Sunday, February 22, 2009

Hello Kitty

When I said I wanted peace and quiet...well, I spoke to soon.

Atticus. Oy. What a week! Not only for the poor guy, but for me too. That nasty abcess I told you about last week? Came back. With a vengeance. Actually, it never really went away. It just got worse and worse.

After fretting about his condition for most of the week, I decided it would be best to take him in to the vet's office. Although the spot I had cleaned out had dried up, there was another lump next to it. He was also a bit on the lethargic side, and not eating as much (hello? if that isn't an indicator something is wrong with him...).

So, when I stuffed him into his carrier, and he went in without a fight, I knew it was not a minute too soon.

OK, so he saved his anger for the vet's table. But after looking at him, they decided to put him under in order to clean it up. Good thing they did, because the abcess was actually quite large and spread out! And underneath? Dead tissue (necrotized). Ew. That's all I can say. Ew. Ew. Ew. Poor guy! I can't believe it got to that extent. As the vet said - animals often do not let on that they are feeling sick. No kidding.

The bonus? They cleaned his teeth while he was under.
I was never happier than when I heard he'd made it through just fine!

But boy. Was he MAD. Mad like I have NEVER seen him before. Trying to get him out of the kennel he was in at the vet's office and into his carrier took strategic planning. MAD. Even to the point of lashing out at me! As the wonderful vet technician put it - "people think working in a vet's office is all kittens and puppies! But, this is the reality!".

Finally got him home (I think the cab driver thought I had a wild animal in there, and got us home in *record* time, heh.), and he came roaring and charging out of that carrier like the Hulk. On steroids.


"At.ti.cus. MAD!!!!!!!!"

(shamelessly borrowed from The Simpsons episode where Homer turns into the Hulk!)

You can see his right front paw looks a bit funny (heh, putting it into perspective!). That's where his IV line went in. It was covered up with a hot pink bandage, but he was having none of that. He has a shaved spot about 6x6 (no kidding), and a 2.5" scar with stitches. And he's been given a 14-day antibiotic shot (meaning it will work through his system for 14 days).

Oh, and really clean teeth.

Meanwhile. I now FULLY understand how this could have happened in the first place. I spoke to the vet, and my friend Raven, about it. Animals recognize each other by sense of smell, and Gandalf truly believed this was a different male cat. It was not pleasant splitting them up, but after Gandalf LUNGED at Atticus, I hustled him into my room. And Gandalf? I have never seen him like that, he was crazy. It took him awhile to calm down, but the funny engine sounds where still going on, even though Atticus was safely in my room.

Mae? What can I say. For a girl who can be so shy around other people, she certainly took it all in stride. Didn't faze her at all.


"At.ti.cus. still. MAD!!"

And for a cat who has just gone through probably the most stressful day of his life, he was all smiles that night. I was *exhausted*, and was in bed by 8:30pm. Atticus settled in next to me, but every two hours?

"Hi! You up?!", and -

"Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Brigitte. Mom. Brigitte. Mom. Mom. Mom. Momma. Momma. Momma. Mom. Brigitte. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Momma. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Momma. Momma. Momma. Brigitte. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom."

(shamelessly borrowed from Family Guy!)

Good thing his teeth were clean because, despite laying out his blanket on the bed, he chose to rest on my pillow. Above my head. On my hair.

*Finally*, after keeping them apart for a day, and after thoroughly sponge cleaning Atticus' back, I decided to let Gandalf in, and see how he would react this time around.



He sniffed around. No hissing or growling.



Meanwhile, Mae poked her head around the door, lasers set to "stun".


She sniffed and marvelled at the new Cadillac of litter boxes, all the while letting the boys re-introduce themselves.

After a few tentative sniffs, and the odd hiss, they kissed and made up.


"Hi Atticus! Where've you been? Hey, what's the funny thing on your back?"

"I'm not sure... I think it had something to do with me going to the vet's office."

"Dude. You look like...Frankenstein. It's got all these funny threads sticking out of it. Cool! You're gonna have a wicked scar!"

"Do you think the chicks will like that?"

"Totally! They'll think you're all bad-boy tough guy! Like Christian Bale or ooo, James Bond! When he goes all Quantum of Solace revenge-like! Awesome!"

Although Gandalf did cause the injury, not for a second do I blame him. And neither does Atticus. He was just reacting to his instincts. He is as sweet as ever, and by tonight, the last of the tentative hissing will be done, and they will be back to being the best of friends.

As for me...I am just happy Atticus is healthy and happy, and the harmony has been restored.


13 comments:

nestra said...

It's such an awful feeling when you realize your beloved pet isn't all right. I'm glad your boy is ok and there will be peace again.

Marina said...

Do mean that one shot was all the antibiotics he needs? It's been the kid's job to give our Pennsyl his antibiotics twice a days for the past 10 days!

Glad everything is well now and you can get back to more mundane things like ... knitting.

Chris said...

Whew!!! Glad he's ok and they're getting along again. Hopefully tonight you'll be able to have a regular night's sleep.

miyamojo said...

He does look like the Hulk. That's one MAD cat. I'm glad you don't have to shove pills down this throat. You're a great mom!

I love Mae peaking around the corner with laser eyes. :)

Lorraine said...

Bridge- You'd be a little angry too if you had a hole in your back.

Extra gentle head noogies from Aunt Lorraine.

carolyninAlaska said...

I'm so glad he's better and on the mend!
Now after you recover from the stress of it all, you can get back to your knitting... ;o)

Bridget said...

I'm so happy that all is well - as is Tess, I might add.

And most of all, I'm happy that it didn't interfere with any of Mae's plans ... ;-)

Anonymous said...

Aw, even though I say Bad Gandalf, he was just doing the Kitty of the House thing. Atticus smelled like The Bad Place.

But poor Atticus! And to think he let you off with merely being pinned to your bed all night by your hair and a few pillow chats all. night. long.

Lucky you, not to have to give him pills for five days.

Sonya said...

I'm so glad Atticus is OK! What a miserable experience. No wonder he was mad. I love the middle of the night "Mom. Mom. Mom." thing. I have a friend that said she realized she really was a mom the first time she woke up with her daughter's face 2 inches from hers and heard, "Mom. Mom. Mom. etc."

Brenda said...

So glad Atticus is now really on the mend--and getting the teeth done simultaneously is a good extra. And how nice to have an antibiotic shot, because I wouldn't want to have to pill him after his ordeal. It would be nice to think that Gandalf could learn from this, but I don't think kitty brains are that well equipped unless said kitty is Mae.

Nicole said...

Oh my! I'm so glad everything seems to be back to normal. I hope things are just smooth sailing from here out!

Or . . . as smooth as can be with three cats owning the place, that is.

My Little Room In The Corner said...

glad all is well with the resident felines. They are such funny creatures. Wonder why sleeping about the head of the person the love is so comforting for them. That is where jack sleeps. Can't convince him that somewhere else would be better. Nope, not gonna move.

Scheherazaad said...

Glad your home is back to normal.