Cally update
I am becoming more and more concerned about Cally, and just saw something that has taken things up a notch.
Cally had her last (monthly) Cartraphan shot only about a week ago, but I've noticed her in discomfort for the past few days and have been giving her supplementary Metacam. It's unusual for her to need it so soon after her shot, but she was having trouble sitting and was flicking her tail. In the last interval between shots she didn't need any supplemental pain management at all, so this was particularly noticeable.
This evening when I went to the cat room to get her medicine I expected her to follow me there for food, but she stayed on the couch. This is *most* unusual. She did eat later in the evening though, and showed the usual intense interest in whatever I was eating.
Just now she was attempting to settle on me on the couch and as is typical for a cat presented her arse to my face. I then saw she had a bloody raw patch on the underside of her tail near the base. We managed to get a better look with a torch and applied a little betadine in approximately the right location, but it's really a 3 person job and we didn't push it. She was deeply unimpressed with our efforts.
I'd thought that maybe Princess had taken a chunk out of her, but watching Cally wash up after the human assault, and by the shallow nature of the scrape, I think it more likely that Cally has been licking at her sorest arthritis spot. I suppose it's also possible that it's an ulcer of some sort - I got a reasonable look with a torch but not all that thorough. Or she may even have injured it somehow. Or tiny ninjas attacked her with a nutmeg grater. I've learned to keep my options open.
It's a worry, because we're pretty much at maximum pain treatments already. Last night I classified her as 'uncomfortable' but I'm worried she might be closer to 'distressed'. The next step up from there is 'suffering' and that can only lead to the dark side :-(
Cally had her last (monthly) Cartraphan shot only about a week ago, but I've noticed her in discomfort for the past few days and have been giving her supplementary Metacam. It's unusual for her to need it so soon after her shot, but she was having trouble sitting and was flicking her tail. In the last interval between shots she didn't need any supplemental pain management at all, so this was particularly noticeable.
This evening when I went to the cat room to get her medicine I expected her to follow me there for food, but she stayed on the couch. This is *most* unusual. She did eat later in the evening though, and showed the usual intense interest in whatever I was eating.
Just now she was attempting to settle on me on the couch and as is typical for a cat presented her arse to my face. I then saw she had a bloody raw patch on the underside of her tail near the base. We managed to get a better look with a torch and applied a little betadine in approximately the right location, but it's really a 3 person job and we didn't push it. She was deeply unimpressed with our efforts.
I'd thought that maybe Princess had taken a chunk out of her, but watching Cally wash up after the human assault, and by the shallow nature of the scrape, I think it more likely that Cally has been licking at her sorest arthritis spot. I suppose it's also possible that it's an ulcer of some sort - I got a reasonable look with a torch but not all that thorough. Or she may even have injured it somehow. Or tiny ninjas attacked her with a nutmeg grater. I've learned to keep my options open.
It's a worry, because we're pretty much at maximum pain treatments already. Last night I classified her as 'uncomfortable' but I'm worried she might be closer to 'distressed'. The next step up from there is 'suffering' and that can only lead to the dark side :-(