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Jericho Convalescing [1]

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Date: 2023-03-06

Jericho watching the Birds, Squirrels, and Chipmunks channel

Our cat man is home, and seems pretty glad to be here.

When I picked him up, the vet techs seemed pretty amazed that he was already up and walking around. They admonished me to not let him overdo it, handed me a bag with what they said were instructions and meds, took it back after I handed them a wad of cash, then after going back in, came out and handed the bag back again, along with 9 cents change, and told me the receipt was in the bag along with the instructions and meds.

All this in and out was because my vet is still doing hard COVID restrictions. His wife and partner in the practice has come down with COVID three times in spite of all the the care they take. She is now staying home and doing phone and Zoom consults, he will not risk her, and I imagine she is in agreement, though it has upped his workload massively. More power to him for that!

I was not particularly thrilled with the instructions, it was just the dental sheet which includes post-anesthesia instructions. I called, and they told me no special instructions beyond keep the cone on until the stitches absorb, keep the site clean, and don’t let him overdo. The meds were a human non-steroid anti-inflammatory that is used off book as a veterinary cancer inhibitor. Nothing for pain management at all. They said that there is some anti-inflammatory benefit from the drug he was getting, which would help, but they try not to give too much in the way of pain drugs unless the animal is going to be in critical pain. In the absence of pain they tend to try and behave normally and tend to hurt themselves in the process. Still not thrilled, but not much I could do about it after that explanation.

The first thing he did when we got him home and opened the carrier, was make a beeline for the litterbox. After which he made straight for my bed where he usually sleeps. I have black sheets, he has siamese colored fur with stripes, his moral imperative to sack out there could only be stronger if he were stark white. I just try to keep it made up, which the kittens hate and frequently make a muddle of. *sigh* The problem with Jericho trying to get on there is my bed is high enough that I have to climb into it. He tried to jump up like he usually does and failed. I scooped him up and directed the girls in constructing a set of stairs from a small suitcase and assorted sized totes and boxes. It makes it hard to get to the dresser, but I’ll live and so will DearHusband. After all the fuss to get up on the bed, he realized he wasn’t very comfortable there that first day. His pupils were still blown from either the anesthesia or whatever drugs they gave him after. So he retreated to the much dimmer living room (he managed the jump down with just a bit of wobble on the landing) and curled up on Daughter1’s cot. After he had himself a bit of a nap, she set him up with the tablet and Cat TV. He stayed there quite happily for some time, then he came back to my bedroom pulled some dirty T-shirts out of the laundry basket at the end of the bed and slept there. Now he is usually pulling himself up onto the bed with his claws, which I am trying to discourage.

His appetite is not quite back to normal, but he is eating. He is supposed to have his medicine with food. So we have been feeding him first, and then giving him slips of bacon jerky or a duck treat after he gets it. Hopefully he will be less of a pain about the med if he knows he gets one of his favorite treats after. We have not been able to find the wet treats in the tube packet anywhere in town! He usually vacuums those right up, so of course now they are nowhere to be found.

WARNING: The following picture shows the stitched up incision, I know that some people get a little queasy about that. I debated about posting it at all, but decided I would after several fierce arguments with myself.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/6/2156639/-Jericho-Convalescing

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