Dept. of Poor Kitty

[kaffy_r]

Phil's Very Bad, No Good Day

Poor Phil. Our little black kitty, who we've been treating for the past couple of weeks for ear infections - and taking to the very nice vet twice in those past couple of weeks - has been, finally, diagnosed with an ear polyp. It's bleeding when it gets jostled, which is why one ear has been smelling nasty; old blood. Eurgh. It doesn't seem to hurt him too much, and it's not awfully itchy, as ear mites would be ...

... but he needs surgery. And the surgeon our vet recommended is 30 miles outside the city limits (in Buffalo Grove, oddly, where I spent 19 unpleasant months covering the community. In fact, when our vet handed BB the booklet, I thought "I'll bet this is somewhere way the fuck out, please let me be wrong," and of course I wasn't. Fucking Buffalo Grove.)  Since Phil goes unhappily nuts for the 10 minutes it takes us to drive to the regular vet, this promises to be extraordinarily stressful for him, and for us. Especially since he'll have to go out for a consult, and then back out for the actual surgery. 

It's going to cost, too, but to not do it would be wrong. There is also the possibility, we're told, that the polyp may have grown through the eardrum; and that may mean they can't remove the entire thing, and that it may grow back. Aaack. 

Poor guy, he's really so forgiving of us. He's already climbing back into my lap, and wanting to be petted. I love him, and I hate stressing him out.

In happier human news, I feel much better. And it's the weekend. So there's that. 

Comments

[misbegotten]

Oh sheesh! Poor, poor Phil. From our kitties to yours, the best wishes.

[kaffy_r]

Thanks. on Phil's behalf - and I love that icon!

[editrx]

Oh poor Phil. Having had some kitty problems in the last week, I feel for you and him. I hope the polyp turns out to be straightforward.

[kaffy_r]

I hope it does, too. The thought of having to go back repeatedly (the regular vet said that if it couldn't be taken out completely, it could grow back anywhere from a couple a months later to a couple of years later) is horrible. Mind you, if it's a matter of years, it's less horrifying; still, I'm hoping it is straightforward. Hope your kitty or kitties are OK at this point.

[editrx]

Dawn came home from the vet, went upstairs for the first time in days. Has acted normal ever since.

Bitch.

I begin to wonder if she did it to whig us out. She certainly succeeded.

[kaffy_r]

What happened to get to you to take her to the vet?

[editrx]

She had stayed on a bench in the hallway outside our library/den for three days. Didn't go upstairs with the other cats to eat, didn't go to the water bowls, probably did use the box that's in that hall (we hope). But didnt move. Didn't leave the bench. Didn't do her usual Bengal howling meowing she does all the time. It was very, very weird.

We brought food to her (because we're totally whipped), placed a water bowl near her. She jumped down and allowed as that was acceptable. Ate and drank a little. Got back on the bench.

So after 5 days of this, she went to the vet for a total checkup, despite the fact she'd had a "well cat visit" just 3 weeks earlier. And she had to stay there the *whole day* in a cage because I had to work and the vet couldn't see her until the afternoon. So I left work early, was with her for the exam, and nothing appears to be wrong. The vet was *very* thorough.

Now, however, poor miss thing has *the worst flu ever* and is sneezing, wheezing, and has lost her beautiful Bengal voice. She is squeaking. Or opening her mouth and nothing comes out. She goes back to the vet on Saturday morning.

Poor Dawn. I love her very much.

[kaffy_r]

I hope she's better by now!

[editrx]

We went from that to her coming down with an upper respiratory infection (she got it from Josh, the Abyssinian, who had gotten to the vet the previous week and was not over it). The vet scheduled her out an entire week. She got fevered, sneezing like crazy. Lost her voice (which was awful -- Bengals really are loud most of the time, and she was whispering and wheezing and even did things like open her mouth and nothing came out at all!).

So that goes on for a week. Then yesterday she's a lot better. She finally gets to go to the vet today. No symptoms at all. The vet said if we hadn't told her she had the URI, she never would have guessed it.

Damn cat.

LOL. I do love her.

[lilacsigil]

Poor little guy, and poor you having to listen to his suffering for much longer. I'm so glad our vets are just around the corner, and that's traumatic enough for poor Baggins. (Chewie is grumpy but okay with the vets, so of course he's the one that rarely has to go!)

[kaffy_r]

The travel time to the surgeon's is, if I remember my drive-times to Buffalo Grove, about 50 minutes. It's going to be epic. As in epically awful. You guys are indeed lucky!

[thisbluespirit]

Oh, no, poor Phil! <3

In happier human news, I feel much better. And it's the weekend. So there's that.

Well, that is something, at least. :-/

[kaffy_r]

The one thing I'm grateful for is that it doesn't seem to bother him too much, although one can never tell, especially if one's cat is particularly stoic - and I think he is.

And yes, I do feel better, although I awakened at 5 a.m. this morning - on a Saturday, no less! It's horrendously warm here (in the 90sF, which is completely wrong when it's almost October. Good thing that global warming/climate change is just a liberal plot, eh what?) so I'll try to avoid going out, and will bow to the gods of air conditioning while I do some housework.

[st_aurafina]

Poor kitty - I hope the surgery goes the best that it can.

[kaffy_r]

I do, too. We'll have to set up the initial consult on Monday. I don't know when it will be; and then we'll have to schedule the surgery based on what the surgeon says at the consult.

[liadt]

Poor Phil. I hope the whole lot can be removed. My cat travelled badly as a kitten too:/

[kaffy_r]

I'm crossing my fingers that everything can be removed, so that he doesn't have to deal with this again.

Traveling with Phil is greatly different from traveling with the late lamented Alex. Alex would mew a few times, but would stay largely silent. Not so Phil!

[liadt]

My cat does that too for hours! She's better than when she was a kitten, she'd foam at the mouth and the other end wasn't happy either. Oh dear.

Sending good thoughts for Phil.

[kaffy_r]

and the other end wasn't happy either.

Well, that was one way the otherwise well-behaved Alex would occasionally react. And it actually made me feel worse, because when a kitty does that in an enclosed space like a carrier, it means they're usually truly frightened. Which, of course, makes the human feel like even more of a jerk.

[liadt]

*hugs* it can't be helped when the alternative would be to suffer more:(

[kaffy_r]

That's what we, their humans, have to keep remembering. Sigh.

[lokifan]

Poor boy. I hope they can get it all.

Glad you're feeling better!

[kaffy_r]

Your thoughts are mine - and thanks for the good wishes for Phil!

[conuly]

Poor baby :(

[kaffy_r]

What gets me is how forgiving he is; he's such a sweet little guy.

[clocketpatch]

Poor kitty. I hope it all resolves easily.

[kaffy_r]

Thanks; we're keeping our fingers crossed.

[carbonel]

Poor Phil. I hope things go smoothly for him and you, and it isn't too expensive.

We used to drive out to Buffalo Grove to get ice cream at The Buffalo. It's still there, and might be a place to hang out if you have waiting time out there.

On a random note, my nephew and his wife recently bought a house in Buffalo Grove. They have three small dogs of the Shih Tzu persuasion.

[kaffy_r]

The vet's office is on Busch Parkway, far north of Lake-Cook Road. so we may not be able to enjoy ice cream, but it sounds like an attractive way to avoid having to think about Phil's ears. Maybe if we have to wait more than an hour or so ... but I think I"ll have to head back to the home office to get work done.

They have three small dogs of the Shih Tzu persuasion.

They are braver and more patient than I would ever be.