Holiday Hiatus
I'll be posting sporadically, if at all, for the next several days. (Family visits tend to suck my creativity dry; plus I intend to be comatose on sugar and Christmas beer until the day after.)
The commencement of the holiday break was not without drama, of course. Last night, 'round about 8:00 PM, I noticed that my cat Molly - the big-boned gal - was out of sorts (read: not eating) and limping. I got down to examine her, and lo and behold, she has an enormously swollen front paw that is literally dripping with pus. (I know! Puts you in the mood for some egg nog, doesn't it?)
I was uncheerful about this development, what with it being after my vet's hours and the night before Mags Family Christmas Extravaganza 2006.
I dutifully pushed her 16-pound girth into the carrier and hauled her to the emergency animal clinic, wherein they told me it would cost me Seven. Hundred. And. Fifty. Dollars. to do the surgery needed to clean up the abcess and keep her overnight.
This morning, I got up at 6:30 to go pick her up and transfer her to my vet's office. When I got there, there was literally a soda straw poking through her foot - seriously, from the top of the paw through the pad. (I so wish I had had my camera with me, just so you could share in my joy.) They told me that she had punctured it somehow, like from a dog bite or from stepping on a nail. Plus, the damn thing was still swollen twice its normal size, and in its shaved state, resembled nothing more than a hairy gray sausage with claws. Ew, ew, ew.
From seven until eight this morning, I waited for my vet's decision - to come home or not? The verdict is no; she needs twice-daily IV antibiotics and monitoring to make sure the infection doesn't go to the bone. Amputation, and all that. And, they were careful to remind me that she's an awful, horrible, biting bitch (they used the word "fractious" several times,) so they have to sedate her pretty much every time they walk past the cage.
I'd say I'll be getting off easy if I have to spend $500 more on my darling 12-year-old obese girl. So, I'm afraid that the dreamed-for new computer may have to wait.
Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck fuck.
On that note - and with slightly more sentiment than it suggests - Merry Christmas from the family; happy holidays, y'all.
2 comments:
ARg indeed. Merry Christmas. I have a friend here who is having kitty paw problems as well....same thing, but maybe not as bad as yours.
Cats should wear boots. Puss in Boots.
Shannon sez:
We just spent $850 on our cat Meow Cows. She was quite literally full of hot air. And her damn fur still hasn't grown back on her paw where they shaved it for the IV. She looks like some sort of demented poodle from Hell. Oh well, all worth it, once I saw she regained enough strength to claw another hole in my good sheets. Sure am glad I had a part in paying for the Ferrari I see outside my vet's office nearly every day.
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