HERE COMES TROUBLE

A forlorn sound is heard. What could it be? “Yeeaawwhh? Yeeaawwhh?” Alas, poor Zoë, she has once again become trapped behind a door. Pickles aka Ms. Trouble! I rescue her from the guest room. She snuck in there when I ventured in to retrieve an item. She must have been content for a while because she did not start mewing for an hour. No worse for the wear, she waltzes out as if nothing out of the ordinary has occurred.

Her curiosity has caused her to get shut up into cabinets, closets and boxes. Thankfully, someone always heard her forlorn pleas and let her out. Her worst mishap was gashing her left hind leg at the hock (knee). Zoë was just over a year old. I arrived home from work to find her bleeding on the kitchen floor. The gash must have just occurred because there was not much blood but she had ripped the skin through to the bone. It was unsettling to see the tissue and sinew around her hock joint. The veterinarian speculated that she was chewing an itchy spot and accidentally ripped the skin since there were no other abrasions to her skin.

Unfortunately, my veterinarian’s office was closed. I rushed her over to the emergency vet’s office and they performed an operation to close the wound. I nearly had a heart attack when I received the bill of nearly $500 but she was alive. I asked what I needed to do and they said that I should leave on the bandage and take her to my regular vet in a couple days. We were both exhausted so I put her into the bathroom (for safety) with a clean litter box, food, water, toys and a blanket and went to bed.

I arose the next morning to check on her. Much to my dismay, her foot was quadrupled in size; it looked like Sylvester The Cat’s foot whenever he damaged it. I tore off the bandage and she was crying in pain. Of course, I had an important meeting at work, which I could not cancel. I called my vet and they said that I should drop her off. I took Zoë in and went to work. I was distracted throughout the meeting and called the vet as soon as it was finished. They said that the emergency vet had not removed the restriction bandage and that is why Zoë’s leg swelled – literally called “cartoon foot.” The removal of the bandage allowed circulation to return and she was doing okay. They didn’t even charge me for watching her for a couple hours and checking the wound. Yes, I used sick leave to tend to the ill cat.

Critters are a responsibility. TO BE CONTINUED
(c) 2010