Abby's going to the Vet

Abby has a cyst on her head that I had looked at back in the summer of last year. It was about the size of a pea, and it was assessed to be a benign epidermal cyst.

Since that time it's grown. The vet did say that it would. But it's now the size of a regular size marble and in such a place on her head where when she scratches, she is starting to open it up and it bleeds.

I'm taking her on Jan 22/11 for another assessment and some blood work.... not quite a full senior panel, but some of it. Then she will be scheduled for "something" the first week of February when I'm on vacation. They do not know at this time whether she requires a full surgery with anesthetic, or just a light sedation and local freezing to excise it and stitch it up.

It's benign. She has a few others that can be felt on her body...all about the size of a small pea or less. I'm not going to worry about those just yet unless they have to put her under completely and then I'll have them do them all at once to save her having to have it done again.

She isn't going to be at all happy! That girl is definitely a home body! She absolutely hates leaving the apartment and has been to the vet only 2 or 3 times since she came to live with me in 1998.

If they have to put her under, I'm going to talk to them about carrying an account there for a month or so. If they will allow it, I'll get her dental done at the same time. But a dental on top of senior panel and cyst removal...that's mega bucks. Too much for me to put out in one lump sum.

Ugh! Abby scratched it this morning....really good! She opened up the entire top of it and had blood running down the side her head behind her ear. I called to see if I could get her in after work today, but they didn't have a late enough appointment and I couldn't leave work early as there was no one to cover for me.

I'm taking her in tomorrow after work to have it looked at. I suspect they will be sending her home wearing a cone on her neck to prevent her from scratching it anymore.

It doesn't seem to be causing her any pain when I touch it. But it's still oozing a very little bit of blood (she must have scratched at it again). It must be itchy or something for her to be scratching it.

Guess she'll be having her blood work done tomorrow and the cyst looked at. And I'll be moving up the surgery/procedure date for her. I can't imagine her having to live with a cone around her head for 2 1/2 weeks!!! That would be torture for the poor baby!

Yes. They are benign epidermal cysts. They form within the skin layers. It's apparently a hereditary thing, so her Mommy and Daddy must have had them too.

I haven't taken her yet. I just got home from work. I prebooked a taxi for 5:30pm and should be leaving soon.

No problem getting Abby in the carrier! I enticed her with the laser pointer!!

But now the poor sweetie is crying her little heart out

Scared is an understatement! I've never heard a cat yeowl so much in my entire life, and I've had females that have not been spayed!!

I swear she was announcing to the whole world and some nearby planets about how mean her Meowmy was and for someone to come rescue her!

I left her at the vet's tonight. They can remove the cyst tomorrow, and rather than put her through all that trauma taking her home and bringing her back another day, I figured it would be best to just leave her. They have an empty house tonight, so it will be just her and whomever stays there over night looking after the animals.

I'll pick her up tomorrow before 6pm. While she's there they are going to remove a sebacious cyst on her back. It's the size of a pea and not likely to cause her any problems, but I'd rather it be removed anyway, since she's going to be sedated anyway.

The bill will be between $499 and $611 dollars. Maybe less if they don't have to do the general anesthetic and can do it using light sedation and local freezing. It depends on how she reacts to the light sedation. Sometimes the stinging sensation sets the cat off and counters the sedation due to the adrenaline rush. So we'll see. She was so wide-eyed when the doctor picked her up to take her to the back. When I reached out to give her a head scritch, she reached out and wanted me to hold her. So I did for a few minutes.

Just home, and $600.00 poorer!

She reacted to the freezing and despite the sedation they gave her prior, they felt it wasn't enough for them to continue, so they gave her General.

She has a bandage on her front paw. Stitches in the top of her head and on her back.

The cyst that was on her back was reddened, so they gave her an injection of an antibiotic. They were going to send me home with pills, and I said "Nope!" Injections please. The one they gave is a 14 day duration.

She's bald on top of her head, part of her back and her front leg.

And groggy as all heck! Walking and falling over.

I was in a hurry and had a cab waiting (the weather is awful and the driver looked to see how many requests in the area and how many cars. There were 9 requests and no cars. I would have been waiting 2 hours for a ride home. So he waited. I didn't get a chance to see my new additions.

I asked about one of those collars. They said I don't need one. The incision is far enough on her head/neck that she can't really reach the incision itself. It wasn't until the cyst got larger that she managed to scratch it open.

She's sleeping in the cupboard right now. Came out for a bit and laid down next to the carrier, and then back to the kitchen. She seems more steady.

I'm tired and it's only 6:40 pm but I"m heaving to bed to watch TV. I'm undecided about whether I should bring her to bed with me. I don't want her to fall off the bed, but they told me that she should avoid stairs for tonight, and to get on my bed, she has to get onto a chair. I think it would be easier for her to get up when she feels like it, rather than to try and get down though, so I"m going to leave her in the cupboard.

I did give her a bit of a cuddle earlier. She was staggering all over the place and falling over. I just couldn't bear it so I picked her up and gave her a few snuggles, then let her go into the cupboard.

Tomorrow she should be good as new. Bald! But good as new. I'll take that tape off her leg tomorrow when she's feeling better and more sociable.