So, as I sit here doing laundry (bedding, Sammy was finally off of the bed and I yelled for Brian to help me, bed stripped, clean mattress pad, sheets and bedspread on) and cutting out varying sizes of balloons, I figure I should give a Sparkle Butt update (rockets have flames shooting out of their backside, thus "Sparkle Butt").
When we got home, Brian opened the carrier and Rocky ran out. He ran over to the sliding door and Brian let him out. He headed for the tractor, I saw him run under it. Within minutes, he was back in the house.
I was definitely anxious last night. He had a hard time settling down and his breathing was a little more labored than normal. He ate a goodly amount of tuna, over a half of a can. He drank water. I kept waiting for him to settle down, but it just didn't happen. I'd check on him with a flashlight in hand and he always had his head up, not down, eyes wide open, not shut. And there was that breathing. I'd get up every half hour or so and check on him. Finally, around 1:30 this morning, his breathing was much better. The anesthesia he had was one that leaves the system quickly, so I'm curious if it was his pain meds. I'm reluctant to try those at this point. The breathing timeline is right for the buprenex to be out of his system. But doing a search on side effects in cats, his breathing should be slower, not faster. It's maybe just from the pain. I just gave him his first dose (yeah, it's late) of pain meds, I'll keep a close eye on him to see how it effects him without all that other stuff going on.
I've been trying to get some decent photos of him, even took a little video of him scratching at the sisal on the cat tree he was on. And then he lost his footing and slipped down between the cat trees to the floor and he sat there crying at me. I couldn't get the camera out of my hand fast enough, I reached down and held him and he seemed okay. He wanted down, I set him on the floor and he went back up onto a cat condo, then back over to his comfort zone. Whew.
He is in pretty good spirits for all that he's been through this past couple of months.
This is what the granuloma looked like on the twentieth. Just a week ago yesterday. If you go to my March 21 entry, comparing photos, this sucker got a lot bigger in just a month.
These pictures were all taken today. Last night, he tried picking at the bandages, but I think they must have a nasty taste, because he really hasn't messed with them too much. He did chew a little hole in the tip and was pulling at the gauze underneath, but I trimmed that off the few times he got it out. It looks like maybe, hopefully, he gave up.
You can kind of see where he's pulled at the tip of the bandage here.
A large area of his leg is bandaged.
When he sits, this is how he sits. With that leg up in the air.
Fast asleep at last
It's been about an hour now since I gave him the buprenex and his breathing is normal and he looks pretty relaxed. That will help me relax, for sure.
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