Lump on jawline or neck

[otto]

Samantha to get through the surgery uneventfully.

Good job getting her right back in when it closed up.

Thinking of her, and you!

 

[strange_wings]

I hope it goes well.

I've had a couple go in to have abscesses cleaned and stitched up. I take in adult intact male strays, though.

They usually come to me wounded and not in ideal health. They've all made it through fine, though neutered.

 

[brooklet425]

Well...the vet called about an hour ago and scared me. I've used this vet for a while now and they have NEVER called me if everything went right. The only time they have called is to tell me that one cat needed emergency bladder surgery and then 20 minutes later to tell me that they thought that cat wasn't going to make it. So when my phone rang with their number before I panicked and didn't answer the phone. I know thats stupid, but I was just thinking "Oh my God she's dead." And I had to let that possibility process for a minute or 2 before listening to my voice mail.

Needless to say, a good friend of mine is a vet tech there and it was her calling just to tell me that everything went well and that Samantha is doing great. I could have killed her! She told me that she knew I was nervous and just wanted to let me know that everything went fine. I don't think she anticipated that phone call scaring me like it did

Her discharge time is 5:30 so I get to bring her home in an hour

.

 

[otto]

Oh my, I'm so sorry you were frightened like that! I usually insist on being called even if it's good news, I can't sand the suspense of waiting, LOL.

Bet you can't wait to have the little one home, what a fighter she is, having been through so much!

 

[brooklet425]

Well...she knows exactly how to make me feel guilty! She's home now and in a large dog crate. She has a large open wound on her neck so because of that she has to stay away from the regular litter boxes. The vet recommended putting her in a bathroom or a dog crate. We tried the bathroom, and that went horribly. We only have 2 bathrooms. One already has the litter boxes in it so we couldn't put her in there. The other one we use. We figured we could put her in there and it would be fine. But apparently she's faster than the speed of light and has escaped twice already, before we could even blink. After chasing her around the house for a while, we decided the bathroom wasn't going to work. I can't imagine that running around like that is good for you when you have a gaping wound on your neck

.

So out came the dog crate, which is working out just fine. There's plenty of room for her, a litter box (paper litter) a bed, some toys and food. Of course its not ideal and she wants out. But she's making me feel soooo guilty. Every time I walk past her she sticks a paw out and meows the most pitiful meow ever. I wish I could describe it better, but all I can say is that every time she does it I find myself apologizing to her and trying to explain to her that she has to stay like this for a while. If only kittens could understand us when we tell them things like that!

Meanwhile, I have to admit, the wound is pretty gross and we can't let it scab over for a few days, so this is going to be an adventure. It looks like she's going to be just fine though, although apparently the infection was worse than they originally thought. At least this explains why we ended up at the emergency vet with a 106.2 degree fever the other night. At the time we and the vet thought it was due to her URI issues, but now its clear that it wasn't. I just wonder how long this infection was festering before it formed that abscess. I feel so bad for putting her through this

.

 

[otto]

Okay! Glad she's home!

You've got to lose the guilts about what is past. Cats are EXPERT MASTERS at hiding illness, so you must stop blaming yourself, As soon as you realized she needed help you got her there, and that's what counts.

Yep, Samantha will manipulate you for all it's worth! Don't apologize to her or act sorry for her. When she sticks her paws out and meows talk to her in a cheery positive way.

Tell her why she's in there, but always use a cheerful happy all is good tone, not a repentant tone. You have nothing to feel sorry for, you've saved her life!

All is easier said than done, I realize, but this too shall pass!

Thanks for keeping us posted.