It was a cool October here in Houston; my dad and step-mom had just separated that August and he and I were living in an apartment. As he returns home from work he greets me with the news, "We may be getting a kitten." My little stepsister had found a hurt kitten, covered in mud in a ditch and called my dad to come and help it. My dad got there as soon as he could and took the kitten to the vetâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s office.
Once at the vets, they tell him it looks pretty serious and to wait while they examine the cat. After a while they tell him that it doesn't look good at the moment, but after 48 hours they should know. They proceeded to tell him that an animal, probably a dog, had attacked the kitten and that a chunk out of its hind leg had been bitten off entirely. Additionally, the cat was suffering from a major infection with a temperature of 103.6 and was severely dehydrated. It appeared she was about 8 weeks old and they said they would be giving her fluids, antibiotic injections, treating the wound and trying to get her to eat. They assured my dad that they would call first thing in the morning with her prognosis.
The next morning they called my dad at work to let him know she had made it through the night.
Day 2: kitten still hanging on and things look good, but because of the severity of her wound and infection, she would need to stay the remainder of a full week for proper treatment.
As you can see, I was getting all this information second hand and my father said that it wasn't certain that we would get the kitten because my step-mom hadn't decided whether or not she would let my step-sister keep her. Well, I didn't get my hopes up but was anxious about the kitten.
A couple days later, my dad comes home with a carrier and inside is this little grey kitten. My dad gives me the news that we will be keeping her and as she walks out of the carrier, I see her wound. The wound is so bad that you can see the ball joint from the back of her knee, but she seems to be walking okay. My dad tells me that to treat the wound we will have to do water therapy, which is where we hold her leg under water for 15 minutes 3 times a day followed by rinsing with a medicated solution. The water was to help the muscle regenerate as much as possible and the whole treatment process has to be followed, and oral antibiotics dispensed, until a new layer of skin formed over the entire wound, which took about 3 weeks.
Toonces is now 9 years old and has complete mobility. All you notice is that her hair is a little thin where the wound once was.
Once at the vets, they tell him it looks pretty serious and to wait while they examine the cat. After a while they tell him that it doesn't look good at the moment, but after 48 hours they should know. They proceeded to tell him that an animal, probably a dog, had attacked the kitten and that a chunk out of its hind leg had been bitten off entirely. Additionally, the cat was suffering from a major infection with a temperature of 103.6 and was severely dehydrated. It appeared she was about 8 weeks old and they said they would be giving her fluids, antibiotic injections, treating the wound and trying to get her to eat. They assured my dad that they would call first thing in the morning with her prognosis.
The next morning they called my dad at work to let him know she had made it through the night.
Day 2: kitten still hanging on and things look good, but because of the severity of her wound and infection, she would need to stay the remainder of a full week for proper treatment.
As you can see, I was getting all this information second hand and my father said that it wasn't certain that we would get the kitten because my step-mom hadn't decided whether or not she would let my step-sister keep her. Well, I didn't get my hopes up but was anxious about the kitten.
A couple days later, my dad comes home with a carrier and inside is this little grey kitten. My dad gives me the news that we will be keeping her and as she walks out of the carrier, I see her wound. The wound is so bad that you can see the ball joint from the back of her knee, but she seems to be walking okay. My dad tells me that to treat the wound we will have to do water therapy, which is where we hold her leg under water for 15 minutes 3 times a day followed by rinsing with a medicated solution. The water was to help the muscle regenerate as much as possible and the whole treatment process has to be followed, and oral antibiotics dispensed, until a new layer of skin formed over the entire wound, which took about 3 weeks.
Toonces is now 9 years old and has complete mobility. All you notice is that her hair is a little thin where the wound once was.
