I know a lot of people here have had to do first aid on their cats. How do you handle it?
Little One was allowed to go outside for short periods of time. Last time she came home with a limp. The limp turned into a nasty infection where she couldn't put any weight on it, and her front leg was swollen to twice it's size. The vet said there are no broken bones, and no toxins (so no poisonous snake bite) and to keep gauze wrapped around it and clean it out with peroxide every night.
We've been doing that, and squeezing puss out (sorry, I know it's gross). The infection went all the way up her leg, and now there are new sores on her elbow and in her armpit (leg pit?).
It just breaks my heart everynight to do this to her. I know it is helping her, and she is much better...she is up hopping around, eating, using the litterbox, taking an interest in what is going on around her. But, she just screams and howls when we have to clean it out and change the dressing. My husband has to wrap her in a towel and wear gloves so she doesn't bite him while I try to squeeze more gunk out of her leg then dress it and give her antibiotics. I end up with tears in my eyes most nights because I know it hurts her, but it needs to be done.
How do other people handle it? I used to think about going back to school to be a vet tech, but I don't know if I could handle doing that so often. Of course, it might be easier if it wasn't my own baby.
Little One was allowed to go outside for short periods of time. Last time she came home with a limp. The limp turned into a nasty infection where she couldn't put any weight on it, and her front leg was swollen to twice it's size. The vet said there are no broken bones, and no toxins (so no poisonous snake bite) and to keep gauze wrapped around it and clean it out with peroxide every night.
We've been doing that, and squeezing puss out (sorry, I know it's gross). The infection went all the way up her leg, and now there are new sores on her elbow and in her armpit (leg pit?).
It just breaks my heart everynight to do this to her. I know it is helping her, and she is much better...she is up hopping around, eating, using the litterbox, taking an interest in what is going on around her. But, she just screams and howls when we have to clean it out and change the dressing. My husband has to wrap her in a towel and wear gloves so she doesn't bite him while I try to squeeze more gunk out of her leg then dress it and give her antibiotics. I end up with tears in my eyes most nights because I know it hurts her, but it needs to be done.
How do other people handle it? I used to think about going back to school to be a vet tech, but I don't know if I could handle doing that so often. Of course, it might be easier if it wasn't my own baby.