Yesterday I took Hayley kitty, or Min-Min as I so often call her, to the vet for two shots, spaying and declawing. I thought this would help her kick the urge to climb into my Christmas tree and the timing seemed about right.
This morning I picked her up. She seemed to be in good spirits but Sadie Gray was, much to my dismay, VERY unhappy to see her back in the house. She hissed and spit and poor recovering Mini had no idea what to do. She still wanted to be with her big sister. I realize that's fairly normal and that they will have to get used to one another again, but I'm not in the mood to be patient.
I noticed Mini was licking herself way more than I remember Sadie did. I tried to stop her but you can't completely control kitties without watching them 24/7. After awhile, while she was licking her belly wound, I caught a glimpse of what looked like the incision coming open. There was a little bit of blood around the area, although no guts, but I freaked out.
I called David, who had his parents come over and take a look while he was at work. They too noticed it looked like a stitch was missing and by gently touching her wound we were able to definitively tell the wound was indeed open. We made the decision that it would be best to call the local animal hospital since our kitties' regular vet was closed for the weekend.
When we got her there she was still in good shape, and they let me know she still had a layer of internal stitches holding her insides in (thank GOD!) but that she had indeed chewed through the outside layer as we had feared. They put a number of staples in her belly to make sure that wound stays closed, gave us some antibiotic to give her to ward off any infection and told us to keep her in an Elizabethan collar for two weeks until the staples and stitches can come out.
She hated the collar of course. In true Mini cat fashion, it took her an hour or under that to get an arm through the collar, and then another 15 minutes to wriggle it down to her midsection where it wouldn't do any good. David and I fixed it so it's pretty tight, taking precaution that she can still breathe and eat and all that good stuff. Since then she's been sleeping and cowering on David and I whenever the other kitty comes near.
So she's not going to like it but for the good of the family, Sadie is going to be sleeping in the basement for the next several nights and staying down there when we aren't around to keep an eye on them - until she can learn to get along with the sick kitty. When we're home they can spend some time trying to get reacquainted.
That's the story.
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