Poor Sick Kitty

I would like to introduce Callie to you. She's our 10 yr. old Calico. Our daughter J found her in the middle of the road where she had been hit by a car and left. She was bleeding from a head wound and the vet didn't expect her to live through the night. J called me after taking Callie to the vet and begged me to allow her to keep her if she lived. I made her promise that she would pay all the vet bills. Much to the suprise of all Callied lived. J paid all her bills. The vet told us that she wasn't certain Callie was out of the woods just yet and that we should quarantine her for the first month. That was 9 yrs. ago. Callie still doesn't like to have her head touched, in fact she doesn't let anyone but family touch her and then only for a few moments. She is not a lap sitter and she doesn't allow people to pick her up, not ever. She will allow me to pick her up to put her on the table where she eats but only because of the food. Otherwise it's hands off.

Both our cats are indoor/outdoor, in fact somedays I feel as though my only purpose in life is to open and close the door for the cats. For the most part we don't have any problems with injuries or fighting but sometimes things do happen. Callie came home the last week with a very bad limp.

We quarantined her to the house and thought it was getting better but then over the weekend we noticed that she was once again in a lot of pain. Sunday night she curled up next to me (and you have to understand Callie does not touch anyone on purpose and would never think of actually curling up next someone) and acted as though she was seeking comfort. I gently prodded her leg and discovered that the knee joint was particularly painful to her. She actually put her paw on my hand as though to say; "stop! that hurts!" I decided a trip to the vet was in order so G and I took her in on Monday morning.

Turns out that she had injured her knee joint and very badly. I was helping to hold Callie down as the vet examined the leg and was able to see that Callie has a lot of play in the knee, in fact if I didn't know better I would have thought she didn't have a knee. The vet said she probably injured it as a result of jumping from a high place. That makes sense because both Callie and Nigel like to go up on the roof. Swifts nest in our chimney and raise young each spring and summer, both cats would love nothing more than to dine on a nice, young, tender baby bird but the swifts are smart and nest too far down the chimney for the cats to reach.

The vet has confined Callie to bed rest. She is not to jump at all for at least 3 weeks. Callie is not pleased one little bit about any of this. First her knee hurts and now she is forced to stay in a lowly dog crate of all places. But as you can see we are doing out best to keep her comfortable. G bought her a large supply of tuna as a get-well present. Honestly the tuna is a foil for the meds the vet prescribed but Callie doesn't seem to mind that part. I made her a nice thick bed from two new foam cushion inserts, I covered it with an old towel and then put the fleece blanket on top, hopefully it will keep the leg more comfortable than sleep on the hard cage bottom.

So for the next 3-4 weeks she has to be confined to the crate. After that I thinking she'll be staying inside for several more months. I realize this could have happened t inside the house just as easily as it happend outside but I can observe in the house much better and make sure she get her rest when need be.

Callie stoned on Tramadol.

The vet was very nice and gave Callie some pain killers called Tramadol. If you are familiar with this drug you'll know that it also has the added side effect of mood elevation. In other words it acts like a pain-killer slash anti-depressant. It did make Callie a bit excitable so I am spreading the doses out so as not to cause her undue anxiety, she's already neurotic. But she's also very sweet in her own way and we love her. Hopefully this will heal on it on and we won't have to put her through a surgery to stabilize the joint.