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Sep. 24th, 2005 03:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spatchThey're probably right when they say the first night home is the hardest. For any kind of invalid.
We picked Martha up tonight at Angell. She's real weak. I don't know if it's the dope she's on or what. She walked a bit from the stairs tonight, down one step and around the corner, and that was where her back legs gave out. It broke my heart to watch her flop right down there and I know she wasn't happy to experience it, either. When I wasn't looking, however, she walked all the way to the chair and hopped up. But when I went to pick her up, she was limp again, one paw's claws stuck in the chair fabric (she's always had a problem retracting her clawses.) The arm around one paw's "wrist" is rudely shorn for her IV though the regular paw part is normal. As a result she looks like she's holding a paw on a stick. My neuroses towards medical treatment kick in when I glance at her arm (I get uncomfortable shivers when I see certain medical treatments. Some stitches are fine but others eek me out.)
Abbie's being as polite as he can. That's good.
Along with Martha came a healthy amount of medicine:
* Two forms of antibiotics, each to be taken twice daily, one for ten days, the other for five.
* One appetite stimulant, to be given twice daily for three days.
* Pepcid AC (she gets a box just like me!) to be given half a pill twice daily for five days.
* A liver treatment medicine to be given twice daily for five days.
* One thing I've probably forgotten but it's on the list.
Also included are five days' worth of wet Science Diet prescription A/D food to be given through a syringe. We're to feed her one can a day in four feedings. The smell takes some getting used to but honestly, it's gonna be a smell I'll remember for quite some time. I mix the food with a little warm water (also suggested is chicken stock or anything else she'll find palatable) and load the syringe (we were thoughtfully given two syringes; one in Heroin Junkie and the other Sheep Suppository size) and bring dinner to the cat. Our first dinner together was a quiet affair and rather limp, but I consider it a victory. Martha lapped the stuff up just fine for most of it, but when she started letting it just dribble back out of her mouth, I figured she was done. I told her it's going to give her that strength back. She may believe me.
The liquid food left her paws and nose cold, even after I wiped it up, and for a moment I was worried she'd been sent into some kind of kitty shock with this feeding. Her energy seems to be fluctuating and she goes from strong to weak quite quickly, but I keep telling myself this is the first night. We just have to take things moment by moment, and see how she's doing in the morning. Currently she's resting on my bed so I can watch her overnight. I'm supposed to go to work tomorrow but I'm so goddamn exhausted I may have to just call in. Besides, I gotta feed the kitty.
Good night.
We picked Martha up tonight at Angell. She's real weak. I don't know if it's the dope she's on or what. She walked a bit from the stairs tonight, down one step and around the corner, and that was where her back legs gave out. It broke my heart to watch her flop right down there and I know she wasn't happy to experience it, either. When I wasn't looking, however, she walked all the way to the chair and hopped up. But when I went to pick her up, she was limp again, one paw's claws stuck in the chair fabric (she's always had a problem retracting her clawses.) The arm around one paw's "wrist" is rudely shorn for her IV though the regular paw part is normal. As a result she looks like she's holding a paw on a stick. My neuroses towards medical treatment kick in when I glance at her arm (I get uncomfortable shivers when I see certain medical treatments. Some stitches are fine but others eek me out.)
Abbie's being as polite as he can. That's good.
Along with Martha came a healthy amount of medicine:
* Two forms of antibiotics, each to be taken twice daily, one for ten days, the other for five.
* One appetite stimulant, to be given twice daily for three days.
* Pepcid AC (she gets a box just like me!) to be given half a pill twice daily for five days.
* A liver treatment medicine to be given twice daily for five days.
* One thing I've probably forgotten but it's on the list.
Also included are five days' worth of wet Science Diet prescription A/D food to be given through a syringe. We're to feed her one can a day in four feedings. The smell takes some getting used to but honestly, it's gonna be a smell I'll remember for quite some time. I mix the food with a little warm water (also suggested is chicken stock or anything else she'll find palatable) and load the syringe (we were thoughtfully given two syringes; one in Heroin Junkie and the other Sheep Suppository size) and bring dinner to the cat. Our first dinner together was a quiet affair and rather limp, but I consider it a victory. Martha lapped the stuff up just fine for most of it, but when she started letting it just dribble back out of her mouth, I figured she was done. I told her it's going to give her that strength back. She may believe me.
The liquid food left her paws and nose cold, even after I wiped it up, and for a moment I was worried she'd been sent into some kind of kitty shock with this feeding. Her energy seems to be fluctuating and she goes from strong to weak quite quickly, but I keep telling myself this is the first night. We just have to take things moment by moment, and see how she's doing in the morning. Currently she's resting on my bed so I can watch her overnight. I'm supposed to go to work tomorrow but I'm so goddamn exhausted I may have to just call in. Besides, I gotta feed the kitty.
Good night.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-09-24 01:55 pm (UTC)Surgery also means that when you are tired, you are suddenly VERY tired and feeling like you have no reserves and really, sleeping here and now is exactly what you need....wherever here and now is. Luckily, she's a cat. And it will be difficult to discern the difference in a short while. And that's never been rude to a cat.
If you need someone to check in on her, or if you want a hand, let me know. I'd be happy to pop by and pet them both for you. Feeding is optional.