On sunny Saturday morning, Atomik came back home after 2 days of being absent, with severe wound on his back. We took him immediately to vet. The wound looked horrible! it was so deep....
I think that Atomik was really aware how serious is the situation - I could read it in his eyes, when he was patiently sitting on the vet's table that was ugliest thing on the planet for him and probably smelling awfull. He was sitting there: calm, without any sound, scared like hell, his eyes were big and glowing - while doctor was cleaning the wound after local anesthesia.
I looked at Atomik and I could see that despite of stress and pain, he knew that we do all to help him - this is why he was not moving and not disturbing vet to make her job.
She decided to not make stitches, because of the depth and not being able to know how fresh is the wound. So it had to stay open for natural healing process.
After all vet said that she has not seen a cat sitting so quite during similar treatment.
Atomik got antibiotics and painkiller, but how to protect the wound from dirt and licking? Most popular are plastic collars, that make cats look like disgusted satellite dish, but still it doesn't protect the wound from dirt.
It was vets idea to use stockings to make kind of dress that keeps the plaster in place and protects the wound from being licked. Maybe Atomik was not very fond of this idea, but it was perfect solution and made the job.
If you need to use on your cat (which I don't wish you), use entire stocking, only remove the foot part. Cut out small holes for front legs and little bigger holes for back legs.
It took some time and few pairs of stockings to figure out what works best - the foot part of the stockings should go to neck section of the cat, while thigh goes to back part of the body - this way it fits best cats proportions.
On the picture above you can see Atomik catching some tempting smells getting inside from the garden - which he is missing so much. This is already 4 weeks since the event and since he was not out.
As you can see he was pretty comfortable in his new dress, although he was not big fan of it.The wound is healing well and looks that Atomik will be able to GET FREE tomorrow. He doesn't wear his sexy tights anymore, but he wore it for 3 weeks.
After this sad event is coming to a happy ending, there is only one question left in my mind. How a cat can get wounded so bad?
15 comments:
Thanks for passing along the panty hose idea for cats Ewa. Hadn't heard of it.
Hoping your baby is soon running about again, without his pantyhose!
Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
Very clever idea, Ewa. I'm so glad Atomik is doing better.
Hi Ewa.... my post about your garden is up now... come see! and thanks for sharing your lovely paradise with all of us!
hugs
cielo
Ewa, your poor baby! We have had similar things happen to our cats and it's always scary. One time Boo was injured very close to his eye and it got infected. Antibiotics and hydrogen peroxide helped to keep it clean and heal.
Cats can get into all kinds of fights with other cats and other animals. They are good at defending themselves, but sometimes they get the bad end of the stick, too.
I'm glad Atomik is healing well and what a great idea, to use the stockings!
Ewa, I hope Atomik is back on his feet and out in the garden with you very soon. Sending lots of positive energy your way for a speedy healing.
It's too hot for pantyhose! Your flowers are gorgeous I just added you to my bloglist, I don't want to miss anything!!
What a clever idea. It doesn't look in the least uncomfortable. I will have to remember this. I love the picture of Atomik after the bath. So cute with the fur spiked.
As the owner of three cats, it is good to know about the stocking as cat dressing. When we had an outside cat, he was always getting into fights and had to visit the vet. Now, all our cats stay inside. Glad to hear Atomik is better.
Jan
Always Growing
Thank you for the great stocking idea! Like you said, hope we never need to use it, but it's good to know. I, too, wonder what could have happened to him...?
I also liked your comment about looking like "a disgusted satellite dish"! That gave me a good laugh!
Peace and Happy Gardening,
nanci
Oh Ewa my dear, how worried you must have been when Atomic went missing for 2 whole days and when he did turn up he'd such a nasty wound. It is possible that he was bitten by either another cat or a dog. Glad he is doing much better now.
When my Vita had a wound on her shoulder that didn't heal because she kept licking it, I cut off the arms of a sweater, made 2 holes for her front legs and hey presto, Vita had a new sweater to wear. ;-) She didn't mind wearing it as it only covered the top half of her body.
Such a beautiful cat. Glad he had the instinct to come right home to you. I should send a copy of this post to my vet - what a brilliant sollution for covering the wound.
You are so clever. I'm sure it was more comfortable than the collar. Fighting for mating rights is fierce and is usually why they are missing for a few days.
Donna
This is a very handy tip - Taking care of hurt or sick cats is never easy around our house. We've confined our cats to indoors after we lost one to the coyotes. Now, they are allowed to explore our basement, which they seem to believe has all the adventures and excitement of the great outdoors. I hope that Atomik is back to normal soon. He looks like he's feeling pretty good.
Poor Atomik. Hope he is better now. He really does not look happy in the first picture. I have a cat and I cannot imagine her being happy to wear a dress for whatever reason.
Your vet was very inventive to make such a dress for your injured cat, and it worked. I once had a cat that just loved being dressed up in dolls clothes, she would happily wear them as long as we wanted her to. Cats are so good as playmates. Soon your playmate will be right as rain.
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