Prissy has been de-tailed

This morning, I took my precious baby girl in to get her tail docked. The tissue has been necrosing (vet's word for it) and she had no feeling in it anyway. I picked her up at 1 this after noon and I haven't stopped crying since.

I KNOW this was something she needed done. I KNOW that it couldn't have waited any longer. I KNOW that everything that could be done to make her comfortable has been. But all this KNOWLEDGE doesn't have any effect on my emotions.

Her tail is now bobbed to only 1 vertebrae. The vet said there was still enough muscle left that she should not have any problems with bowel movements. But the way it looks, the stitches, the raw edge... every time I look at her Nub it makes me just feel so awful. Even worse was that she was very heavily sedated, and even at 7 Pm tonight, she didn't have full use of her body back yet.

She's also not eating or drinking. I want to give her some Torbugesic for pain, but with her still groggy from the sedation, I'm scared to. When I picked her up, I just held her. I didn't put her down for several hours. She's just been clinging to me. I even made a sling out of a scarf so I could carry her around close to me. (and she actually LIKED it)

She's still staying with my friend for the night, who has agreed to look after her for the night. She's separated from the other kitties but I'm still so very worried about my baby girl. We're leaving early in the morning to go back to Clarksville, and I'm hoping that she'll be alright. If she hasn't eaten by morning though, she will go right back to the vet before we leave.

I'm just worried that she had such a hard time coming back from the sedation. She's an older cat, but she fights so hard. The vet sedated her as soon as I got there because of her cage anxiety. I just wish this was all over and my baby girl was better again. I feel so awful, how could this have been the right thing to do?

I just want my baby to be in one piece, and healthy and not in pain.... DH is trying so hard to cheer me up that I'm about to kill him.... I'll update on her condition as soon as I get back home to clarksville. Hugs to all and thanks for any vibes you can send my baby girl's way.

The internet here was out when we got home yesterday. It was down due to the snow, I suppose, but it's back up now.

Prissy finally starting eating about ten this morning. She tried to eat a little last night but she threw it back up. I don't know if it was the medication still, or the stress of the trip home, or maybe pain. But she has been nibbling on her food as per usual today with no more vomiting. She even begged to be let out in the snow. I let her out for just a few minutes but it turns out she just wanted out long enough to use the "outdoor litter box". It was actually kind of funny to watch her dig a hole in the snow and squat in it to do her business. Afterward she wanted right back in. That's my girl. She's always preferred outside potty to inside.

She will NOT leave a bandage on her nub, but she's not messing with the stitches so I'm not going to push the issue. Katachtig, Prissy had many of the same issues as your kitty. Her tail was mostly limp, banged on everything, got in her way and has gotten wounds on it several times because she just didn't have feeling there. When it would bleed, she would just groom it constantly because she was licking the blood, and didn't realize it was coming from a wound because she just couldn't feel it. I'm getting used to the way it looks but it just seems like I've mutilated her. :-(

Today she has been pretty good. she has slept near me or on me most of the time. She has been doing a lot of sleeping, but at least when she is awake she seems pretty happy. She is acting happier already, and it doesn't seem like she even really misses her tail. I am happier now that it's not in her way, but I wish I could make her heal faster. Every time I look at her shaved butt and her little nub and her stitches, I feel awful.

The vet said to get the stitches out after just a week. A week? Really? It doesn't seem like she's going to heal fast enough for that. She hasn't had a good bowel movement yet, but I keep waiting. She had a bit of diarrhea yesterday, and had to get a butt bath because it got everywhere. But there have been no problems today. She has been grooming herself but leaving the actual would alone, so I'm happy.

Thank you all for all your support. I logically know this is right but since I'm against breed specific docking in dogs, I feel hypocritical, even though this is a medical thing and not for aesthetics. i appreciate all continued vibes for my girl and her continued and rapid recovery. I'll update tomorrow, or sooner if there are any changes. thanks all.

By the by, I will post pictures soon. I've got several in my email inbox, but they're not showing up to be downloaded for some reason. I wonder if the snow really is out to get me? For pre-op pics, Prissy is the middle kitty in the top row, the Tuxie. (Sorry GK, lol) The pic shows her tail after the end had broken off and after the kink had formed from her sitting on it. From the kink to the end was necrosing, and from the hip to the kink was still mostly alright, just with limited muscle control and more limited feeling. She really has just a nub now.

And to those who don't know the story on Prissy baby's tail, here goes.

Prissy isn't the brightest crayon in the box. (being tossed out of a speeding car at 4 weeks might have something to do with that.) She has no idea that things will actually HURT her, as evidenced by her habit of laying down in front of cars pulling into my mom's yard. At any rate, twice now, I have heard the sound of a rattlesnake, and searched it out, only to see my fearless kitty sitting a foot away from it. The last time, she had a 6 footer cornered and she was sitting there just staring at it, like she was hypnotized. Heart in my throat, I called her to me and the snake actually let her turn around and walk to me. (a promptly put her in the house and "took care" of the snake afterward.)

At one point, I had to leave Prissy with my mother for about 2 months while I moved out of state and looked for a new place to live. when I came back down to get her, I found the base of her tail swollen and oozing, and her tail limp. As far as the vet and I could figure, Miss Fearless finally got herself bitten. The venom could have caused the necrosis and the nerve damage, for sure. The very end of her tail had already necrosed and broken off by the time I came down to get her, so the vet put a drainage tube into the base of her tail and gave her some meds. She's been living with her limp tail since then.

Several times I have gone to vets about how the vertebrae were fused, and how she gets wound without knowing and all the other problems she has had, but no one (until now) has been willing to do anything about it. They all wanted to wait until it got worse.

I'm glad that we won't have to worry about this anymore, but at the same time, I wish Miss Fearless hadn't gotten hurt in the first place.

here are some pics.

No, there doesn't seem to be any redness. It's a bit hard to tell though because her skin is a dusky, smokey grey colour (it is NOT the accepted colour "blue", it's darker) and her fur was just buzzed down, not completely shaved. But there is almost no swelling now.

Sorry for the quality of the pics but the light coming in is weird because of the snow on the ground, and any time the camera comes out, Pris goes into Bouncy ball mode, and WON'T sit still. I'm giving her a bit less of the Turbugesic than I'm supposed to. I think she's really sensitive to it, and that it might be what's making her not want to eat.

ANyway, thanks for the vibes. I know she'll appreciate them!

She's doing a lot of sleeping, and a lot of Staring-out-the-window. There was a nice noisy flock of starlings JUST outside the door earlier, and it was almost funny to watch her little Nub twitch back and forth.

She's the only smart kitty in the house. She sits at the door and asks very nicely to be let out, but when I open the door, she goes "Oh no, it's COLD!!!" and takes 3 steps straight back before she sits down again. Then she'll look up at me as if to say "ok mom, close it up. Nuff outside for me!"

I'm going to stop the Turb. I skipped the last dose and she seems a bit more like herself. Does anyone think I should continue it, even though it seems to be killing her appetite?

I stopped the Turbugesic this morning. Her rate at rest was about 130. I measured her 3 times. The first time I only got to count for 10 seconds before she moved. The second time I got 15 seconds, but the 3rd time she finally got nice and still for me and I got to 30 seconds. I averaged the second and third times together, and got 131.5 bpm.

Anyway, she actually ate quite a bit today. She was more active and seemed a little more like herself than she has lately. She had a good BM, and went outside to pee 3 times. She seems to be avoiding the litter box a lot, but I think it's because 1) she's extremely picky-- she won't use it unless I JUST cleaned it out and 2)the first day or so after her surgery, she had problem with her BM, probably because of pain from the missing tissue/ uncertainty how to go with missing tissue. SO I'm afraid she's going to associate the litter box with pain at least for a little while.

She is having a bit of an issue with "phantom pains" though, I think. I can't tell if it's habit or actual phantom pains. She will be sitting there staring at the window and then turn like she's going to groom her tail, only when she first turns around, she starts to groom air, where her tail used to be. She didn't have much if any feeling in her tail beforehand, so I'm thinking that it is only habit. This did start after I stopped the Turb, but I think it's because she's a little more active now than before, and feels more like grooming herself. At least, that's what I hope. I know Prissy is appreciating those vibes. And I appreciate all your support.

I do not intend to start and argument or debate or speak ill of the decisions of others.

However.

I PERSONALLY am against the docking of ears and tails in ANY animals if the docking is done SOLELY for appearances. I do understand the sense of docking in working animals, as it can prevent them from getting injured if it is done in a timely manner and done correctly. But in this day in age, there really is very little reason to have docking done. Many of the animals I've known have been docked just because it's the breed standard. Just like how cats are born with claws. If you want a cat without claws, don't mutilate, get a stuffed animal. IMHO, if you feel the need to maul your dog so that it is more visually pleasing to you, pick a different breed. It makes as much sense to me as hunters starving or beating the dogs to make them hunt. f it cannot be trained into them, you should find another dog.

As far as letting Prissy outside without supervision, that was my mother's doing, not mine. And, note, the area was rural south Alabama, an area notorious for snakes of all kinds, where I had actually come home to find a rattlesnake coiled in the middle of my living room floor.This is not an area where they can be avoided. Now that Prissy is living with me and is again MY cat, she is watched when she goes out. As I've stated in another post, I will not have indoor only pets. Sure, they may be safer inside and live longer lives, but how much of our own lives would we enjoy if all we did was stay inside one building our entire lives? How much of a life would it be if we never ventured out, even if we lived to be 150, even 200 years old? I take all the precautions I can, but I refuse to be condemned for doing the best I can and caring for my animals.