Sterling came home yesterday late in the day. He was very lethargic, kind of loopy moving in circles. I put him into his cage. I made some adjustments while he was at the vet, knowing he’s going to be in an e-collar. I did not want a carrier inside the cage; I didn’t want him bumping his collar all over the place and stressing him out further.
I gave him a tiny bit of food and some water. It was close to bedtime so I off to bed I went. I set my alarm periodically checking on him. He has three sutures in the tip of his tail that’s left. He was doing quite well until I checked on him at 2 a.m. His e-collar was off. He was sitting upright in his cage, looking quite proud of himself. The little scamp.
Quickly checking his sutures, I was relieved to see they were still intact. I had kitty-proofed the room previous while he was at the vet. I couldn’t have him get under the couch: that would’ve been a bad deal.
Because of the nature of my injuries after surgery, having the cage on the floor was not working for me. I enlisted the help of a kind neighbor who came over and we lifted the cage up on top so that it was chest level for me. It is a lot easier now to care for him.
He had a 10-minute supervised walk-about in the cat room. There was no wobble in his walk. He was alert, showing no pain, and his eyes were clear. He did explore every corner looking for an escape. He is so used to roaming the streets. I know that he’s a bit confused about what has happened to his freedom.
After his 10-minute jaunt, I gently picked him up putting him back in his cage and the dreaded e-collar went back on him. It’s been a lot of years since I’ve had an injured kitten to care for. It was gratifying to see that my vet has gone away from the stiff plastic e-collars to the soft flexible ones. Sterling still doesn’t like it, but I do!
He’s eating and drinking. Thankfully, he’s pooping in the litter box. I found some exceptional cat litter made by Arm & Hammer at Walmart. It’s not clay litter or clumping litter. It’s made of corn fibers. Right now, he is snuggled up to snuggle-puppy. He seems very content. I hope he understands that there are people who love him. People who are praying for him. And one person in particular waiting in the wings for when she can bring him home. Yes, he has a home. I do not need any more cats. Currently there are 14 cats living here in my sanctuaries.
As for me, I went to my physical therapist on Monday. My occupational therapist on Tuesday. Today I can barely move. My hand and fingers are extremely swollen. I ache all over. But as they say no pain no gain. My homework from my PT is to actively make my right arm swing when I walk. She also is giving me a bit of a hard time because my posture is not what it should be. I am 6 feet tall and apparently I have uneven shoulders. On my OT side, he wants me to really try to make a fist. To go past the pain that’s bearable into the pain that is not. I will do my best, however working with frozen fat fingers, it is a bit difficult. I just don’t have that flex anymore.
I just checked on Sterling before I get on with my day. I will be staying home. We are getting another heat wave here soon. I have to figure out how to keep Sterling cool not having central heat and air in my home. I have a lot of electric fans, though.
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