I'm afraid I have some very bad news right now. Jake is very sick. He may have an auto-immune disease where his immune system attacks his own body. I'm a basket case right now, but I'll try to give you enough info to make sense. A couple weeks ago I came home from work and he was limping. I also noticed it looked like he had gotten scratched on one ear. I couldn't see anything on the feet but he was limping bad. I started cleaning his ear every day and putting antibiotic ointment on it and it appeared to be almost better. He wasn't even hardly limping anymore. Then last night I got home from work and started to clean his ear and put the ointment on it. All the fur came off the outside of his ear when I wiped it with a warm washcloth. It was horrible looking. Very red and bleeding and it had a bunch of crusty stuff dried on it that wasn't there when I left that morning. When I gently picked up one of his paws he cried and jumped. I couldn't even feel his claws when I examined the paw and they were hot. His ear was hot and red and also his belly was hot. So I took him to the vet. I was still thinking Hallie got the best of him and his wounds were just infected. Well the vet was very concerned and said it was more then that. His claws were sealed shut in their sheath's from all the dried body fluids and puss. And he had a fever of 105.5. So they made me leave him there so they could treat him. I was shaking and crying so hard. I feel terrible because I didn't see it and didn't take him in sooner. The doctor assured me that it wasn't my fault (but I still feel like it is). He has so much fur it covered most of it up. and what I could see appeared to be getting better. Anyway, they didn't want to sedate him because his sinuses are so bad and they think he has asthma too. He was weezing really bad from anxiety. So they had to put him in restraints so they could trim all the hair around his feet and toes and clean them up. His poor feet look horrible. Oh my God I cried so hard. I was litterally wailing cuz I was so scared and felt so horrible. And they didn't prepare me for what I'd see when they took me back to the procedure room to show me. His toes were/are bright red and raw. He's actually in more pain now because all the dried fluids and puss was in a way protecting his feet. When I came in the room he stood up on the table and wrapped his front paws around my neck and licked my face. OMG I cried so hard. I'm absolutely horrified.
Although his ear looks bad, luckily, it looks like the least of his problems. It's dry today and looks much better. The sore around the bottom of the one eye is very mild. His little feet/toes are the worse and if he doesn't respond to the antibiotics he may have to have some of them partially amputated. The vet gave him an injection of strong antibiotic yesterday and today. And today started him on oral too. He's also on pain medication. It was pretty critical to treat him aggressively and quick (the vet said). The vet showed me how to clean his toes and put medicine on them. She gave me a pill injector that shoots the pill down their throat, because he doesn't take medicine well. She also gave me pain medicine and special stuff to clean his toes, ear and eye with etc. She wanted to do a biopsy from the toes but I am ashamed to say, I couldn't afford it. It would have been quite a bit more and I already wrote a bad check today to get him treated. Well, the whole check isn't bad! I'm hoping my daughters will kick in and help by donating to my "Help my Buddy Boy" fund. (That's what I call him). anyway, the vet is just treating him aggressively instead and if he doesn't show improvement in three days then I have to get him biopsied somehow. She said that she thinks he'll respond to the antibiotics. I don't know if she was just trying to make me feel better or what but I hope it's true. Anyway, Jakey is right now resting comfortably on mommy's bed. I took pictures of his feet and ear but I have to download my digital camera software again. I reformated my hard drive 3 days ago because I was having PC problems. I'm so scared. Jake is the sweetest, most gentle kitty I've ever known. He's my little lover boy and I just don't know what I'd do if he doesn't make it through this. Please say a little prayer for my little Buddy Boy, Jake. I'm just freaking out. I feel so helpless.
Although his ear looks bad, luckily, it looks like the least of his problems. It's dry today and looks much better. The sore around the bottom of the one eye is very mild. His little feet/toes are the worse and if he doesn't respond to the antibiotics he may have to have some of them partially amputated. The vet gave him an injection of strong antibiotic yesterday and today. And today started him on oral too. He's also on pain medication. It was pretty critical to treat him aggressively and quick (the vet said). The vet showed me how to clean his toes and put medicine on them. She gave me a pill injector that shoots the pill down their throat, because he doesn't take medicine well. She also gave me pain medicine and special stuff to clean his toes, ear and eye with etc. She wanted to do a biopsy from the toes but I am ashamed to say, I couldn't afford it. It would have been quite a bit more and I already wrote a bad check today to get him treated. Well, the whole check isn't bad! I'm hoping my daughters will kick in and help by donating to my "Help my Buddy Boy" fund. (That's what I call him). anyway, the vet is just treating him aggressively instead and if he doesn't show improvement in three days then I have to get him biopsied somehow. She said that she thinks he'll respond to the antibiotics. I don't know if she was just trying to make me feel better or what but I hope it's true. Anyway, Jakey is right now resting comfortably on mommy's bed. I took pictures of his feet and ear but I have to download my digital camera software again. I reformated my hard drive 3 days ago because I was having PC problems. I'm so scared. Jake is the sweetest, most gentle kitty I've ever known. He's my little lover boy and I just don't know what I'd do if he doesn't make it through this. Please say a little prayer for my little Buddy Boy, Jake. I'm just freaking out. I feel so helpless.