Author: cldavis

So, it’s been 6 days since Fang’s surgery and his biopsy results finally came in. I have to say, I’ve been having nightmares that (1) it was a cancerous tumor that might have spread to the rest of his body, and (2) it was a “mineralization of muscle” that would not have actually required amputation. I think I may not have mentioned on this blog that the day before surgery I finally received a call from a specialist vet who told me that it might be mineralization of muscle and, if that was the case, he might not need the amputation if it did not continue to grow. He also said that this was extremely unlikely and pretty positively two weeks after biopsy Fang would have to go straight back into surgery to remove his arm. We opted not to put him through two surgeries and two recoup periods – especially with such slim chances. But the idea has certainly haunted me.

The results are that it was a chondrosarcoma (a BENIGN tumor of cartilage). This means that we won’t have to worry about cancer having spread to the rest of Fang’s body! No more x-rays to check for cancer, and no cancer treatments. This is great news. The vet also assures me that this would have required amputation, as it would have continued to grow and hurt him (as we had originally believed). So, good news all around. We avoided disaster and my baby is likely to have a nice, long cancer-free life! I am just so absolutely relieved.

In other news, Fang still hasn’t pooped, but the vet continues to not be alarmed. Apparently the pain meds and anesthesia tend to slow down the digestion system, so it’s not that unusual for them to take a while to get back into the groove of things. It’s best to provide him with fiber and more fluids, and add water to their food. She suggested to try canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling), or if he won’t eat that, a little powdered Miralax on his food (1/2 tsp). If we see him straining, then it’s more likely time to visit the vet.

Last evening he decided that it was time to leave the office, so he went to the door and when I opened it he ran (RAN, not walked quickly) to the front door to beg for a while. It was a pretty darn good run too – it didn’t seem hard or strained. It looked even more natural than his walk. I was pretty proud of him! He certainly didn’t get to go outside though, so in frustration he went into the bedroom and laid under the bed. Later that night I hopped into bed (happy to not be on the office couch) and he hopped straight up there and laid next to me. There he stayed, sleeping contently, until about 3:30AM when I must have done something (like shot my hand out and smacked him or who knows what in my sleep) because he yipped, which woke me up, looked at me very meanly, and jumped off and went underneath the bed. That’s pretty much where he’s been all day today, though he did come out to eat breakfast and dinner.

So, just to be clear, so far I’ve nearly hit him in the face with a door, ripped a bunch of fur off of his foot, and smacked him in my sleep. No wonder he doesn’t trust me! Lol. Ah well, I’m trying here!

On to another day! 🙂

Fang’s coffee table has now become Château du Fang – I just removed the lower shelf so he could sit up while he’s in there, and now he’s got a little tent like structure. He seems to like it. I also have his litter box in there out to the side which makes him feel more comfortable using the potty away from prying eyes. Now that he’s off of pain medication he seems more like himself and much more awake. He’s still sleeping during the day, but he always did that. He doesn’t seem as sick, drugged out, or shaky, and that’s much better. He also doesn’t seem to be in any pain – he even lays on his “bad” side so it must not be that tender. I’ve even felt good enough about him that I’ve been able to leave the room for bits of time, which is nice. I was finally able to take out the garbage, feed the chickens, etc so… It felt food for me too!

I should mention that he still hasn’t pooped – I told the vet but she didn’t seem worried. Might be constipation from the pain patch, which should now resolve itself. And I’ve been giving him really liquidy foods so he might just not legitimately have to go yet. That’s really the only hang up at the moment.

Oh, and we have not needed to use any onesies or the cone at all. He just isn’t interested in the staples. He gave the ones he could reach some light licks, but that’s fine (there’s a reason cats lick their wounds, ya know. It’s quite clean). As long as he doesn’t bite at them, he’s in the clear as far as I’m concerned.

Onto another night we go!

So, it’s day 4 since amputation. After the first day, Fang took to resting a whole lot more. He pretty much spends his days sleeping under the coffee table, which we turned into a little tent type place (with a blanket over it). He seems to like the dark, so I’ve been keeping the room mostly dim (though it’s starting to make me depressed – remember, I pretty much haven’t left this room since he cam home). Yesterday he was rather chipper and followed me to the door when I went to get him food – unfortunately I didnt know that and when I came back in I nearly swung the door into his face. He freaked out and ran under the coffee table and did not come out again that night or all this morning. He was even to afraid to use the litter box and peed on one of his blankets which I obviously had to take out of the room. Poor baby. Just a few hours ago he finally hopped underneath the computer desk and laid against my feet as if to say “It’s okay, I still love you mom.” It made me really happy. I think he was feeling better.

So, naturally, when I realized that we needed to go to the vet to take off his foot pain patch (fentanyl) I didn’t want to since he hates the vet and he was finally loving me. I mean, last time he went to the vet he had an arm off so I figured, in the interest of stress relief, why couldn’t I just take the patch off myself? I emailed my vet of course to ask, and she said it was fine. I just needed to be sure to dispose of it where nothing can get to it, because it’s fatal if swallowed or even if it’s ripped a little and the slow-emitting med system is disrupted and something touched it. Dangerous stuff. So, I figured, “okay I just have to take it off quick like a bandaid and it’ll all be good.

Let me tell you – removing the fentanyl patch is not fun and it does not make you kitty’s favorite person. They did NOT shave under the patch and tape, so basically all the tape I had to remove ripped off a TON of Fang’s fur, which naturally doesn’t feel good. At this point he’s sort of aggravated with me, but he’s happy to have the tape almost off, so he pulls his foot sometimes and licks me but mostly lets me work. But, the patch itself is stickier than the tape! Wayyyy sticky in fact! And, once it’s exposed you cant just leave it alone because if he licks it that’s really bad. So, I’m pulling off the patch and he’s GROWLING at me, and hissing, and biting, and it obviously feels terrible. I’m frankly worried that I’m ripping off his SKIN (I wasn’t but, it’s that sticky). I finally get it off, Fang is back to looking at me very distrustfully and I am definitely feeling some of the effects of the fentanyl (was not wearing gloves… should have been, for sure).

So, you know, if you decide to do that yourself…. note that your cat might be pretty annoyed with you.

Additional note from the vet’s: Called because I wanted to make sure I didn’t need to do anything other than rip the patch off and got this extra tip: There is still medication in the stickiness left after the patch is ripped off – it shouldn’t be enough to hurt kitty since by the time you remove the patch it should be nearly out of juice anyway, but at the vet they use a wet rag with soap to get some of the sticky off kitty’s foot afterword. So, if you do it yourself, don’t forget to wash kitty’s foot a bit.

Otherwise, things are going well. I’ll just keep on keeping on!  (I still do not feel comfortable enough to leave him alone at home so I’m not going in to work tomorrow – luckily it’s a part time job I’d be missing and my career job is from home anyway, but I can’t imagine what I’d do if I actually HAD to go to work during this recoup. That would be… hard, for sure).

Last night at about 3:00AM (I was up, of course, and in the office with Fang), he got up, walked around a bit, ate his first dry food since the surgery, and decided to lay down on the blanket next to the coffee table instead of underneath it. I guess he’s feeling less afraid now, which makes me happy. 🙂 He’s also realized that he can use his new situation to his advantage, i.e. sitting up and staring me down until I pet him constantly. Only then does he lay down and sleep (whilst I’m petting him, of course). If he wakes up and realizes I stopped, he’s back up and staring me down again, lol. I know he’s playing me but I don’t care – I’m glad to see his mood improved. He has continued trying to remove his fentanyl foot patch off and on – not horribly but, as you’ll see in a note farther down the page, it’s something I’ve got to watch. He’s also started to get a bit of crustiness on the tippity top of his wound at the shoulder – I’m pretty sure that’s just scabbing though (that’s what it looks like to me anyway). He’s still not too bad about trying to lick the staples either so, all in all, we’re doing well. I would like to share some tips I’ve learned (so far) for future cat amputee parents (below):

Tips I’ve Learned (so far) About Three-Legged Cat Recovery

(1) Don’t be surprised or annoyed when your kitty ignores some of the things that you prepared for their recuperation period (i.e. pet beds, a new low litter box, new toys, easy-to-eat-foods). Just let them lie on, play with, or not play with whatever the heck they want. It’s their time anyway.

(2) Don’t be surprised when kitty decides that the recoup room that you have chosen is not the one for them (if you let them into the rest of the house). Just move what they need into whatever room they choose. They’re obviously more comfortable in there anyway.

(3) Block out the first week (at least) of their recuperation time so you can be home. Even if you were optimistic about kitty’s recovery, you don’t want to leave them alone if at all possible, and not for very long. They like your company and really, they need you to watch them.

(4) At the same time, don’t mess with them too much. If kitty says “not right now, mom and dad”, leave them be a while. You can stay near enough to hear kitty, but give them their space if they want it. Cats can be solitary animals, and messing with them might just stress them out even if they love you.

(5) Kitties want to be UNDER things while they recoup. I don’t know why I didn’t think about this beforehand, but I wish I did. If you choose, say, your bedroom as a recoup area, kitty will almost immediately go under the bed where you can’t reach or check on them AND you won’t be able to gently and nicely pull them out without hurting them so, ya know, plan for that.

(6) You can’t pick them up. There’s just no good way to hold them – their chest and side have stitches/staples (at least for front amps) so, plan for that as well. You might have to let them go where they want so make sure they can’t get anywhere you don’t want them to go.

(7) Clean the litter box every time they use it. Kitty will, at least once, hit their staples/sutures into the litter while trying to dig or jump into the box. You do NOT want anything more dirty than it has to be getting into that wound!

(8)Vets may not agree with me, but for ME, Fang was much happier with no cone or onesie on. Now, we haven’t gotten to the itchy stage yet, so this might change, but if they don’t need it and you can watch them very carefully, they might have a much better mood and be less stressed without the extra accessories.

(8)Don’t help them unless you have to. They do so much better when you let them figure it out themselves, even if it hurts to watch. This, of course, does not apply to letting them do something that will rip their stitches/sutures.

(9)I was not previously aware of a very important piece of information that I’d like to share: The fentanyl pain patch on the cat’s foot cannot be tampered with. It’s a big deal, and I’m glad I looked it up. If it is torn or cut it can let all the medication out to the cat at once and be fatal. And, of course, the same thing happens if kitty manages to ingest it. So, watch your cat like a hawk. Fang has already messed with his multiple times, and the cone doesn’t help stop him from getting to his back foot, where the patch is.

(10) Kitty can still make some pretty crazy jumps – so if you’re using a baby-gate in the doorway, consider using two (one on top of the other). Fang jumped his on day 1. Awesome, but probably not good with the staples and all.

(11) If they act like they don’t have an appetite, try a different food (especially a liquidy one). Fang has not touched his dry food since he’s been home – he’ll only eat wet food and cat milk, and mostly just want to drink the juice. He also decided he’s too good for “whitefish” flavor and won’t touch it. Kitty might very well be playing you, but let them! It’s only for a couple weeks anyway.

(12) By enough supplies BEFORE you bring kitty home. I have to try to plan a run to the grocery store because I didn’t buy enough cat food he likes (playing me), and it’s a headache because I don’t want to leave him alone.

That’s about it for now. As I learn more, I’ll share it!

Yesterday Fang decided on the office as his recoup room rather than the bedroom where all of his stuff was set up. I decided this might be better anyway as I didn’t want him jumping up onto the bed and getting rolled over or something during the night. So, I brought his blankets, litter box, and food into the office and made myself comfy on the couch where I spent the night waking up every 30 minutes to check on him. I should note he didn’t bother to use the bed – he just slept under the coffee table. Ah well, you can’t tell a cat what to do.

Anyhow the night went fine – he didn’t get up save to reposition himself. This morning he got up to use the litter box, walked around the room a bit and then went back under the coffee table to sleep. He’s taking a much more restful approach to today than he did yesterday. I gave him some organic refrigerated cat food this morning and he didn’t want it. I thought he’d lost his appetite, but then we gave him some regular old canned friskies and he ate all of it. Psh, cats have no taste at all.

And that’s about it for today – he’s just been sleeping and sleeping. He purrs when I pet him and rolls over onto his back like he always did. I wish he’d lay on his blanket instead of the not-so-clean floor under the table but, what can you do.

He’s still not interested in his staples, and he only messed with his foot patch once so, so far no need for cones or onesies yet 🙂

It’s still a bit sad to see him without one leg but… I’m keeping my chin up.

We brought Fang home today after his front left leg amputation. I will admit, the staples were startling for sure, especially at first sight. They had him in a cone, which he hated, so we switched him to onesies. After four hours he somehow managed to twist the onesie so much that his other leg was stuck inside it and the arm hole was over the staples and he was growling and kicking and just generally peeved about the whole cat-clothing situation. So, I had to cut some of it to get him comfortable again and he’s so much happier now that we’re doing a “watch to make sure he doesnt mess with his staples” method instead of the cone etc. The onesie is still there but it’s not doing a WHOLE lot of good, though it’s helping a bit. He also ditched our nice little bed we made him in the corner to lay under the bed. He seems much more comfortable down there and went immediately to sleep so we just left him be down there. Obviously, we’re checking on him every three minutes. Besides the growling and anger over the collar and then the onesie, he’s been sleeping pretty well, even purring and rubbing his face on my hand at one point. I think things are going to be okay – he’s already obviously figured out how to get himself over to and under the bed so I guess even drugged up with a foot patch he’s managing to get around alright-ish.

Oh and he has a major appetite – he didn’t eat anything at the vets but when he came home he ate like a pig (poor boy didn’t eat at all yesterday, so I imagine that’s why).

That’s all I can really update now. I need to go back and lay on the floor with him for a while (makes me feel better).

Additional edit: Fang just came out from under the bed, sat on my lap for a while, and then proceeded to get up and jump his little butt onto the bed to nap up there. I am amazed. Day 1 without one of his legs, and he seems to be doing alright. 🙂

Another update: Just now before I could stop him, Fang went over to the baby-gate at the door, leapt over it, landed on his one foot without hitting his shoulder, and went into the deep covered litter box in the bathroom (which he never ever uses – guess he didn’t like the one I bought and had in the bedroom..). I am shocked. He is such a gangster. Too bad now he wants to go outside and he’s peeved that we’re not letting him. He had a little fit at the door.

Yesterday, 11/3/12 was Fang’s surgery day. He had to be there three hours before surgery to have the iv and pain meds set up, be shaven, etc, so he needed to be there by 12:00pm (surgery was at 3:00pm). Naturally, I waited till the very last possible minute to get him there (I think we were literally there AT 12:00pm). I gave him a dose of Gabapentin and spent the whole morning cuddling with him on the bed. He was a little mean to me when I touched his lump so I think that it had finally started to bother him a bit. I figured it was “fortunate” that we were doing surgery that day (though it didn’t feel very fortunate). At 12:00 we took him to the vet with his Gabapentin (so they could give him some more last night) and a surgery technician came out and asked me questions about what stuff I wanted to purchase with the surgery (fluids, IV, etc). I had no idea what he needed so I just told her to let the vet (who I’ve been emailing with constantly) decide what to do. I was so glad that I had talked to her so much because I felt confident that she knew what we wanted in terms of pain prevention etc, and otherwise I would not have known what to write down on the sheet.

Then they took him away. It was heart wrenching for me – the last moment that I could say “never mind all this stuff, I’m taking him home and we’ll deal with it some other way”. Nope, that was pretty much the no-turning-back-point. I waited anxiously for a call at around 4:00pm (she said the surgery would take about 1 hour) but didn’t receive one until 5:00pm (she had another surgery before his). She said that there were no complications (other than him getting his claws into some of the nurses when they tried to take him out of his cage) and everything closed up nicely. She had changed the pain meds before doing the surgery because she found that the foot patch he had on counteracted the liquid pain meds she was planning to give him during surgery and post-op, so instead she used a drip. I was so glad that she took the extra time to make sure that he had the best pain meds he could have had.

He is now resting at the hospital waiting for me to pick him up after 10:00am. I really appreciate that this is an overnight hospital. I know he hates vets and I hate for him to be there, but I would not have been able to handle any after surgery complications. It’s definitely the only way to go, in my opinion.

I spent the rest of the night sewing the arms closed on onesies and cutting the other arms open more for his comfort, making a corner of the room all comfy with blankets and towels and a litter box which I hope he’ll use, putting a little heater in the room etc.

Now the recuperation begins. At least the decision making is behind us and the only place to go is up.

Surgery Overview (added later in hindsight)
– Took about an hour
– I used Gabapentin the morning and evening the day before surgery, and the morning of surgery. They gave him some more just before surgery in the afternoon, the night of surgery, and the morning after.
– Fentanyl foot patch was put on him three hours before surgery at the vet’s office to be kept on for 3-4 days after surgery.
– Morphine drip during and after surgery.
– Tramadol pills given to take home just in case additional pain medication was needed (it was not).
– They trimmed his nails while he was asleep at the vet. It is “normal” procedure and they will apparently do it unless you tell them not to, which I wish I had.
– He stayed the night at the vet to be picked up the next day.