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Wednesday, June 15, 2016

a day in the life...


Rose

Rose, our 22 year old cat who is tenaciously clinging to her 9th life had an unexpected accident yesterday. DH, who Rose adores (she tolerates me), decided unbeknownst to me to clip off a few remaining mats on Rose's side.  I was in another room when I suddenly heard him saying over and over again how sorry he was. 

So I went in to investigate. Apparently he had snipped a bit of her skin and had opened up about a 1/2 inch gash in her side. It wasn't bleeding... or at least not much as it really hadn't penetrated the muscle layer. But I could tell that it would need stitches, so off to the Vet we went.  Rose handled the snip fine, but the Vet visit not so much. They would have to muzzle her, clean the area, stitch or staple it, give her an antibiotic injection, and send us home with a soft collar and a large bill.  

staples

We did have to use the collar last night as she had begun to lick the area and we were afraid that she would remove the staples during the night. But she looked so pitiful with that collar. Even the other cats kept going by her to check it out. Neither of us got much sleep worrying about how miserable she must be. I checked on her once during the night and she seemed to have settled. 


not a happy camper

This morning when we got up, we removed it so she could eat and drink... and she seemed thankful. Had to put it back when she again went after the area around 10 am. But removed it again at lunch. We're watching her and will only put it back on when necessary.

That's how our Monday went. But there was also good news as this week DH sounded the "Turtle Alert". 

A few days ago we saw our first turtle sighting of the season. Not a big event in the general scheme of things, but DH and I get excited. The box turtles that live around the creek come up to eat the cat food and whatever else they can find around this time.

We generally mark them with a little spot of red nail polish so that we can tell if they've been here before or are new. This time DH saw and reported it to me, but I was in the middle of something and by the time I got there, he or she was gone. Tuesday morning the turtle was back. Again, DH saw and reported and although I got there fairly quickly, he or she was gone again. So I didn't get a picture. But it is good to know the box turtles are back.


old pic from last year



10 comments:

  1. Oh, poor Rose! Not the "adventure" an old gal wants! Purrs from Nicki and Derry that she heals quickly and gets that cone of shame off.

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    1. Kim, Rose seems to be doing fine. Her "wound" looks like it's healing. Thanks for the purrs.

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  2. oh poor Rose; you have the oldest cats that I now of I hope she does well, and I love that turtle with his curious head raised above the grass.

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    1. Rose may be old, but she's still feisty. She got that cone off last night by herself. As for the turtles, they are unbelievably fast for turtle.

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  3. Poor Rose! Hope she heals quickly....I'm sure your husband feels worse than she does.

    My kids had red eared turtles as children but I've never seen any in the wild.

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    1. DH felt terribly guilty. I don't think he'll ever try that again. And the popular red eared turtles are those red eared sliders which are water turtles and used to be sold to kids for pets.

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  4. I feel both for Rose and for DH who was only trying to help. She does look pitiful with that cone. Glad to hear the turtles are back! :-)

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    1. Yes, Rose really hates that cone. She took it off by herself during the night last night. Luckily she's been pretty good about leaving her staples alone.

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  5. Oh, poor Rose, don't they just hate those collars. I hope she is well on the way to recovery.

    Diana

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  6. She does seem to be. And I haven't put the collar back on since she took it off herself. So far she seems to be fine.

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