After so many frustrating months, this kitty is finally on the last two weeks of healing. His prison sentence to be isolated from all the other cats was lifted yesterday and we started the slow re-introduction to the rest of the clan. Right now he is in the main cat enclosure that attaches to the house. He is stretched out in the sunshine. I am so relieved that the worst is behind us now. Never thought we would get there.
Due to the inclement weather, Kota hasn’t been able to get out of the house and socialize with his canine friends. Two days ago, I took him to the dog park and it was packed! (no pun intended) There had to have been over twenty large breed dogs running amuck after being cooped up for weeks.
With his leash on, we went inside and once he had met all the ones who came up to him to say hi- I took off his leash and he just flew. He was having the time of his life. He was especially enamored with a beautiful Tibet Mastiff by the name of Missy. She was just his size and the same age and they had a blast. I know the vet told me not to run him- but he is a dog for pete’s sake and he can’t just spend the rest of his life in the house, taking drugs and staying in his cage all night.
He was so tired when we left. Instead of running up the ramp into the truck, he just slowly walked up and laid down. When we got home- he just plopped down on his back and passed out. LOL!
On the Pigeon front, he is still having almost continuous tremors. He is not running fevers, his wound is slowly healing. He did finally come up and cuddle with me when I went in the other day to lie down for a quick nap. He was nudging me so hard in the throat, I thought he was going to cut off my windpipe! I have wound gel to put on him now three times a day that is supposed to stop the pain- but the tremors continue. One vet says it is fever (although he doesn’t have one) while the other one said it is because I touch the open area (which I only do gently when I am putting the gel on) So, I have no idea why he has these tremors, and apparently no one else seems to know either, or how to stop them.
Once the last sutures were released, there was an incredible change in Pigeon’s behavior and his healing process. I have placed a photo below of the healing process starting. You can see those little lumps of skin forming around the wound area- those are good. Those are where the sutures were, and the skin is responding by granulating over the top of those and fusing into his muscle. It might look “ugly” but to me, based on how it looked before. This is bee-you-ti-ful! Using a combination of Vitamin E oil and Aloe Vera Gel and spreading that on the area three times daily has helped to soothe him as well..
This morning, Pigeon was actively bleeding from his incisions. I decided to take him to my regular vet to get a new pair of eyes on the situation and perhaps a new path to follow. It turned out to be very beneficial.
The theory is that the sutures were acting like a tourniquet. Allowing blood to flow into the area, but not allowing it to flow back down impeding the circulation. Sutures (the remaining 6 of them) were removed.
No more procedures, no more e-cone, no more antibiotics, ointments, corticosteroids, powders nothing. This is a degloving wound and so we are now treating it with Shreiners Spray, Aloe Vera gel, and Vitamin E oil. It will take about 3 months before the “uglies” go away, but there is healthy granulated tissue coming in and some of the deep pockets on the sides of the wound are now filled up with healthy muscle and tissue- so it is just going to be watching it carefully. making sure he doesn’t get over-zealous in grooming his back leg area and monitoring his regular functions to be sure there is nothing amiss.
I had an epiphany on the way home. The reason that I was so distraught about this wound is looking at his leg and the skin underneath shoots me straight back to dealing with Mike’s leg for so many years. Despite all they tried to do to fix it and sometimes because of what they did made him worse, it just filled me with fear that I might lose Pigeon as well. I shared this with my vet and he assured me that although this wound in pretty darn ugly- it is not to the point where a leg will be amputated or a life taken. I was so relieved.
Tomorrow is Mike’s birthday. He would be 79 years old. Please just pray for me. You don’t have to ask anything of God except that He guides my way and I don’t push away or run from the grief. One of the vets told me about a book called Blessed Grief and I ordered it. It will be here tomorrow. It’s getting better each day, but there are still setbacks and tears when I least expect them to flow.
Out early this morning to feed the cats. Like most of the United States, we have had some really crazy weather. High winds, heavy rain- even snow that stuck for days. I was headed for the feral feeder by the barn when I noticed something on the fence – just hanging there. At first, I thought it was a black garbage bag blown in by last night’s storm. But then I noticed Kota was headed straight for it, and I called him off and put him in his pen. Then I went to investigate.
It was a Tom- a gobbler (not a tomcat). He had somehow gotten stuck on the wire fence- it was wrapped around one of his talons and he was hanging upside down! I tried to lift his leg up and over the wire- but he would have none of it. I raced to the shop and only by a miracle did I find a wire cutter. I have been packing up Mike’s shop as the entire contents have now been sold off to one buyer. But God allowed me to find the wire cutters very quickly. I grabbed a blanket off the cat bed and raced back to this poor bird who had been hanging there- who knows how long?
I threw the blanket over his head so he couldn’t see to peck me to death and then I cut the wire. He fell with a thud and I held on to the blanket as he freed himself. He is a big boy! He finally got out from under, fell the against the fence. I could see his mangled leg and knew he couldn’t walk.
Of course my cell was in the house, so I ran in to get it and called the Oregon State Wildlife Troopers as well as a wildlife refuge center. The center wasn’t opened that early and the trooper was on a field call. I walked back to where the turkey had been and he was gone. He could fly- once he got his wits about him- but he cannot walk. I feel bad for him and hope that his leg will heal in time, but if he can’t keep up with the flock- it won’t go well for him. I will keep an eye out and if I do see him, I will put out some extra seed so he can at least get some food.
I looked in our roosting trees by the creeks but all the turkeys I saw up there were all balanced on two legs. I looked for him in the bushes, but he was gone. I just hope he will okay. At any given time- we have up to 40 turkeys in the flock that hangs around here. I think he was the head honcho so I hope they look out for one another.
On the Pigeon front- not great news- he is swelling again and has busted all but three sutures. I will not take him back to the vet until his re-check- he has had enough sedation and stress. I will just keep him on the meds, clean the wounds as best I can and take him on his re-check on the 22nd of this month. There’s only so much you can ask a kitty to do. He’s gone far and beyond what I ever expected of him.
This weather is so crazy. We lost power for four days and I have had to shovel snow for the first time since leaving Alaska over twenty years ago! In the middle of the power outage, I went to sit down in my recliner and I accidentally sat right on Molly! I felt her underneath and heard her do this strange, strangled screech. I couldn’t take her to the vet until the morning, but I took her as soon as I could. They did films on her, did a complete exam and also did a CBC at my insistence because recently, she has really started filling out the litter pans. Thankfully, she is just a bit tender in her belly and she walks wonky. But, there is nothing broken or sprained just bruised.
Just like the last time at the vet, she kept trying to climb on to my shoulders and when I denied her my shoulder, she went for the vet’s! LOL I have never seen her do that before. They did have to sedate her in order to draw blood and while she was out- they also cleaned her ears (yeast infection) and clipped her nails.
With as much as this kitty loves me and follows me like a dog around the house, I can’t do much with her if she needs help. Putting her on pain pills would never work. The blood work will be back tomorrow and I am hoping her kidney values will be in normal range.
For the first time since I can’t even remember when- our vet debt is down to a manageable amount! Under $100.00, I told my regular vet that we had finally got him paid down and this has to happen and he just laughed.I am just really glad that Molly is okay. I already have one kitty who is on top of my worry list and I didn’t want to add another one.
It was 17 degrees last night and a few days ago, my pipes burst out in the laundry room. All the plumbers are swamped right now- no one can come for about two weeks. So I turned off the water in the laundry room- disconnected all the hoses and set out buckets to catch the flow coming from the ceiling. I also sprinkled cat litter on the spilt water as it automatically turned to ice and made for treacherous footing.
In two weeks- Mike would have been 79 years old. One more painful day to get through. He used to joke that he wouldn’t die for a long time as his mom was 100 years old when she died, and he was sure he inherited her longevity genes . But his mom also thought that I was Pocahontas and he was Lewis and Clark before she passed. He only thought I built the Crystal Cathedral from scratch and Rev. Schuller and I were best buds before he died, so maybe he did inherit something from her. 🙂
It’s getting easier as each day passes, but I could sure do without all these household emergencies that have happened since he died.
Pigeon’s wound is looking a bit better these days. I got tired of all the powders, lotions and ointments that the vet gave me that didn’t seem to be doing any good. I went and bought some CBD oil and started giving him five drops twice a day and putting the oil straight on his angry flesh. Before even a few hours had passed, the redness started to fade and after 48 hours of application (twice a day) his wound is shrinking! Wouldn’t it be something if the entire wound shrunk to the point that Friday won’t involve a major surgery? I will let you know how it goes.
Two years ago, this black cat stumbled across my path and I rescued him. He only had one good working eye and I was lucky enough to find a wonderful lady, Robin in Oregon to adopt him.
Since that adoption, she has kept in touch with me monthly to let me know how he is doing. She let me know recently that he now has cancer and is undergoing chemo for the months that he has left. Probably only 6 months.
I just wanted to celebrate him today- with photos of when he first arrived here. I am praying he lives well beyond his departure date!
His hopefully last surgery will take place on Friday. They will try (after repeated failed attempts) to sew him up and see if this time he will heal. His recheck was this morning, and I was sure hoping I could file the e-cone back in the drawer- but he still has to wear it. I thought he was scabbing over, but that’s not what I was looking at apparently. Poor boy- he has really been through it and could use prayers-