Recap: Tuesday, September 8, 2015

on September 8, 2015

Note: Page is being continually updated throughout the day. Last update was at 21:30 PDT.

LAPS:

No updates yet today

TinyKittens HQ:

Note: The main upstairs cam feed has been slightly choppy for a couple of days now, regardless of the quality you choose. Not sure why. The VIP video is fine.

Morning visit: Cassidy didn’t pee on his own overnight. Shelly will be picking him up at the emergency clinic and taking him to Mountain View as soon as she’s given meds to Bluebelle, and Flower (Thumper doesn’t needs meds any more) and food to everyone.
Shelly returned at 10:26 PDT.
- Update on Cassidy: Cassidy is on IV fluids, pain meds, antibiotics. The odds are stacked against him. Dr. F thinks he just had so much infection that he started to get septic. He probably wouldn’t have lasted another day had he not been trapped. He is responding to the antibiotics; they had to open up his stumps to clean everything out, which wasn’t fun (obviously). He’s eating well, but hasn’t gone to the bathroom on his own since yesterday. (Think it is probably because his legs hurt so much rather than a congenital bladder issue; Dr. F has seen that in other cats who’ve broken their legs or lost a leg.) Dr. F. saw no obvious skeletal issues on the x-ray so impossible to tell if the missing feet are a congenital issue. If not a congenital issue, it’s possible that the umbilical cord wrapped around his feet and his mama chewed through his feet while she was chewing off the cord (it happens sometimes).
- Three main obstacles right now: (1) will he be able to go on his own once he’s feeling better; (2) dealing with the infection; (3) his leg stumps. (The fact that we saw leg and tail and hind end movement when he initially arrived is a good sign.) He will need surgery at some point to close up the stumps. He’s a fighter. (He bit Shelly’s thumb while at Dr. F’s.) Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. Have to get through critical stage first, then worry about the long-term stuff.
  https://www.facebook.com/tinykittens/photos/a.463110733763796.1073741829.462536430487893/919038801504318/?type=1
- Topper is at Shelly’s. He’s doing fine. (She didn’t bring him in today after all.) She did take in their PCR test (for ringworm). He gave some good snuggles last night and this morning, so he’s coming around to the whole humans-are-good concept.
- While Shelly was updating everyone, Eep walked through the wall of the enclosure and then realized she was alone and it wasn’t much fun. 😉 Also, several of the black kittens had ditched their collars.
- Flower got her pus cleaned up. Daisy got her face washed. And the enclosure got a good vacuuming.
- VIP cam sound was turned back on. (It had gone off at about 03:45 PDT this morning, shortly after Tip jumped out of the pen.)
Shelly later had a play session with Topper at her house. He’s really come a long way in a couple of days. Acts like any other kitten.
18:18 visit/Cassidy update:
- Cassidy is back at Shelly’s house (with Topper), so he’s close at hand. His leg stumps are bandaged and padded so that if he does get up and move around, they hopefully won’t hurt as much to put pressure on.
- He’s too young (and still growing) for any prosthetics, but Shelly is going to investigate now and start contacting prosthetics people.
- He has pooped on his own, but hasn’t peed. (They expressed his bladder there.) Dr. F still hopes that he will.
- He’s currently on a heating pad with less poofy quilts on it, with a Snuggle Mom (heartbeat shut off/removed) and Frank the Comfort Kitty behind him.
- Vet notes: “Muscle and bone exposed on both hind legs, legs missing mid-tibia/fibula, heart and lungs good”
- He’s on pain meds and antibiotics (Clavamox). He also has an IV catheter for fluids to go in. (The pink bandage on his arm is the catheter.) He got loaded up with fluids at Mountain View.
- Shelly has to flush the catheter every four to six hours (so at 9pm, 2am, 8am). Calavamox was given at 6pm so due again at 2am. Pain meds were given at 4pm at Mountain View so due again at 12am. She’ll take Cassidy back to Mountain View at 9am tomorrow to change his stump bandages and to check for fluid accumulation.
- The staff at Mountain View bought him a toy for when he’s feeling better 🙂
- Cassidy should be able to go 8 hours between pees comfortably so he should be due around midnight. Shelly is helping to support him while he poops, but the important thing is that he *can* recognize when he has to go and can poop on his own.
Friends of TinyKittens, Bruce & Sandi Kornelsen, picked up Cassidy’s emergency vet bill.
Shelly posted Cassidy’s x-ray on the Livestream account page.
Late night visit: Shelly gave an update on Cassidy. She had to express his bladder for him, which went pretty well. (It was her first time doing that.)