*Graphic photo* Ginger's injuries

I have a post in the Crossing the Bridge section for my cat Ginger who ran away from the cat sitter while I was on vacation. The cat sitter called me the next day, saying that she had found ginger hit by a car on the roadside, but she was still breathing, so she rushed her to the vet, who couldn't save her.

However, it appears that my Ginger had a twin. MY Ginger came home this morning around 7 am. Most of her came home, that is. When I opened the door to my hysterically wailing cat, I immediately smelled infection. That musky, slightly sweet smell is hard to mistake. I wiped my happy tears away and started looking her over, and found something to make my tears turn to those of fear.

Ginger's "safety" cat collar had gotten under one of her legs. The safety elastic -- the part that's supposed to allow her to escape from the collar -- had been digging into her side from the time she escaped, it seems. The wound didn't look to terrible, so I rinsed it off very gently with sterile saline, and began to life the collar away from her skin. No matter how gentle I was, it must have hurt her a great deal, because she jerked, ripping the collar away from her skin and revealing the massive wound beneath it.

The wound is deep and infected, and has opened up. I immediately wrapped her in a towel and rushed her to the vet's office. I got there 15 minutes before they opened, but banging on the chain link of their kennel section sure got their attention. I've included a picture of her wound.

The vet has already sedated her, a vet tech was walking around holding her and murmuring to her when I left. Once they're sure her stomach is empty, they will further sedate her, clean up around the wound, excise the chunk of muscle that's floating there along with any badly infected tissue. Then they will give her a few sutures to keep the wound closed, and include a drainage tube. THis is going to take a long time to heal, but it should heal.

She's been given antibiotic shots and a steriod, and they're running her blood to check for infections, and check her numbers. They're going to call me if they find anything new, but I should be able to pick her up late tonight or early tomorrow morning. The vet said this could run us anywhere from $200 to $700, but no matter what if she gets better and is in less pain, it's worth it.

If ever one of my babies needed vibes it's now. Thank you all so very much. I didn't want her back like this, but at least I got her back.

The hubby and I are both ecstatic that she's home. We love our little Ginger girl. It tells you how much he cares about her, that when I gave him the vet estimate he just said "It's worth it. We'll get it taken care of". Thanks for the Vibes. I just want to call the vets office every 15 minutes and check on her but I think that they'd stop answering my calls, and charge extra. I'll update as soon as the office calls me to let me know how she's doing.

Ginger is out of surgery now. (I had to call, I couldn't wait any longer )

She's still really loopy on the pain meds, but they said we could come get her anytime today between 3:30 and 5:30. She may end up needing to spend the night, since we only have 1 car, and Hubby won't even get off work until at least 5. My poor Ginger baby! The vet talked to me on the phone and told me that everything went well. That side of her neck is swollen and might end up a little tighter, musculature wise, but he thinks she'll be just fine. She's going to have a mighty scar though.

The cat sitter had been coming over every day to check on us and make sure that we were all fine. She felt absolutely horrid about the cat that died (that she thought was Ginger), and she had already taken care of all the vet bills for the cat that was hit. I called her about an hour ago and told her that the Real Ginger had reappeared and she was almost as happy as Hubbs and I. She said that she was still ok with having paid the bill for the other cat, but couldn't afford to pay any other bills. Honestly, Hubbs and I can handle this one. The bill for the cat that was hit was over a grand, but the sitter paid it all. I feel so bad for the Ginger-clone kitty, but she at least had pain meds for her last few hours. She went out loved and as comfortable as she could have been.

Now I have to go Ginger proof the house again, to keep her drainage tube from ruining the furniture...

Hubby wants that baby girl home tonight! He's already said that he plans to high-tail it through short cuts on post to rush and try to get to the office before it closes. For someone who's not used to guys liking cats, this is a total "squeee" moment for me. He's even recruited one of the guys he works with to ride with him to hold the cat on the way back.

Hopefully there aren't any complications between now and then. Vet started an IV drip about an hour ago because he feels she's a little dehydrated. Something about a skin pinch test thing. Anyway. He's doing his best to give her every single advantage. He's even sending home some hydrogen peroxide and some betadine free to clean her wounds with.

I am totally going to send this office a thank you card and some gifts. Does anyone have any suggestions for a gift basket?

I know, Bella! Ginger is such a fighter. When the sitter called us and told us that Ginger wouldn't come back inside, Hubbs joked about a "Homeward Bound" scenario! I don't think he ever imagined he'd be so right. Ginger really is his special girl, and I think she'll do just about anything to stay with him.

When our cat sitter called me and told me that Ginger had been hit, it broke my heart. The only other cat I would EVER have been that upset over would be my Prissy baby. She's been with me around a decade now and it is going to shatter me when she passes. When I heard Ginger's distinct "I want IN!" meows this morning, I thought I had to be dreaming. I've been thinking that she should just show up at the door, you know, even though I "knew" she had passed. But then, there she was, my Ginger, front paws on the glass of the door and swaying her head side to side trying to see through the double-paned glass. It was such a surreal moment, like a dream. I feel so bad for those that have truly lost pets that aren't going to come back, but I feel so very very lucky that Ginger did "come back from the dead".

And I think that the look alike cat may have been a stray or feral. I got the info from the vet that put down the roadside kitty, and although the color and gender were right, the kitty was far too small to be ginger. She was only around 4.5 lbs. She was probably only 4 to 8 months old, depending on how much care she'd been getting.

Collars have a lot of problems, but here in Clarksville, they don't always check for the chips. People are also fond of shooting "strays" -- that's read "any cat without a collar and tag". Cats without collars are often picked up and euthanized. There are no shelters. Not even the humane society has a shelter here. There's virtually no holding time, either. If I was to let a cat out without a collar or clipped ears, they'd probably be picked up and put to sleep within a week. I've had a few cats get "involuntarily re-homed" because the semi-strays I cared for would become friendly enough that someone would see them without a collar and take them in. I know one of the neighbors took Loudmouth, and they are all living in Texas now.

I feel better if they have a collar and tag. I just have to find a collar that actually works. So far, safety collars either aren't safe, or fall apart when the cat stretches too far. I COULD maybe save up and get the chips just to make SURE that the cats were double protected -- but a cat without a collar here is basically on death row.

Safety collars are designed to stretch or break away if the cat gets it snagged on something. They are usually really safe as long as someone is watching the cat, and catching any problems before they arise. The reason Ginger's collar made a wound is because she got her leg through her collar and it was stretched too tight for about a week and a half. (that's how long she's been missing). She wasn't able to fix it herself, but if I had been home with her, I could have fixed it, and it would never have gotten infected.

The vet said she couldn't have anything to eat today!? I don't understand! And by the time Hubby got her home, the office was closed so I couldn't call and ask. They said she needed plenty of fluids though... so I cheated. She wasn't drinking enough water, and she's been crying since she got home because she's so hungry, so I made her some nice clear chicken broth. Now she's sleeping tucked in between my left arm and my side. She feels much better with a nice warm full tummy.

She has 6 stitches in her neck. I'll post a few pics in a moment. The vet opted out of placing a drainage tube, because he's afraid it would interfere with healing since the wound is on her neck. He left an un-stitched section at the base of the wound to let it drain there though.

Also, I'll be running to get her some Torbugesic in the morning, since Cody didn't know to tell them NO MELOXICAM. The vet gave her some clindamyacin, though, so I know she'll be doing pretty well with that.

Ginger made our night tonight though. At 15 minutes before 10pm, Ginger curled up on her spot on my hubby's tummy, kneaded for a few minutes, and went to sleep like she's always done. I'm so glad to have my girl back. I just want to kiss the top of her head but I don't want to wake her since she hasn't rested much since she's been home.

I have discovered one small issue with Miss Ginger... we have developed food aggression. I reached down to pour a little more broth in the bowl for her, and she growled and swatted at my hand. Hopefully this recent behavior will fade once she's used to getting regular meals again. She has also tried hoarding her food, trying to bury her bowl of broth by scratching on the wall and floor. She has never done that before.

Vet records say she's only 5.2 lbs! She's a little stick figure. Poor baby has a ways to go before she's back up to her minimum healthy weight of 8.5 lbs.

Thanks all for the she's received so far. I don't think she would have come through this nearly as well without your good thoughts.

Whoops. Forgot the picture (i knew I'd do that...)

Thanks Carolina.

I figure that yes, her food aggression is from being on her own for so long, but I need this behavior to go away. I don't want to punish her for it or anything, since she's had such a rough time, but at the same time I don't want to indulge this behavior. I don't have food aggressive pets for any reason, because you never know when a child will reach for something the cat has, or when the cat will have something you don't want it to have. I don't want to wait and let her think this behavior is ok, but at the same time she's already stressed. What to do?

Another development: Ginger is a Velcro-kitty. If I move, leave her line of sight, leave the room or god-forbid shut a door between us, she flips out. She starts screaming (yes, screaming: I've never heard such sounds) at the top of her lungs and trying to find me. If she can't find me she starts trying to crawl under our doors, which is pulling on her stitches and making the wound swell.

We had decided last night that she could sleep anywhere she wanted to, except our bed. Hubbs and I both move a lot in our sleep, and didn't want to risk hurting her, and her wound is still draining and we didn't want that in our bed. I had everything covered so that no matter where she slept, her wound wouldn't drain onto anything important that couldn't be tossed in the washer. But as soon as I tried to shut the door, she began freaking out. Long story short -- our blankets got covered with the drop cloth I had used on the couch, and she slept with us last night.

I am SO glad she's home and doing ok, but I honestly don't know how to keep up with her. I'm picking up some feliway diffusers this afternoon, to see if that helps her stress level some. She's glad to be home too, but I need her to calm down before she gives herself a little kitty heart attack.