I realize that even though I've been sharing Max's recovery with my regularly visited forums, I haven't been updating the blog on his status. Here's a timeline of posts from those forums:
Friday, January 28
Doc just called! Max has feeling back in his legs! He’ll give us the rest of the details when we’re allowed to go visit at two this afternoon. He did say he wants to wait two weeks to surgically remove, thankfully, JUST THE BALL FROM THE FEMUR! He says over time that it will grow a false joint. I had never heard of this but it is better than an amputation. He will only amputate if he has to. The two weeks is to allow time for the pelvis and back breaks to heal before he does the surgery.
I don’t know if Max gets to come home today. Doc says he doesn’t need to stay in hospital during the two weeks. I will have to help clean him up since he won’t be able to use a litter box. But that is a small price to pay knowing that he has an excellent chance at a good recovery; not full, never will be with his injuries, since he won’t be able to climb the side of the house anymore. I’m okay with that.
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He’s home now. I have him in the isolation cage for now because I have to go shopping. I hate doing this to him. He really wants down to drag himself… I don’t know where. He’s already been up and used the litter box. The problem is he doesn’t want to settle. Doc says too much moving around won’t allow the hips and pelvis to heal. Oh, it turns out what the doc meant by broken back was the severance of the hips from the sciatic(?) vertebra.
Saturday, January 29
He actually got his first home dose this morning. Doc said he was relatively active because of the original steroid shot that he gave him on Thursday. The medication is an anti-inflammatory (NSAID) called Metacam and I am to give him 1 cc a day for only a total of five days. Four days to go. After his dose this morning, he has stayed quite calm today. He finally ate some food but the only way he’ll take fluids is if I use a syringe. Doc says not to worry too much. He says since I’m feeding him wet food that he is getting fluids that way and that he is probably still bloated from the IV.
Max will be getting the ball of his femur removed in about two weeks. Doc wanted to wait to give the fractures time to heal before doing the surgery so his leg will not be amputated after all.
We’ve already been covering his cage and yes he calmed right down after I covered all but the front. Before I did this, any motion or noise would make him startle and ping off the sides of the cage. He’s doing WAY BETTER and staying calm now. He’s even been grooming himself today. He is sleeping a lot.
I spend about 30 minutes every couple of hours petting and massaging him, scrunching his ears, rubbing his belly. He actually rolls over to allow his belly to be rubbed. Even when I’m not petting him, I tied some spirit bells into his cage for him to play with and he does. They are hanging down low enough for him to bat at but not get tangled in the cord. Not much but it’s better than no play toys at all.
When I take Max out of the cage to see if he needs to relieve himself (every 2 to 4 hours) he always tries to jump out of my arms. Silly boy, I really don’t know if he realizes just how bad his injuries are. I keep a firm but gentle grip on him.
Monday, January 31
He’s finally drinking water and he’s used the restroom and is eating when he gets hungry. When he was scratching in the litter box, he threw the litter everywhere! He’s doing really great. I just feel bad for him that I can’t let him roam the house. I am actually stunned at how calm and laid back he is about the whole mess. When he stands up to stretch he is steadier than he has been. He is one amazing boy!
Thursday, February 3
He’s grown stronger. So much so that it is becoming difficult to keep him isolated. He wants OUT of the cage. When we hold him, he wants OUT of our arms. It’s been a week and he’s now going stir crazy, is my poor (not so) little guy. This weekend, we’re going to block the front 1/3 of the house off so he can wander around on the floor. We’ll be with him the whole time to make sure the other kitties don’t decide to rough-house with him. He needs more exercise that what we can give him. I do give him lots of scritches and rubs and that seems to help. He can’t scratch right now because of his pelvis and I’m fairly certain it annoys the heck out of him, much like a man having both legs and arms in casts at the same time.
He’s getting totally spoiled. Heck, the poor guy goes back next week for the surgery. So I and my husband are doing everything we can to help keep him sane.
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Cats are phenomenal! Our cat “Racoon” has been through most of his 9 lives and is still going strong. I’ve got some horror stories about his life that would make everyone cringe. He’s 17 this year and is only now starting to slow down.
Sunday, February 13
Max’s surgery has been delayed for two weeks. Two reasons: 1) Max needs a little more time for his hips to heal before the doctor does his surgery. 2) Max has been phenomenally mobile. Since Max’s mobility is an excellent sign of health, the doctor feels that Max isn’t suffering any real discomfort and will heal faster after the surgery. I think giving Max full scritches and massages helped him.
Max has been out of confinement since Monday and is doing fabulous. He tried earlier in the week to cuddle with his buddy Buddha but Buddha didn’t want anything to do with him at the time. Since yesterday, however, Max and Buddha are playing again. What’s truly amazing is it seems that Buddha can smell Max’s injuries and avoids roughhousing too much.
I am thoroughly amazed.
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