OK, so Kitty Katherine made it through her cancerous spleen removal like a champ. Bit of enlarged lymph tissue, sent for biopsy, but vet says no big concern there. We bring her home. Basically happy kitty, though stitched up the belly. Then she chews her outer stitches loose and starts oozing red catstuff. BAD KITTY!
Veterinary emergency puts staples in, yah yah fine, prescribes Clamavox (Clavamox?) against infection and a clown collar. Get her home, she can’t eat and can only walk backwards. Off comes collar. Eat eat eat. Again, happy kitty. Give her a squirt of antibiotic and back to bed.
This morning, unhappy kitty. Puking, listless, oozing again. Back to operating vet, who sez Clavamox probably way too strong. He will see her later today.
KK’s mama (mine also) very distraught over all this. If anyone has any wisdom to share re post-op cat stuff, please do give a yowl and we will be reassured.
Oh dear. Okay, well I’m not a vet so this is just my opinion. I think so far you are doing the right things. I read posts like this in various places all the time, identical to yours, except theirs end with “So do you think we should maybe call the vet? We might do it next week because we’re busy right now.”
Keep a close eye on her. How much later will the vet be seeing her? It could be the meds, or she could have an infection. If I were you, I’d keep her in my sight all day until the vet appointment and make sure she’s breathing well and does not get any worse. If you have a rectal thermometer you could take her temp and few times and see if it’s high or goes higher. I’d stay home so that I could monitor her and if she has a marked deterioration, bring her to the vet immediately and say it’s an emergency. If she vomits blood or bloody goop, take her in right away. If the wound site is bleeding–not oozing but bleeding freely–take her in immediately. Common sense stuff, really.
Sounds to me like you’re doing the right things so far. Good luck.
Thanks. She is at the vet hosp currently where they are better equipped for these things. The doc will be in later today. This cat is a full member of the family, so none of this wait-n-see stuff for us.
My ex-girlfriend and I grabbed some kittens from under my house to keep the neighbors from killing them. We nursed them on some homemade solution involving egg yolks and milk, I think, and when they were ready to eat solid food, we forgot to give them a bowl of water for about ten days. It just slipped our mind that “oh yeah…animals need water.” They were eating wet food and getting enough moisture that way, but I still felt really dumb.
Did you switch abruptly from the milk replacer to the solid food? If not, then you’re ok. If yes, then yeah, that was kind of dumb. In multiple ways.
It’s not hard to bottle feed a group of cats, and you have some lee way in what you do, but next time, consult someone with more experience. Nearly every city has a cat rescue group who would be thrilled to teach you.
I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir for you, ForumBot and I don’t mean to hyjack. Just didn’t want someone wandering and thinking that there wasn’t help for a litter of abandoned kittens.
Happy kitty! She’s over the dehydration, staples staying in and not touching them (hooray, but the collar is here just in case). She’s a little tired and eating sparingly, but hey, she’s been at Teh Icky Vet Place for 2 nights.
Sadly though, that lymph node is malignant, so she is not cancer-free. We’re not going to put her thru chemo, though. We’re just going to keep her happy and spoiled for as long as she has some quality of catlife.
BAD KITTY!