crafty me

So... sometimes I like to make things. Sometimes = always...

Right, so lately it's jewelry and woodburning (a likely pair, I know)

It's not Christmas without someone throwing up...

So evidently, even when you don't have kids, you're not immune to the "curse of Christmas puking". 5:30am Christmas 2007 I got woken up by Peeves throwing up on the bedroom floor (thankfully, it's laminate, so it was an easy cleanup). I figured he had just eaten something he wasn't supposed to and it upset his stomach, so I went back to bed. Two hours later, it happened again, not so thankfully on the downstairs carpet.

When I tried to get him to eat and he refused tuna out of the can, we knew something was wrong. When he started making a horrible crying noise a little later, we knew it was serious, and found the local 24-hour vet emergency room.

They were open on Christmas, and after waiting what felt like forever, we saw a doctor. Evidently Peeves' bladder/urinary tract was blocked again, and he needed to be catheterized immediately. Apparently his bladder was about the size of an orange. To put that in perspective, a human's bladder is generally about that size. Not fun for my 15lb. cat!

So, we left him there, and the surgeon called us back the next day agreeing with another recommendation of the dr - that Peeves was a good candidate for a perineal urethrostomy (or PU for short).

Here is what healthypet.com says a perineal urethrostomy is:"The surgical procedure is called a perineal urethrostomy. Your veterinarian will remove much of the penis and the narrow portion of the urethra and leave a wider opening for the remaining portion under the anus. Your cat may be hospitalized for several days, and often a catheter will be left in place overnight or longer. Afterward, Kitty may be treated with antibiotics, urinary antiseptics, and urinary acidifiers. Post-operative care at home will require you to carefully observe Kitty and his potty habits."

He had the surgery the day after Christmas, and came home the day after that since he was really stressed by being at the vet with all the weird noises (this is the cat that gets scared if you crinkle a plastic bag in his general viscinity). He's still got the collar on, and is in his last week of confinement. He's supposed to go in next Thursday to get evaluated and hopefully get his stitches removed so he can get the collar off. Boy does he hate that thing. Most of all he hates the antibiotics, luckily tomorrow is the last day for them. His happy medication has run out (picture above is taken of him high as a kite - hence the happy relaxed expression!), and he's very sad about being left in a room alone. I suspect I'll be spending a fair amount of time this weekend keeping him company.