Tuesday, December 15, 2009

6 lives & counting...


Late last night I made my daily visit to check in on Inky. He seemed well enough that I brought him down stairs to hang out with my parents while they ate dinner. I won't lie & say Inky enjoyed this short foray but he did sit on my lap the whole time, purring as I pet him.
We had noticed he was having moments of aggressive licking of his incision site the past few days but this was in keeping with his behavior since he came home. It was as if there was something about the site that would suddenly bother him and he would go for the area. We had noticed some hair loss even and on Monday night as I sat with him I saw him quickly do this and when I diverted his attention a few seconds later I noticed slight bleeding by one of his stitches. My mom wisely decided to place the soft collar back onto Inky but it only did so much good as he was by now pretty practiced at getting around it and as folks will tell you-animals have a lot of time on their hands so they are free to sit and figure these things out without much in the way of distraction.
Inky had thrown up that morning so he was on our radar but he ate well after that and seemed to be improving day by day so we were not on high alert (In N.Y. we'd say code orange re: the terror alerts we get infrequently as time since 9/11 passes).
This morning my mom checked in on Inky and found a small hole had been licked-about the circumference of a #2 pencil and called the vet immediately and was told to bring him in. An infection was found and they slated Inky for operation to clean the area and install a drain. The sad thing is things had seemed to be going so well & my hopes were pinned on this continuing . You can watch for a decline but I was not prepared for it and it felt as if a ton of bricks had been dropped down on me from a great height. It leaves me back wondering if this was a wise path to chose.That is a terrible place to be left in for the moment. And so my faith ties itself to that tenuous ice floe of hope=the vets experience, the cats ability to thrive, survive and adapt and faith that there is a reason for all this.
"They" say animals are wise. Wiser than we tend to be. We might have reason and intellect and all sorts of educational resources at our finger tips but animals have the better of us. They have instinct , developed over centuries as the only thing that can guarantee their survival against the elements and travails of life. When Inky would lick his wound I thought several things:"they" say licking can stimulate healing. "They" say licking can be an indication of something. I was using my knowledge to divine that Inky was licking out of anxiety and perhaps pain (or possibly even phantom limb syndrome) and was considering getting something that tasted bad to discourage Inky's licking. It was only by accident that I had not gotten to do this. Inky's wisdom (if you are comfortable calling it that) was indicating a buried problem that needed to be brought to the surface. Had he not done what he did we would have ignored the problem at hand, as it got worse.

1 comment:

  1. Dear Inky & Family:
    Inky is going to be fine, you are closely monitoring the situation and the vet is very aware of the problems that can arise. I worked for a veterinary for three and a half years and saw many, many amputations of dogs/cats, babies and seniors and they adjust to their lives better than any human I've known. I've seen them get up and walk around the next day after surgery and years later they running and jumping with the "best of them". Just keep an eye on Inky for any future problems and know that we will keep him in our thoughts and prayers(with paws crossed) for a complete recovery. Also wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year!
    Love,
    Casey, Grace, Leo, Frankie & Furmom Judy

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