pets and surgery

[Lorelei]

YAY MC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would try not to even speculate RT as you will probably never know, something could have happened during the surgery, he could have reacted badly to the drugs, perhaps bacteria found a route to cause an infection, it could be anything. But the main thing is he has made a great recovery and all should be well now.

 

[FireGoddess]

YAY KITTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!

I''d rather get scratched than worry he isn''t going to pull through, that''s for sure! GREAT NEWS!!

 

[rainbowtrout]

Thanks FG! He just had his first crazy-hyper-leaping kitten fit since he''s been back, which is great. I''m not sure about his incision, I just keep Betadining it and put a little Neosporin on it today. It looks nice and pink but there is a little bit of clear/whitish drainage. Have to Google "how wounds heal" or something...yuck.

 

[Lorelei]

How is he now RT, hopefully he is back to his old self!!!

 

[rainbowtrout]

He''s once again nutty and crazy, but CRANKY from his hood. I didn''t know it was possible for a cat to be cranky!


His incision still hasn''t closed....arrrrrgh I''m getting tired of everything in my apt getting betadine stains on it! It looks like it keeps spitting out sutures (gross, I know) which break off and the the wound closes a little bit more.

 

[Lorelei]

Glad he is doing so well, it seems like this wound is taking it''s time, but it should be ok, maybe just speculating it was infected?

 

[rainbowtrout]

I don't know...my mother (used to be an RN) says it doesn't look infected now. It isn't red or especially tender, and it isn't draining more than a little bit of fluid....it's just Not Closing. I suppose it is possible though.

This is also the incision that seemed fishy to me from the beginning--he shouldn't have needed a incision suture in his flank unless she forgot he was a male and tried to do a flank spay! (she did say when I picked him up "You know he is a male, right?).


Who knows. Just want this to be OVER!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/9/2007 7:41:59 AM
Author: rainbowtrout
I don't know...my mother (used to be an RN) says it doesn't look infected now. It isn't red or especially tender, and it isn't draining more than a little bit of fluid....it's just Not Closing. I suppose it is possible though.

This is also the incision that seemed fishy to me from the beginning--he shouldn't have needed a incision suture in his flank unless she forgot he was a male and tried to do a flank spay! (she did say when I picked him up 'You know he is a male, right?).


Who knows. Just want this to be OVER!

Who knows as you say...Wounds heal from the inside out, so the top layers are the last ones to close. That is good that Mom had a look as she would know if it was infected. With speculation, I wonder if his testes had dropped and he was ready for neutering, or if she could have advised waiting as he was still quite young if they hadn't - did she actually get the testes out and that he is now officially neutered? Also with spays the flank incision normally heals uneventfully and quickly, but nothing has been straightforward here it seems for poor old you and MC! The worst is over though!!

 

[rainbowtrout]

Thanks Loreli! I''m wondering if there are any medical people or vet people around, is the incision spitting up sutures like this normal??? They are supposed to be absorbable! It doesn''t seem like an allergic rxn or an infection...but each day I wake up and he''s got another stitch hanging out of there...one just came off on my leg, hence this post....

 

[Lorelei]

We do have a vet here but I think her PS time is limited now, but maybe we will get lucky and she will see this. I think if the wound is healing and looks clean and he seems fine, then I wouldn''t worry too much about it - wasn''t he due to have the stitches out last week?

 

[rainbowtrout]

No, these are the internal sutures. The supposedly absorbably ones. His body works out a new one and the wound stays open each morning. I dunno, I''ll call her today just to set my mind at ease.

 

[rainbowtrout]

Ugh.


She said it won't scar up as is and she has to trank him and remove the remaining sutures. Once again, she has no idea why this happened, but it isn't infected. He is so angry and afraid at her office now--she tried to give him a shot of tranks and he started that low growling he NEVER does when I try to touch the incision.



I just want this to be over so badly. Hopefully today will go well and that will be the end. I'm supposed to pick him up at 5.


ETA: thank you everyone for listening to me go on, I know it must seem neverending!

 

[Lynn B]

Oh, RT... I am actually on vacation and haven''t had much posting time, but I''ve been following this thread and rooting for little MC. Poor little sweetheart... no wonder he was growling at the vet''s.

I am thinking of you and so eager to hear that he is all better and this is all behind you. xoxoxo

 

[FireGoddess]

Hang in there RT - seriously if I were MC I''d probably have tried to bite her, not just do the low growling thing. Poor baby. I hope this is the end of it for him.

 

[rainbowtrout]

Well, I picked him up. He's crazily sensitive to the anesthetic so even the little bit she gave him made him wobbly and woozy. She said if the incision didn't heal over in 3 days to bring him back, but it should do fine. I got her to write down the name of the sutures she used since they are evidently not sitting well with his body. Luckily nothing is infected and the incision looks nice and clean.


Thanks for the good wishes FG and Lynn!

 

[WTNLVR]

I know your vet options are limited, but if he''s not better in 3 days, I''d bring him to another vet for a second opinion. This has been going on way too long IMO. He should have healed by now.

 

[rainbowtrout]

There's 1 other private vet I may try; but she was the 4th vet I saw (2 in Fes, 2 at the free clinic here) and the only one to diagnose something as simple as ringworm correctly.

Anyway, if it doesn't heal right up I think I will at least take him to the other private clinic I have heard about (the only problem is I don't know where it is exactly but a cab driver might). There's also a Canadian vet at the free clinic in Fes I might go by and ask, but without the cat present I'm not sure how much he can do.

 

[bee*]

Sorry to hear about that your kitty still isn''t well. Just reading over the thread and if the wound isn''t healed in the three days, I would try the other vet. From what I can see, is that first of all she didn''t check what sex he was before he was neutered, as he really shouldn''t have the flank incision, even if he has a retained testicle. Not sure about the states, but we (in Ireland) always send a female cat home on antibiotics, but never a male. They will both get a shot of antibiotics and pain killers while they''re under anaesthetic. It tends to cause no diarrhea and there are lighted forms of antibiotic pills available which don''t cause it in cats. She may have wanted him on the amoxi to try and cure whatever she thought he may have had at the time. If she had nicked something while operating, he wouldn''t have survived very long. I would be afraid that it is an infection from unclean instruments. The sutures also shouldn''t be coming out through the wound. If there is an infection there, it can cause the absorbable sutures to break down more rapidly and so if the wound is open at skin level, maybe this is why they are coming out through it. As Lorelei wrote, it is unusual for a flank incision not to heal quickly. Another thing is that she may not have scrubbed him up correctly/or her hands correctly and infection could have got in that way. The one thing that''s for sure is that you are doing everything you can for him. Im really hoping that he will be home again with you soon.

 

[rainbowtrout]

Thanks bee--

I am not sure if this is total BS (???) but here is what she said today when I asked about the flank incision:

The French taught method is to go through the flank for crypt neuters AND spays, the English to go through the abdomen. She tried the flank first but he was too small.

I suspect he had an infection as well. Sterile technique here is just not as practiced even for people. However I really hope the course of injected antibiotics cured him from that, his energy level and appetite would indicate that it did. He could not still have an infection with no real symptoms, right?

RE: the course of antibiotics. I know it isn't routine in the Western world, but if I were a vet here, I would give a course too. Morocco is just...I dunno, dirtier.


I think when I get to America I am taking him to a vet and just getting them to check him over for good measure. New York has some great vet hospitals I think and if I have to pay a little bit to make sure there isn't anything hidden going on it's worth it. I am leaving August 28 so hopefully that's soon enough.

 

[Lorelei]

Bump for RT.

How is he now?

 

[rainbowtrout]

Wound healed up, finally! Still red/slightly scabby, but totally closed over. He's INSANE as usual, doesn't seem to have any ill effects other than a slightly greater problem with not quite hitting *inside* the litterbox sometimes (???). Probably unrelated...


Anyway, he goes back on Saturday for a final check up and then we're off home in 12 days. Been looking for a good New York vet, because he has been coughing (like a hairball...but no apparent hairball) and I want to get that checked out just in case, I don't need any more stress so I'd rather nip it in the bud. However it could be something as simple as its dusty and I need to wash the floor.


http://www.animalkind.com/index.html

these people look good, lots of degrees from Cornell in there.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/17/2007 5:13:39 AM
Author: rainbowtrout
Wound healed up, finally! Still red/slightly scabby, but totally closed over. He's INSANE as usual, doesn't seem to have any ill effects other than a slightly greater problem with not quite hitting *inside* the litterbox sometimes (???). Probably unrelated...


Anyway, he goes back on Saturday for a final check up and then we're off home in 12 days. Been looking for a good New York vet, because he has been coughing (like a hairball...but no apparent hairball) and I want to get that checked out just in case, I don't need any more stress so I'd rather nip it in the bud. However it could be something as simple as its dusty and I need to wash the floor.


http://www.animalkind.com/index.html

these people look good, lots of degrees from Cornell in there.

Thanks everyone!

That is fantastic news!!!!! One thing I would say is watch that cough, as I had a cat with asthma which used to make a sound similar to a hairball cough, but it was actually asthma related. I am not saying it IS that, just that it sounds similar to one of my cats, but it is treatable. Our cats used to be triggered when we brought the Christmas tree out of storage every year, it smelled a bit mouldy and we think it was the cause, but he died of other issues. Have a good clean around and see if that helps but see the vet in NY when you get there.

WOW!!!! That is some website and that practice looks incredible, no worries there!!!

 

[rainbowtrout]

We''re right off the ocean and there is all sorts of moldy badness around...plus I''ve had a few allergic/asthmatic friends have bad reactions to SOMETHING in my house. Hopefully the move will help.

For your kitty with asthma, did he need the medication for comfort or for stop-breathing scaryness? MC seems to wheeza a bit and then stop and meow hoarsely, but then he shakes it off and is fine...



Hehe yep, that practice looks great, doesn''t it? NYC also has that famous specialty center with all the fancy eqipment. Like Disneyland!

 

[Lorelei]

He had long acting steroid injections for more or less constant coughing, it was terrible to see, like he was trying to get rid of a hairball every 5 minutes, he had no peace from the hacking cough, poor little guy. Once the asthma was diagnosed and he had the injection, he was fine for a long time. It looked very similar to them trying to get rid of a hairball, the same posture and sides jerking in and out, same noise etc. He didn't need the injections that often, maybe every few months, but it depends on the triggers and causes etc as to the line of treatment to take. If it is asthma or an allergy, there is much that can be done for MC!!

 

[Lorelei]

Bump for RT - have you moved yet and how is MC? I see you are on the boards so I was wondering if the move and travelling is all done?

 

[rainbowtrout]

We just moved 2 days ago. He was a champ---not every cat will be coaxed to pee on a plastic bag with some litter dumped on it. He hardly meowed, either.


He doesn't like FI much...nothing serious, but he doesn't like FI to pet him and he bites him more. I am trying to have FI feed him for a few days, that should help. MC has a much harder time with men than with women. Last night (after he woke FI, and hence me, up by biting FI's toes, he decided to make peace and cuddled up to him for an hour before changing his mind and biting his toes again.

I am still struggling to find a pet store. We need a litter scoop--we sacrificed a slotted spoon to the cause, but still. Also need to get some food. I've been feeding Fancy Feast, there is a flavor with no grains or vegetables and very few by-products. It's just as expensive as the Innova, though, and it comes in these annoying tiny cans.

Chen is staying with friends for another few days until we drive up to NY. Apparently the friends ten yr old son *runs* home from the car after school every day and the first thing on his agenda is to hug Chen. I think mommy may have to buy a cat after Chen goes away!

Thanks for asking!

 

[Lorelei]

I am so glad it all went well, I was thinking of you all!

 

[Gypsy]

HI Rainbow! I''m so happy the move went well. I LOL about the toe biting. I''m sure he''ll warm up to FI. Good luck finding a good vet and a good pet store as well. Post more pics when you can.... and I''m sending all my good vibes over for when Chen meets MC.

 

[FireGoddess]

Holly is like MC in that she likes me more than DH. He hasn''t been a ''cat'' person and just is a little awkward around her. ie. yanks his hand away quickly if she moves and then she thinks he''s playing and tries to bite, which is what he''s trying to avoid in the first place...LOL. But she''s getting better, particularly with the training I''m doing with her to let us pet her when she''s lying down or even pet belly, etc. It gets better. He''ll definitely warm up to your FI if he''s the feeder and treat-giver for awhile.