Well the weekend started well enough I even had a chance of a morning bath……. maybe I shouldn't have?
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| Bertie just back from the vets |
On Saturday morning I woke up early so I quickly fed the cats so they would not demand feeding whilst I was in the bath and left at least two of them playing in the bedroom. Off for a quiet bath. I came out a while later to find Bertie lame.
The vet was phoned and we got in at 8.45 am, so much for a slow start to the day…….. the vet was a little worried as his swelling in his back leg had come up very quickly however he felt little movement. We left him there to have X-rays.
Four hours later we received a call, he had broken his leg!!!!!! and it was now in a cast.
Off we went…. the vet was great wanting to show off his brand new Xray machine which unfortunately showed and amazingly clear break in the large bone above the ankle of his back leg, unusually however the smaller bone was intact and acting as a splint!! A little confused. His leg was plastered up and down and although as slight as it could be it is a most unwieldy item.
We are confused to say the least. We heard nothing and Bertie was still in the room we had left him in. I surmise that maybe he had tried to jump up to the window cill which he does all the time and accidentally slipped getting his back legs stuck in the radiator under the window. Then he fell twisting the leg, which may explain the main bone break whilst not the other.
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| Resting, but that cast looks huge!! |
So then after being told he was not allowed to jump or put excessive stress on the limb we had to go and get a crate to rest him in away from the other cats whilst we are out. Thus we have a crate big enough for a Great Dane, officially. In it is litter, a favourite cat bed and food and toys.
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| Litter tray resting! Now got a smaller one. |
I am beginning to worry however……….we are giving him Metacam for the pain and he seems to be coping with the leg however huge it is. The vet mentioned keeping an eye out for severe changes of behaviour incase it suggested pain within the cast from swelling etc. However apart from some food yesterday he has eaten nothing. I have managed to hand feed a slither of Applaws wet food and some nutrigel into him with a tiny amount of Webbox lick e liks with some Zyklene added to relax him. Just very aware of issues arising in cats quickly that don't eat for 24 hours.
I've now bought food syringes and have managed to get 4 syringes of kitten milk into him for hydration and 2 of his pureed food.
I can't believe that we are going to be looking at a month of this……5 days until the cast if first changed, then another 5 days for another change, then 7 days etc. So pleased I've got Petplan the bill is already up to £500, so goodness knows where we'll finish with more sedation, X-rays and casts……
Update - Monday
Still not eating or showing interest so I got him to the vet ASAP. His temperature is fine as is his cast, which will now be changed on Friday as it is ok at the moment. The vet has given him an injection of Metacam, with an antibiotic, an anti nausea, and a strong appetite stimulant. Well I have been back three hours and he has eaten one of his favourite frozen mice!!! and some food off my fingers, yea. On top of that I have syringed another two syringes of kitten milk and one of pureed food as he is a little constipated at the moment and needing to get fluid in him.
I will keep you updated on his progress…..
Ok, things did not go well……Monday Bertie was taken back to the vets as he was still not eating. They ended up giving him Metacam, antibiotics, anti nausea and an appetite stimulant.
We waited for things to work but he still was eating so little I had begun to syringe feed him so by Wednesday he was back at the vets. However this time he had a temperature which confused them as he had been given antibiotics. At this point they took him in to stay over night in the hospital. This ended up being a two day stay unfortunately. Finally he was eating by himself and his temperature was down. Therefore on Friday at 4pm I was able to pick him up to come home. Last night he slept well destroying his bed a little, which must be a good sign and eating up the food I had left in the cage.
So that is the situation up to now.
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| Got him outside for a change of scene |
My eldest had asked me what I wanted to do for Mother's Day, so it was decided that 'Venison Wellington' would be done as my treat. As a result we both headed off to 'Hiller's Farm Shop.' This is a great large farm shop having produce primarily from a ten mile radius. The meat is lovely coming from 'Ragley Hall' estate however we have recently not visited as they are rather too proud of their meat, if that is possible, and whereas I can chat requesting trim and offal from other farm shops they expected me to pay lean mince prices!!!
The camera came out and the cats were very photogenic especially in the low morning and evening light.
On Sunday we had the In-laws over, the FIL is going to be having Chemotherapy from Wednesday as some palliative care for his cancer, so they wanted to come over, hopefully to see me but I know it was to see the cats. They say they don't have favourites but between you and me Harvey just loves FIL and that is reciprocated and MIL adores Bertie who comes and squeaks at her in the morning when they look after the cats. It was a snack lunch of Scotch Eggs, Pork pie, ham and other bits and pieces with salad but I have to say we stuffed ourselves. So much so that the Mothering Sunday treat of Venison Wellington was put on hold for another time.
