Smore the Trikitty

Surgery and Picking Her Up

I left Smore with the vet on a Wednesday because the orthopedic surgeon who was trying to save her leg was 2 hours away. The surgery was scheduled for the following day. They called me about 3:30 to tell me the amputation was a success and that she was already playing.

She stayed at the vet until Friday afternoon. I received a call each morning and each night as well as one during the surgery due to the complication and one afterward to let me know how she did.

Before I picked her up, I did lots of research, most of which came from Tripawds. I looked at pictures of cats with amputations, which I think helped prepare me for what to expect.

When I picked her up, they put her in the carrier in the backroom and brought her out to me. She had a bandage on her and an e-collar (aka the cone of shame). She meowed when she saw me and put her nose against the carrier door as if to say, hey where have you been? I was grateful for that because part of my worry was that she would blame me for what had happened or something. The vet staff and vet techs assured me it wouldn’t be the case since they did the surgery and she was willing to cuddle post-op with them.

Medication

She was given amoxicillin (anti-biotic she was actually on before surgery due to her wound), metacam (nonsteroid anti-inflamatory), and burprenorphine (pain). Metcam was once every 24 hours, and the other two were every 12 hours. Her pupils were pretty large, and I’m pretty sure the pain meds made her pretty stoned. I imagine she saw lots of fun things. Unlike most tripawd blogs I’ve read, she did not have the pain patch.

Post-Op at Home

I brought her home, and it was obvious that she was a little disoriented. I blame this on the cone, however. It had white lines and the name of a veterinarian practice on it, which I’m sure made it hard to maneuver. Like all coned pets, she began running into things.

I had heard about using onesies for post-op, but I hadn’t purchased one before bringing her home (bad pawrent!). She stayed in her bandage and cone overnight. I kept her in a large dog kennel I had actually used when my husky was a puppy. It contained her box to sleep in, her blankets, her water, and her litterbox. As soon as I left the room, Smore decided she’d rather sleep on top of her box rather than inside it. Typical cat, no?

She later managed to jump down as well with no trouble. I fully believed I had to let her figure things out and tried not to baby her too much, so I actually didn’t do anything special for her. The only change I made was to move a box away from a table she liked to climb onto so that she wouldn’t climb up there, which surprisingly worked. She used her litterbox with no problem, but covering her poop did not happen. I did help her with that.

She slept in her kennel at night and remained there unless I was there to supervise her. Well, the second morning I woke up to find that she had tipped the box over on top of herself. Later that day she also managed to undo her e-collar (it was only tied on with gauze instead of an actual collar). She let me slip it back on and I went to the store in search of he onesies since her bandages were coming off. Plus, the instant she got free of the cone she began licking her stitches.

Keeping Her Stitches Protected

When I found her she was 3 pounds and pretty much just fur and bones. Before surgery, she was only 4 pounds.

Onesies are not easily found for a kitten that size. The store didn’t have newborn or premies, so what’s a girl to do? I got creative and bought her an XXS dog shirt designed for yorkies, Shi tzus, and other tiny puppies. It fit perfectly, though it definitely made her butt look big, haha. We sewed up the one arm and Smore was able to spend the rest of her post-op cone-free, much to everyone’s delight. She also did not mind the shirt. In fact, I’ve come to discover this girl will basically let you do anything, including giving her nasty amoxicillan (which I despise the taste and smell of. ICK!).