Holy Crap, this is a story. So for those who didn't know before, we have three cats of our own--Monty who is about 4, and was a barn cat before we adopted him as an adult, and Odin and Loki, who are 1.5, and we got as rescue kittens when they were just five weeks old last fall.
Now our good friend Anna found this really affordable condo in this family-friendly complex in a great neighborhood--only problem is that they don't allow pets. So she needed someone to take her two cats for a year or two while they lived there and tried to save up money for a house.
So we got the cats--Sofia who is long haired, and 2.5, and Tonio, who is short hair, 1.5. We kept them inside for almost two weeks--first in their own room and then we opened the door. Sofia seemed to fit right in and start acclimating, but not Tonio--he was so scared of our cats that he didn't want to leave his room.
Finally we let them outside for the first time, and I hoped that this would cheer up Tonio. Instead, we didn't see him again for four days and I was so worried. We finally saw him outside the window but when we tried to get him in, he ran away. The next day, same thing, finally on the third day (this was Tuesday night)I got him to approach a food and water bowl and grabbed him. But it was obvious from close up that something was seriously wrong with his mouth--it looked like it had been ripped open (and it had been like this already when we first saw him on Sunday).
So Wednesday morning, I brought him into the vet for an emergency visit, only to discover that he was missing like half of his tongue. It looked like it had been cleanly sliced (the long way). It was CRAZY. So they had to keep him there overnight on Wednesday, suture his tongue closed, and install a feeding tube.
On Thursday evening, James and I reported to the Vet's office to learn how to feed him through the tube. Basically, every 3 hours we have to give 5 mls of water through the tube, then 15 mls of formula, then 5 more mls of water. Twice a day we also have to give pain meds and an antibiotic through the tube. Since you can only give like one ml every minute or so, this whole process takes about a half hour.
So needless to say, I feel crazy, LOL! Luckily my friend Anna (his owner) is paying the bill. She came over last night to see him and she feels bad that we are going through this and I feel bad that he got hurt on "our watch", but oh well, these things happen with cats.
So that's our crazy cat issue!
3 comments:
Were they exclusively indoor cats before this? You should NEVER let exclusively indoor cats outside. If they have been indoor cats their whole lives they will become very frightened, overwhelmed, and confused. Instinct can only help so much as they have no idea what cars, other animals, and things are. I would keep him inside because it is likely he will do a disappearing act again. We have a cat like that who is terrified of being outside. We keep all our cats indoors, because on the few times they have gotten out they have gotten lost and been pretty traumatized. Another thing you should think of, if you don't do this already, is flea colors for all of them for when the baby comes so they aren't bringing any unwanted guests home with them.
No, they were indoor/outdoor before. And this particular cat really loved being outside. :-/
And we put flea and tick solution on them monthly.
OMG thats crazy. How did Tonio's tongue get sliced? So weird.
I guess you are getting some good practice for having to feeding your baby all the time. Only holding a baby to the breast is not nearly as involved as this cat thing. JEEZ. Hopefully dat one gets better soon!
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