One Week

Gizmo had his one week check up with the vet today. Today was also the day that he got his stitches taken out. No more e-collar! I also had the vet check him out because he has developed a sneeze and congestion.

While at the vet they took his temperature which was fine, and then they proceeded to take out his stitches. Gizmo has had a little problem with allergies/colds in the past so unless it gets any worse the vet said to let it run its course.

Now the recovery process is all up to Gizmo. Now he just needs to exercise his leg as much as possible to help form a 'false joint' and to prevent scarring tissue from building up. The vet said he would prefer gizmo not to be jumping too much at this point, but he also said that it would be almost impossible to prevent him from jumping all the time. I also asked about how long before Gizmo and Gadget could play like they used to. Since Gadget is a little 'extreme' when he plays the vet said it might be a good idea to prevent that type of playing for a few months. Gadget has a habit of just leaping on Gizmo whenever it is play time, and that type of pressure may not be the best this soon.

The vet said that it would be okay if Gizmo started to run again and continue to get more active. Oh and i asked the vet about Gizmo's medication. Every time i give it to Gizmo he starts foaming and the mouth and it is a huge ordeal to just give it to him. So the vet said that we can just stop the pain medication and see how he does. If he starts to refrain from using the leg then we will either need to try the medicine again or there is a different type of medication we could try. Though, the problem with the other medicine is that it is a anti-inflammatory drug and it isn't the safest thing to be used long term in cats. It has the possibility of tearing up their livers, not really a good thing. But if Gizmo continues to use his leg and progress with it then there wont be a need for the medicine any more.

And unless something else goes wrong, this is the last scheduled vet visit. I will probably set up a check up visit here and there to make sure things are going as well as they can be. And since he is supposed to be going on i diet i plan on bringing Gizmo up to the vet either once a week or once every two weeks. Today he weighed 13.3 pounds. The goal weight is 10 pounds (but i think that is too small, Gizmo is a bigger built cat and 10 pounds seems too small. I guess we'll see) The countdown begins: 3.3 pounds to go.

Weekend Recovery

Gizmo did pretty well this whole weekend. Saturday i let him wander around the house and work out his leg. Though many times he had the 'i want to jump' look in his eyes and would have to stop him from jumping. But he did pretty good all day Saturday, but i think he wore out his leg a little bit because Sunday he was still using his leg but limping a little more. So i put Gizmo back into the closet to spend some time resting up.

My mom came up to Springfield to help me with Gizmo this weekend. I am not sure if I've mentioned it, but it has been getting harder and harder to give Gizmo his medicine. The vet gave me pills that i have to get down his throat, and that is near impossible. So i have been crushing them into a powder and mixing it with water and syringing it down his mouth. He still is very resistant and starts foaming at the mouth when he tastes the stuff, but at least he is getting the medicine.

I had my mom bring down one of those large dog crates so Gizmo could be in the room with me instead of being alone in the closet. I had it all set up with his litter box, food, water, and even blankets to make it soft for him. He HATED it. He started ramming his body into it and head butting it. I was so upset because now i have no other choice but to keep him confined to the closet. I think he didn't like the idea of being confined but at the same time being able to see everything around him.

Oh and I've started confining him to his carrier crate at nights when i sleep because he keeps trying to take off his e-collar and the crate makes that more difficult to do. Though he has gotten it off every night, i didn't think he would have enough room to twist and turn and rip out his stitches. However, he found a way around this. I woke up this morning to check on him and he had knocked the front gate off the carrier crate and had gotten out. He had also decided to take off his e-collar and rip out yet another stitch. So we started this adventure with 4 stitches, and now we are down to 2. But last time i was at the vet with him for pulling out his other stitch they said i don't have to be too worried unless i see gaping skin or if it stars bleeding. It doesn't look bad now, i just hope he doesn't hurt himself any more today. I have to go to school and work, back to back, and wont be home to check on him from 12-9. I'm just going to put his e-collar back on, put him in the closet, and hope for the best.

T.G.I.F. kitty style

T.G.I.F. - finally i don't have to go to classes until Monday and i only work for a few hours on Sunday so i can spend the day with my kitties. Too bad i couldn't have stayed home today. I had classes from one until 4 and i had to leave Gizmo in my closet while i was gone. I came home to find that he had taken off his e-collar and decided to rip out one of his stitches. The stitch was still in his skin but the knot that tied it together was ripped apart.

It was around 4:45 when i got home and realized this, so i had to hurry and call the vet because they close at 5pm. The vet said that if i could be there asap that she could retie it and as long as he didn't have to be sedated it wouldn't cost a thing. (Whew.) So i got him to the vet in less then 5 minutes, (thank God for living close to the vets office) and they took him to look at the damage. Luckily when Gizmo had his surgery the vet put in two layers of sutures to seal the incision. So unless there is a gap in the skin where he was cut there is nothing serious to worry about. But they did super glue his skin together on the external stitches just to be safe.

Other then his suture escapade Gizmo is doing very well. He was walking around all night last night, to the point where i had to put him in his crate to keep him still. I called the vet's office in the morning to find out how much activity is considered 'limited activity'. The vet, who I'm sure if sick of hearing form me and seeing me, said that as long as he is putting pressure on his previously broken hip then it is okay. If he was only walking on his other 3 legs that would be bad, but putting pressure on his bad leg will help build the muscle and prevent scar tissue from forming. Since Gizmo is putting pressure on that leg i guess he is safe to walk around. But he keeps wanting to jump into things like my bed and the bathroom counter. Jumping is a major NO NO.

I cant wait until he gets to have his sutures taken out and i can take his e-collar off, so he can start getting back to a normal kitty life.

A Few Pictures

I thought that i would post a few pictures of my kitties so you could know who i am writing about. The big black guy is Gizmo. I swear he looks like a black panther here. This picture is pre-surgery and pre-injury. The little white and buff guy is the newest addition to my kitty family. His name is Gadget. Believe it or not he is only almost 6 months old but he weighs about 8 pounds. (And he's not overweight, he is actually very healthy weight for his size) He is going to be a big boy. Oh and jut in case you are asking yourself, " Isn't it hard getting the names straight the first time," the answer is yes. I didn't think i would be to hard having both the kitties having G names, but i was wrong. So now each time i call a name i either have to think about it for a while, or i call the wrong kitty's name. My mom did it to me with my sister's names and i love her just the same, so I'm pretty sure the kitties don't mind. :)
Here is a picture of my boys having fun together. I cant wait until Gizmo is well enough to do this again. Though Gadget will probably be to big by then, but i have a feeling it wont stop him.

Gizmo's Surgery

I came home Sunday night to find my year and a half old kitty not in the greatest shape. He was hiding under my bed and wouldn't come out. I figured he was just upset that i had left him by himself while i was out of town. But once i coaxed him out of under the bed (with some treats) i saw that he has litter stuck all down one of his legs. I picked him up and put him in the bath tub to clean off the litter when he started yelling at me. After a few times i realized that he was yelling every time i picked up his leg. So i took him out of the bath tub and put him on the floor. That is when i realized that he was limping, badly.

Since it was Sunday night around 11pm i had to scoop Gizmo up and take him to the emergency vet clinic. Once there Gizmo was weighed (14.5 lbs, a little chunky) and then he was given some pain medication. One he was semi- sedated he was brought to the x-ray room. When the x-rays came back it showed that he had fractured his left hind leg's growth plate in his hip. This would require some surgery. The surgery recommended is called femoral head ostectomy or FHO.

So i left the emergency clinic with a broken Gizmo and a few days worth of pain medication. After a restless nights sleep i called the vet first thing in the morning to set up the surgery. The vet wasn't sure if he could perform the operation until he saw the x-rays. So on my way to school the next morning i dropped off the x-rays. The vet looked them over and said that he could do the surgery but it would have to wait until Wednesday when there was time available. Until then i had to keep Gizmo and inactive as possible and keep him medicated for the pain. (Poor guy)

Finally Wednesday morning arrived and i could take Gizmo in to have the surgery. He hadn't been eating or drinking well since the injury so when he was weighed he was already down to 13.6 (which is good because the vet said he had to go on a severe diet to promote recovery). Then came the hard part, leaving him until the next morning.

We have finally came to today, the pick up day. Gizmo was ready to be picked up at ten o clock this morning. I arrived at 10 on the dot because i missed my kitty. So i picked him him up, wiped out my savings account paying for the surgery, and bought some weight management cat food to help him lose weight, then i headed home.

I was only home for about an hour before having to go back to the vet's office for an e-collar to prevent Gizmo from ripping out his sutures. But other then trying to yank out the sutures he is doing much better. He wants to move around, but vet's orders require him to have limited movement for about a week. Right now he is on closet/bathroom rest. (I have a large walk in closet connected to a bathroom where Gizmo is currently residing) He is not to fond of the e-collar, but it is either deal with the collar or ripping out his sutures and having to go back to the vet and risking the chance of infection and further complications. So the e-collar it is!

Here is a picture of what Gizmo looked like right after i brought him home. AKA- pre-e-collar.

P.S.- my other kitten,Gadget, (6 months old) is absolutely miserable not being able to play with his big brother. They are best friends and he cannot wait until Gizmo is well enough to play. So keep your fingers crossed for a speedy recovery!