the gashes always get infected unless I treat them; (speaking of which, I recommend triple antibiotic ointment on your kitty-inflicted wounds, not hydrocortisone cream that depresses the immune response--your friendly neighborhood pharmacist has spoken. *G*)
I'm really sorry you have to deal with all this. It seems like you just can't catch a break lately, and I wish there was a way for me to make it better for you. I hope your kitty gets better soon!