cat update
Thank you, everyone, for your kind wishes.
The reason for Leonard Spooky's constipation is still a mystery. He pooped two small poops today, though, so that's a start.
In contrast, the reason for his hip trouble has become clear. The night that I took him to the vet, I was holding him in my arms and on my way down the stairs I slipped and fell hard on my butt (I woke up River with my swear). Spooky flew out of my arms and fell at the bottom of the stairs, then scampered away. Since he was able to run away and didn't, like, let out a terrible yowl or anything, I didn't freak out about it, I just picked him back up and put him in his carrier for the ride to the vet. He meowed unhappily when I put him in the carrier, but he'd been doing that earlier so, again, it didn't stick out. When the vet said his hip was messed up I mentioned the fall earlier that night, but she didn't seem to think that was the likely cause.
Since I've had him home he's been limping like woah, which he definitely WASN'T doing before this all went down, so the diagnosis is clear -- I dropped him and he broke. Lame. Literally and figuratively. The orthopedics dude said he should have surgery. They'll shave off a bit of the hip bone and then the scar tissue will regrow in a good shape, or something.
He's on "cage rest" which means he has to stay in a medium-sized dog crate so that he doesn't jump around. There's room for his food, water, litter pan and a small bed. Unfortunately, he insists on lying in his litter pan rather than the bed. I clean it out frequently, but still. SO GROSS. :( I can only assume that he wants to move as little as possible, which makes the litter pan the easiest place.
He's on three medications currently, an anti-inflammatory, a pain killer and a laxative. To administer them, someone holds him down and then I shoot a plunger full of liquid down his throat. He doesn't mind the other two very much, but the pain killer must taste terrible, because he freaks out each time I give it to him and smacks his little cat lips over and over. Today he actually foamed at the mouth when I gave it to him.
He's also been twitching a little... maybe the drugs are strong and he's just high? He has an appointment at the vet tommorrow morning, so hopefully they'll be able to tell me then if his behavior is normal.
This is not the best of times.
The reason for Leonard Spooky's constipation is still a mystery. He pooped two small poops today, though, so that's a start.
In contrast, the reason for his hip trouble has become clear. The night that I took him to the vet, I was holding him in my arms and on my way down the stairs I slipped and fell hard on my butt (I woke up River with my swear). Spooky flew out of my arms and fell at the bottom of the stairs, then scampered away. Since he was able to run away and didn't, like, let out a terrible yowl or anything, I didn't freak out about it, I just picked him back up and put him in his carrier for the ride to the vet. He meowed unhappily when I put him in the carrier, but he'd been doing that earlier so, again, it didn't stick out. When the vet said his hip was messed up I mentioned the fall earlier that night, but she didn't seem to think that was the likely cause.
Since I've had him home he's been limping like woah, which he definitely WASN'T doing before this all went down, so the diagnosis is clear -- I dropped him and he broke. Lame. Literally and figuratively. The orthopedics dude said he should have surgery. They'll shave off a bit of the hip bone and then the scar tissue will regrow in a good shape, or something.
He's on "cage rest" which means he has to stay in a medium-sized dog crate so that he doesn't jump around. There's room for his food, water, litter pan and a small bed. Unfortunately, he insists on lying in his litter pan rather than the bed. I clean it out frequently, but still. SO GROSS. :( I can only assume that he wants to move as little as possible, which makes the litter pan the easiest place.
He's on three medications currently, an anti-inflammatory, a pain killer and a laxative. To administer them, someone holds him down and then I shoot a plunger full of liquid down his throat. He doesn't mind the other two very much, but the pain killer must taste terrible, because he freaks out each time I give it to him and smacks his little cat lips over and over. Today he actually foamed at the mouth when I gave it to him.
He's also been twitching a little... maybe the drugs are strong and he's just high? He has an appointment at the vet tommorrow morning, so hopefully they'll be able to tell me then if his behavior is normal.
This is not the best of times.