What a week this past one has been!

Have yall ever had a week in your life that you never ever want to go through again? Well, this past one has certainly been one I'd love to put behind me!

It started with waiting for the reports on the fluid from Jasmine. Waiting, waiting, waiting.

Then TK started getting itchy. It started in front of his right ear, then once he had that spot a bloody, raw mess he moved on to underneath his chin. Then on the front of his neck, then his left cheek, then a spot directly between his shoulder blades! I called my vet Friday to schedule an appointment but there wasn't any available. They did let me drop him off so he could stay there for when Dr. K could look at him. After she had examined TK she thinks it's either the Advantage doesn't work well enough for him, or else a food allergy issue. He got a depo shot and when I picked him up later after work I bought a tube of Frontline for TK. And, of course, I got that pathology report on Jasmine when I was there to get TK.

Saturday started off by us oversleeping a bit, but not too late, I still had plenty of time to get ready for work. (Yes, remember, I work one job M - F and a different job on Saturdays!). Anyhow, I was here at the computer trying to get my virtual pets happy when suddenly my dh yells for me, saying that something was wrong with Radar! I could tell by the tone of his voice that this was serious! I ran! Here's what happened: The best that we can piece together is that either Radar was on our kitchen table and fell off, or else he was trying to get up onto the table from the floor. Our table has these metal pipe legs. Each leg consists of two pipes very separated at the underside of the table, but as the legs go down towards the floor those two pipes get closer and closer, until they're together about 2 or 3 inches from floor level. Now, either while Radar was going up or falling down, his right hind leg got trapped in the "V" where the two pipes join. (Also remember that another one of the various birth defects that Radar is faced with is that he has practically no voice at all. When he does meow, it's barely a raspy squeak.) Dh was in the kitchen mixing up the food for our outside ferals when he heard this weird little noise. He turned and saw TK and Gypsy standing on our kitchen table, but TK was in full halloween cat pose! Dh thought that maybe he and Gypsy had had a small spat, but then he noticed that TK was at the very corner of the table looking over the edge, yet still all spurred up! So dh stepped around the table to check, and there lay Radar, flat out on his side not moving at all! Honestly, dh thought that Radar had fallen off the table and broken his neck! He yells for me. As soon as I saw Radar I realized that his leg was stuck, so I got my hands underneath him and lifted him up. That released his leg from the table leg. During this time Radar was biting and scratching dh all over one hand. As soon as I got Radar's leg out dh handed him to me and washed and scrubbed his bleeding hand. I checked Radar all over and he seems none the worse for wear, thankfully! We're now watching dh's hand for any signs of infection........we all know how nasty cat bites can be. (I tried to cheer dh up by saying that at least Radar finally lost that last baby fang, or else he would have been bitten by 5 fangs, not 4. Ummm....he wasn't too amused by this.)

(Editted to add this.) I forgot to mention that yes, I was late getting to work because after all this I took a roll of duct tape and taped all four legs of the kitchen table. There's now no gaps to trap little paws or legs. Plus, as soon as our son-in-law has a day off from work he'll come over and build us a new kitchen table....with straight, solid, no gaps in the legs legs! When I finally got to work I explained to my boss about what had happened, and she was really ok about me being late! She's a furry lover too, so I knew she'd understand.

Then last night, despite that depo shot, TK became itchy yet again! He went after that spot between his shoulder blades. Itching it, licking it, tearing it up. I trimmed all of his rear claws and even filed them nice and smooth. I applied listerine to it to make it taste nasty. Nothing short of physically holding him would stop him for damaging it further. Then dh suggested giving him a dose of Benadryl! DUH!!! I had forgotten that cats can take Benadryl! I looked up the dosage on this lovely net, found several sites that said .5ml/pound, so I gave him a very conservative 1 ml. (TK weighs a little over 5 pounds now.) I then grabbed a shoestring to play with him, to try and take his mind off his itchy spot. Whew! So far so good, so this morning I gave him another 1 ml. Granted, he doesn't like the taste (neither do I!) but it seems to be helping him. Plus I've removed what I think is the offending food from his diet, so I'll continue with the Benadryl for a few days and see how he does.

Then even later last night dh's hand started throbbing, so I went to the only store open (Wal-Mart) and got some epsom salt for soaking his hand. Today his hand feels ok he says, but I still want him to call his doctor tomorrow, just in case.

Today.................has been quiet.........so far!

 

What a week indeed. Hope DH's hand is okay and all of your kitties are good. Especially hope TK stops his scratching.

 

Oh MY, maybe I shouldnt have asked! Those two sure keep you on your toes. I'm Sorry about Jasmines troubles am sending prayers for her and hubbys hand too!

Jeanne