Friday, October 16, 2009

The Perils of Latte

Latte has had a problem for the past couple of weeks; we think he was in a fight.

Latte is our dog-cat; he stays near the house, on our property, most all of the time, unless he's following us on a walk. When I go out, he waits for me to come home. He sits in various places in the yard or on a porch, "guarding" our house. He sits on my lap with his arms around me; he's possessive, and is the alpha-cat around here. He's not the fighting, roaming type, but one day recently, he came into the house missing a patch of fur in front of his tail. The skin was broken, but it seemed to heal...and then he came indoors, another day, with a similar spot on his flank. This one has not healed fully; it closes and reopens.

I kept trying to decide whether to take him to the veterinarian. Just when I'd decide to take him in, the wound would close up and heal; then, it would open again.  Grossness alert:  he has left little spots of "ooze" on all of our best upholstered furniture. NICE.

Yesterday afternoon, David and I took Latte to the vet. They wanted to sedate him, abrade the wound, clean it and keep him overnight. Keep him overnight? I said, "Sorry, no. I can't leave him." The vet said, " Okay. See you later," and walked out of the room.

Hm.

I made an appointment to bring Latte back to the vet first thing this morning, and he's there, now. They sedated him, cleaned his wound, and he is coming out of the anesthetic as I write this. I will pick him up this afternoon.

This is probably one of those PTSD things, which comes from so many medical horrors with Katie:  I felt a lot of anxiety and sadness taking Latte to the doctor. He hated the car ride, and I felt guilty for making him go where I knew he would be uncomfortable and unhappy, even though it was for his benefit, in the long run. And at this point, I can't leave a "family member" alone at the hospital overnight, even an animal family member.

I didn't know that until yesterday.

I couldn't leave him; I would have had to sleep there with him, and the vet wouldn't have liked that. Neither would Gregg, and, come to think of it, neither would I. It's funny, in retrospect, how clear I was about it.
NO. Not overnight. Not leaving him.

He's coming home with me today.

UPDATE: Latte is home, recuperating in the laundry room (the cats' room). He was very vocal in his displeasure, riding in the car on the way home, but we made it safely! He has to take antibiotics by mouth 2x a day, and he has an open wound (about the size of a nickel) on his flank, but that is what the doc ordered: it has to "air dry." ICK. But it's great to have my boy back where he belongs!
By the way, I found out that he weighs about 16 pounds!

15 comments:

Pam said...

Oh dear. I'm glad you got him looked at! I understand what you're saying about not wanting to do the overnight thing. The things you went through can flash before you in an instant, can't they?! My cat HATES going to the vet. She doesn't ride in the car unless she's going to the vet, so she starts that weird strange meowing and does it all. the. way. there! And never makes a peep all the way home. Isn't that weird? lol

My cat came home after sedation recently and it wasn't very pretty. She drooled a lot and kinda stumbled around a little drunk-like. So you might want to protect the furniture a bit longer! : )

Get well soon, Latte!

ChiTown Girl said...

Aw, poor Latte. I can totally understand your feelings about leaving him. I, however, do NOT have that issue with Buster! ;-) Whenever he has ANY vet appointment, I always ask if I can drop him off the night before! tee hee! I know, I'm a bad furmomma.

I hope Latte's on the mend soon.

Clippy Mat said...

poor Latte. Get well soon. :-)

Karen said...

Hospitals of all type must hold special sensitivities for you. One of my bereaved friends feels exactly the same way. It probably still surprises you when a reaction like that surfaces, but it makes perfect sense to the heart. Your heart knows the places that hurt and works hard to protect you. Hugs to you and to Latte, the dogcat on his recovery. Sounds like a very fine animal...

pysanki.blogspot.com said...

Ahhh yes, vet stories can be doozies. I'm glad he's doing okay tonight.

Niksmom said...

I get it completely. Glad you honored your feelings and instincts. Glad Latte is doing ok, too.

Lakeland Jo said...

he's gorgeous

Gannet Girl said...

What a beautiful kitty with a great name! I'm glad he is on the mend and you have him home with you. And I totally get the PTSD stuff.

Busy Bee Suz said...

I can relate to you not wanting to leave him, and I don't have PTSD. But he is part of your family, and we like to have our family close. :)
I am so glad that he is going to heal at home with you...did they decide what happened to him in the first place. I know with my past cats that were outside, they used to come down with mysterious boo-boo's from time to time. Oh, if only we could put a video camera on them.
He does seem like such a lover boy too...give him some kisses from us.
XOXOXOX

Gberger said...

Suz, the funny thing they told me (when I said that he wasn't a fighter) was, "Well he was trying to escape; this injury happened as he was trying to run away!" I guess when it's on the hind end, you can see that he was running for home! =)
I love your idea of a video cam on our pets...maybe that's the way to your fortune: video-cam collars for pets! XO

Anonymous said...

Yikeys! Glad he's okay—altho, as a 16-pounder, sounds like he could have put up a fight! xo, Jiffy

Karyn said...

I'm so happy he's okay! And 16 pounds! He's more than twice the size of Bev! No wonder she likes him.

Anonymous said...

Hope he's feeling better!

Michelle said...

I had exactly the same reaction when I took my kittens to be spayed. How could I leave them overnight? It took me a couple of days to figure it out...I left my husband in the ER and things did not go well. PTSD

Glad that Latte is on the mend!!

Gberger said...

Welcome to Niksmom & Michelle.

I tried to find your blog, Michelle, to leave a comment, but there are so many listed that I didn't know which blog to comment upon. It looks as if you are a busy woman! Thank you for your kind comment here.