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Tuesday, July 18, 2006Cat's HealthSo I was late to the vet, and almost got turned away because the vet was scheduled to do surgery in 15 minutes on a dog that had been in a fight. But one of the nurses asked if the cat had any cuts on it and I told her about the detached paw. Just as I was looking in their phone book for other vets to try and get to, they called the cat and I in for a quick check.It turns out both the cat's front paws had the same problem. Which explains why I kept getting confused on which of it's paws was the injured one. They both are! Neither of the nurses could identify what was wrong with the cat's paws, they had never seen anything like it before. The vet also said he'd never seen an injury like that before, but he did know what it was. On both the pads had detached and it turns out they had flipped mostly off to the front. The vet said the cat has been walking on the tissue underneath, which is infected and quiet swollen in both. And the paws are oozing, which explains why the bedding I put in the carrier was so wet besides the little water that had spilt out of the dish, and why my bathroom floor this morning was all slick even though the cat had used the styrofoam thing for its business. As for the bleeding, it turns out that's no so much from the paws. The vet says the cat has an infection in both of its ears, one much worse than the other even I can see. In the worse off ear, after the Vet took a sample, the cat started scratching *in* the ear, and then shook its head. When it did so, a blood clot few out, and the ear began bleeding kind of lightly but consistently. So the cat scratching the bleeding ear is likely how the blood paw prints get made. The cat made its first bowel movement last night too, so I gathered up what I easily could and brought that to the vet as requested. From that the Vet determined the cat also has worms. The good news is, the cat does not have Leukemia nor Immunodeficiency. Nor does the cat have fleas (the nurse speculates it is too nutrition deprived for them). So I was given four medications for the cat: one topical for the paws; one general antibiotic; one for the worms; and ear drops. The doctor wants to see the cat again in two weeks to check its progress. They also gave me special litter because the Vet doesn't want the cat walking on anything that could make the infections worse, or re-cause infection if/when it clears. Unfortunately, until the pussing and bleeding stops I can't let the cat anywhere in my house other than the bathroom. And while at the vets my allergies started going off something fierce. It was the first time I've actually handled the cat, but there's also the possibility they were triggered by being in the vet's where all sort of animals are. However, I'm leaving this weekend for my two week trip out West. But Kevin is going to take the cat from me sometime this week. The Vet at first thought the cat was an old street cat, but after looking at its teeth - which are good the Vet said - he immediately said the cat isn't that old at all. After I left the vet I was thinking how it's weird they could run all those tests in 10 minutes and get results, and how much cheaper the medicine and the visit was than for a human.... Oh, it's a boy. |
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