Tubin'
A Favorite Spot
Originally uploaded by Poodleface(recognize that chair oniugnip?)
George is home now, and is doing pretty well, particularly compared to how he was on Saturday. When he walked around his back legs drug around like they were injured, but it just turned out to be difficulties derived from dehydration and lack of nutrition. When I took George home yesterday, he seemed pretty lethargic and I was quite worried until I opened his carrier. George practically sprung out (as well as he could manage) and explored thoroughly before laying down to rest. The vet was quite surprised to hear that he was being active at all. Being home is making a big difference, I think.
In the picture you can see George's feeding tube. Six times daily I'll be making a mash of wet food and water and syringing it down the tube until George decides he would rather eat solid food on his own. He already managed a little food today (postponing the eventual syringe), so this is encouraging. George is definitely not a fan of the tube feeding, probably because it is rather weird to feel food sliding down your esophagus to your stomach without having eaten it first. Hopefully this will encourage his appetite.
For those of you who mentioned your own expensive vet bills, I can safely say I understand why you would pay it now. The sad thing is that apparently we are in the minority, for there are a lot of people who when faced with a bill that size will just have the pet put down rather than pay, even if they can afford it. At least this is what was implied to me by the vet's office. I guess not everyone feels the same way about their pets. It's a shame, really.
For those of you who volunteered to help with George's vet bills, which has come as rather unexpected and touching, I set up a button here where you can do so if you desire. Paypal will take a small cut, but there doesn't seem to be an easier way:
Thanks for all your kind comments. I definitely sympathize with those with newborns, since I have to get up every four hours to feed him, as well as George insisting on being as close to me as possible, which has woken me up more than once. I certainly don't mind it, though. I didn't know how much I missed him until I got him home again. Hopefully, all goes smoothly with his recovery.
My main fear now is George somehow getting his feeding tube out. Everything else seems to be going well.
As I type this, George shambled down to my lap. Looks like I'm not getting up for a while... :-)