One impatient cat

Ella had a little surprise for me when I got home from work this afternoon. I went to take a look at her stitches to see how things were healing and make sure everything looked good and to my surprise, half of her stitches had come undone and the thread was just hanging there. I'm pretty sure that's not a good thing if she then tries to get at the loose bits. I gave the vet a call in too see what should be done and they had me take her back in to check on the stitches and see if we could even get them completely removed a few days early.

Poor girl did not want to go back into the carrier, but she really had no choice in the matter. She kept voicing her objections frequently until we got back home.

She was a good girl when we actually got in to see the vet, but it was also a very quick appointment. We were in and out of there in just about 5 minutes, really. They just took her weight and temperature and then took a little look at the incision and where the sutures had come undone. She said it looked like she was healing very well and everything looked good but she wanted to leave what was left of the stitches in to give the skin some extra bonding time, but she did cut off the part that was dangling so she couldn't pull at it.

So she's halfway there, just a few more days until the rest of it comes out.

I thought I got a picture of her with half of the stitches pulled out, but I must have deleted it on accident. I tend to do that now and again - unfortunately. But I did get one after the stop by the vet.



So she's home. I just have to keep an eye out to make sure that without all of the stitches there isn't and separating or shifting of the skin. At the very least, I'm pretty sure she didn't pull the stitches out on her own. She's been very good about not licking or scratching at the area but today she was a hyper-active little nutcase and I did see her fall and slide down something that could have caught on the stitches. So I'm pretty sure it had more to do with her activity than anything else.

One expensive cat

My cat is more expensive than a trip to Disneyland. No joke.

Sometime this weekend my cat, Ella, got herself a pretty nasty slice that runs from her shoulder to her belly. I couldn't tell you how she did it - whether she got caught on something or got into a fight with someone. I tried cleaning it out after I first discovered it, but haven't been too successful in that department since.

My nursing skills = fail.

I made the call to get her into the vet today because the last thing we need right now is for it to get infected really bad and something worse develop out of the incident. My sister had to say goodbye to the cat she's grown up with attached at her hip last week and it's made me really paranoid about Ella. I love her. She's so much more than a pet to me. Luckily by the time I called they still had one open appointment time today so I was able to get her in without too much delay. Just a lot of frustration on my end.

Guess what happened on the drive there? I get lost. Of course I get lost. Why wouldn't I get lost? I get lost everywhere. Nothing new here; my sense of direction is dismal. I printed directions beforehand and I still got lost. I'm sure my mother appreciated my frantic calls to her to try and figure out how to get there, and Heather must have loved them even more because I was in full-blown panic mode by that point.

Keeping my cool under pressure = fail.

To make a long story short - or at least short in my world - she got the cut cleaned out and it was a pretty minimal procedure. She didn't need to get an IV which would have been necessary if the surgery took more than a certain period of time and would have run us close to $800 total. I don't think I've ever needed any medical procedure that cost that much. Then again, I did have one E.R. visit that I'm aware of and I have no idea how much that cost my parents. Keeping the ones you love healthy sure isn't cheap.

So in the end $662 covered
- exam
- blood work
- surgery
- stitches & follow up appt. to get them removed
- feline leukemia testing
- 2 vaccines
- pain medications

She's home, safe and sound now, although she's got to stay in the kitty-carrier until she can calm down. She's still going a little berserk at the moment, which is sad to watch. I've got to keep an eye out on her when she comes out to make sure she doesn't lick or scratch at the stitches. She's also got a good portion of her right side shaved. Makes me thing we could turn her into a cat-poodle! I'll take a photo of her tomorrow if she'll let me.

Now the funny thing out of all this? I can spend less than that of a trip to Disneyland. I did spend less than that on a trip to Disneyland this past March. I don't know whether I want to laugh about this fact, or cry.