7/28 Jupiter PMBG/60

Link to yesterdays condo (details about the tumor) viewtopic.php?f=9&t=100957

last night sure was a long night. we stayed up as late as we possibly could with Jupiter so we could watch him so he wouldnt rip the sock off. At some point though Dane and I became too tired and we needed a nap. The vet had told us that overnight we should put a big bandaid (like a knee bandaid) on his foot and put a sock over that. Well after a few short hours of sleep (3 hours), I woke up and the sock was off and the bandaid was off and all chewed up. There were little spots of blood all over the bed. His foot didnt look great - and looked really sore.

We did leave his cone on while we were sleeping but he can still reach his foot even with the cone on, but atleast it makes things a little more difficult, hopefully slowing him down. The vet was going to sell us a better cone yesterday but we forgot about it - and cant afford to go buy one right now. Taped some cardboard on it to try to make it a little longer so he cant reach his foot, but dont know how well this is going to work. Dont know if it will stay on or not... used clear packaging tape.

His foot doesnt look very swollen today... maybe not even at all... hard to tell but it might be the tiniest bit swollen. So since it doesnt look very swollen I put a wrap on it but wrapped it very loosely. I know the on call vet that saw him yesterday didnt want us to wrap it at all but I think its just looking worse and worse. I will check his paw every 30 mins - 1 hour today and make sure it doesnt swell. If it looks like it swells even the teeniest tiniest bit, I will immediately remove it (although I dont think it will swell since we I wrapped it so loosely).

Im just not sure what else I should do.... because even during the night when we slept for 3 hours we got up once in between to check on him and the sock was still on... so we never know when he will decide to chew it off and although I can keep an eye on him most of the day - at some point I am going to need to sleep for a few hours. Atleast with the wrap on instead of sock and bandaid .... it will stay on a little bit longer before hes able to get it off... and atleast if he does chew on it to get it off, since theres a bit more padding with the wrap then his teeth hopefully wont reach the stitches when hes chewing on it... unlike with the bandaid im sure when he was chewing it off since theres no padding that his teeth were hitting stitches.. and thats probably why there are little spots of blood all over the bed.

I am really hoping we can get him to stop biting and chewing at the wrap.... and hope it doesnt swell.... because at this rate, its going to take forever to heal.

Gave Jupiter his dose of ABs this morning. Then let him lick gravy out of a can of friskies shreds in gravy -mostly because I am worried about him spitting up the AB (hes done it before with liquid meds) Hoping he has a good appy today.

Now that its wrapped I am going to try to take another short nap and will wake up in an hour to check on him.

Once again thank you all for your support, positive thoughts, vines, and prayers. We appreciate it so much.

Re: 7/28 Jupiter AMBG/59

Sending tons of healing and soothing vines to Jupie. Hugs to you and Dane, Jamie.
Liz

Re: 7/28 Jupiter AMBG/59

I hope you can get some rest. You are working so hard to keep Jupiter safe. healing and resting vines to all of you.

Re: 7/28 Jupiter AMBG/59

Get some rest Jamie, your doing a great job, above and beyond!! Jupiter is very lucky to have you and Dane as his Beans cat_pet_icon
Sending healing vines for all of you ♥

Re: 7/28 Jupiter AMBG/59

Hi Jamie. I just got caught up with Jupiter's condo. You guys sure have been having your share of challenges. I'm glad the swelling has gone down on his legs. Know that we are thinking of you, Dane and Jupiter and have you all in are Prayers.

Have a good day.

Re: 7/28 Jupiter AMBG/59

you could try putting a bad tasting stuff on the wrap to get him to not want to touch it - like bitter apple, cayenne pepper, something like that - might help


pet smart probably sells something along these lines - or you could try a homemade something - just google spray to stop cat from chewing

Re: 7/28 Jupiter AMBG/59

hey everyone thanks for the visits.

thats a good idea. in a little bit i will have to try to look it up - sure hope we can make something here that will work

thanks for the suggestion

Re: 7/28 Jupiter AMBG/59

Hi Jamie,

Sending you tons of healing vines - my heart goes out to you & Jup.

If the swelling is going down on his foot - that's really good, even if he's getting into his bandages. Sometimes the harder you try to keep them out of something, the harder they try to get into it.

Just a thought - can you give him something that might make him groggy to where he'll sleep & not bother with his wound, & then you can get a little sleep? Don't know what the vet advised you on this. A very temporary fix, I understand.

Re: 7/28 Jupiter AMBG/59

Jamie:

I could swear that I remember someone folding a towel so it was pretty thick and wrapping that around their cat's neck. They secured it with safety pins or duct tape. It was thick enough that their cat couldn't get to whatever the body part was that was the issue.

I have no idea if this would work but what about an infant's onesie -- a baby jumpsuit. you could cut a hole for Jupe's tail and cut off the feet so you can get his legs through. if you bandage his leg, the bandage would go through the hole but you can tape the onesie over the top end of the bandage.

Re: 7/28 Jupiter AMBG/59

Oh Jupe is being quite the little pisser tell him to be a good bloke, :lol:
You know the onesie jumpsuit sounds like a great idea,it would help with getting to his little foot.
Sending healing vines to you guys maybe sleep in shifts for awhile, not sure how else you can do this.
But you are doing such a great job he is very lucky to have the 2 of you <3

Re: 7/28 Jupiter AMBG/59

I like the onsie idea, too!

Spankey's got the t-shirt onsie for his throat owie, but it's just low enough that all his stitches & tube sticks out - so we cut the ends off some socks & voila - turtleneck!

Jamie, the nice thing about the onsie idea, too is that Jupiter will feel a little clumsy & may not be as active - at least that's how Spankey was the first 3 days. Sounds like Jupiter may not be as cooperative as Spankey, though.

Re: 7/28 Jupiter AMBG/59

Hi Jamie,
Sending tons of healing vines to Jupiter.
I hope you can get some more rest.

Re: 7/28 Jupiter AMBG/59

Well I finally got a little sleep! Jupiter got some sleep too I took his cone off so he wouldnt be so fidgety and I put my arm around him and cuddled with him. When he woke up and tried biting his bandage his fidgeting woke me up so I woke up I said quit messing with that- lets go back to sleep buddy, and he stopped and laid back down. We got about an hour and half of sleep and hopefully we will get some more sleep soon

I am going to try to make some homemade bitter spray and spray that on the wrap and hopefully that will work. if it doesnt i will have to try some of your other suggestions. thank you all !!

Re: 7/28 Jupiter AMBG/59

http://www.bitenot.com/ForCats.htm


also http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=24158

Re: 7/28 Jupiter AMBG/59

@ MJ: That collar looks amazing - & good to have on hand.

@ Jamie: Glad you got some rest - hopefully more soon! Keep it up!

Re: 7/28 Jupiter AMBG/59



this is what I did for twink before I made him a cone

Re: 7/28 Jupiter AMBG/59

I'm glad you guys got some sleep. His surgical site has to be healing up by now, so hopefully you are well over the hump and looking at easier days ahead. We're still piling on the prayers for you!

Re: 7/28 Jupiter AMBG/59

I have a weird suggestion that makes a cat just lay on it's side and do nothing... ( pretty much)

I think it's the same principal as the thundershirt which is supposed to calm them down.
I had a bf once who had one of those wider leather belts ( like from the 70's) and he put it on my cat, around her middle, and she would just lay down on her side and lay there even though she could move around.

and I just watched the exact same behavior on the thundershirt website .... in the cat video.... so there is something about being wrapped like that that is calming for a cat. ( and a dog too)
We tried using an ace bandage on our drooler before we decided to try the thundershirt.

Re: 7/28 Jupiter AMBG/59

unfortunately I havent been able to fall asleep again... BUT... today is going well so far... mostly because hes been sleeping all day. hes usually a little more active at night which is going to be a struggle tonight.

he had chewed up his wrap earlier before the nap but it wasnt falling off so I left it on until after our nap, then I put a new wrap on him.
I wrapped his foot with gauze and the vetwrap but did NOT use any tape. I have had the cone off since then. He tried to lick it maybe 4 times total since then.. but he didnt bite it at all!!! and when he licked it I would distract him and he would stop.

I think he likes it without tape on it... I think he doesnt bother with it as much - but the problem without putting tape on is IF he does decide to lick or bite it, it slips off super fast.

I am thinking we MIGHT try this tonight. I will wrap it and not put any tape on... I will set an alarm and wake up once every hour to check if its still on, and if its off I will put a new one on. And I will hope that he doesnt go to the litter box without it on.

When the tape is on, he is chewing on it.... and I think thats what is making it so hard for it to heal. I think when he chews on it he is making it bleed. I am thinking without tape he may pull the wrap off, but hopefully he wont chew at it.

And if he does lick at it, I will try homemade bitter spray

Thank you all for the suggestions I really appreciate them. One concern for us right now is money, so the only things we can try right now are things I can do for free at home not anything that we have to buy. But we have gotten quite a few suggestions that we can try without spending money.

I did try (before our nap) a few other suggestions that I read today, and unfortunately Jupiter is a difficult cat. He doesnt like most things being wrapped around him and he will LOUDLY meow while he tries to get out of it. Meows = momma bean gets no sleep anyways... so thats not a good option for us at night.

Really though, thank you all so much for your suggestions. Thank you for your visits and your support! I appreciate it all so much!!!

Re: 7/28 Jupiter AMBG/59

(((Jamie & Jupe))) I wish I had the magical answer to help you both through this trying time, but alas, I am just as lost as you guys. I can only offer hugs from afar and tell you that I wish things would get easier for you. You and Dane are awesome beans, and I'm sure Jupiter knows how much you love him. I hope things get easier for everyone soon. Hang in there!