I got them ole three legged blues
yeah, that’s just me with the blues … Deva is playing the banjo…
just kidding of course
The day of the surgery was weird because I came home, and no Deva meeting me at the door! It was an anxious wait, but as many of you have been telling me, cats adapt very quickly to losing a limb. When I picked Deva up from the vet she was super smoochy. She sat up immediately – this a day after surgery, then just wanted me to rub her head.
I was so surprised to see that she still had a shoulder blade – they had originally told me that she would lose that as well. Apparently the surgeon decided it was better to leave it. The photo below shows the wound. It looks quite red and the vet said this is normal bruising. Sorry if this is too graphic for anyone – it is definitely not pretty. We were not given a cone – I did see a little donut (a lot like the one that jill had), but decided we would try some cotton baby singlets before resorting to the cone. This has worked a treat. Deva is not bothered with me putting this on her (while she is on pain meds)…
The biggest challenge has been that Deva would not eat or drink AT ALL. I am grateful for the advice and support I received in the chat room and forum. Thankfully, today (3 days post surgery) the vet gave me NUTRIGEL – it is a super concentrate gel packed full of nutrients. After some initial tail flicking, we had success with a few blobs being licked off my finger. After that I was able to crush up the antibiotics in a mixture of water and A/D and give it in a syringe (hm, less happy with this arrangement)…. but the bonus was a slice of ham hand fed. So at last Deva has something in her belly.
As far as hopping around goes – Deva is fearless. She has already been up on the couch, and jumped up on her tower of power (the scratching post). I have no doubt she is going to adapt very quickly…keeping her from jumping too high before the stitches come out is going to be tricky…
so, here we are day 3 after surgery and all is definitely well. I have loads of happy snaps to follow…..
thanks again. could not have handled this without the support from you all.
day after amputation…sorry if this is too much for anyone…
deva in a baby singlet…now she can’t lick that wound
Deva! You’re not a kitty! You’re a SNUGGLE VUNNY!! Lokk at you loving the rubbing! What a sweet heart!
And yeah, the “colorful” incision looks all “normal”. Glad they could even do a little “less” major surgery too. So glad to hear how well she’s doing!
You keep on eatng pretty kitty! And thanks for the wonderful update. Good news! And you can never havetoo many photos around here! Love them!
Hugs to all!
Sally and Happy Hannah
Awww, look at this pretty girl – yep, that incision looks normal! The puffiness will go wayyy down and eventually she’ll get some fur (though sometimes it takes a while to really fill in that furry-spot, especially depending on season). And glad the onesie is working out! – kitties hate cones, and I’m sure she loves you for it. Fang wouldn’t take the cone or the onesie, so I just let him be. But I had to watch that little mischievous boy to make sure he didn’t mess with anything. 😛
She looks like a happy kitty to have her mommy around to pat her head. Loving the kitty smile. 🙂
I’m sorry you’re having problems with Deva eating – the pain meds can make them feel sort of sick, so I’m not surprised (heck, that’s how I am on pain meds too). But, HURRAY for getting her to eat something, and also extra super hurray that she is taking so well to hopping around. Kitties always amaze me with their ability to adapt so readily! We can learn a lot from them. 😀