March 26, 2010

• The Sam: Update 03/26/10

  Thank you, everyone, for waiting with us and for all of the sweet comments and messages. You made all of the waiting a bit easier on us. Thank you!
  
  The Sam was released from the kitty-hospital today! He asked that I display no pictures; he’s been shaved quite a bit (they were searching for any wounds that may have caused his infection; they found none), and you know how much he cares about his appearance!
  
  Other than having less fur, The Sam is pretty much back to his usual sweet self. He’ll be on antibiotics and anti-inflammatory (sp?) drugs for about a week or so. His tail was up, almost as straight up as usual, he was feisty and playful (when he’s sick, he just sort of sits there) and Ken and I got lots of love…
  
  … But he wanted to take one of the assistants, I think her name is Rachel, home with him. He was just all over her! Rachel told me that she loves The Sam, and that she and the other two ladies there were squabbling a little over who would play with him this morning. I had to giggle over that… but I wasn’t surprised. The Sam is a ladies’ man.
  
  Then I read over the notes they gave me, about his general health (they are putting him on a little diet to lose a pound or two; other than that, he is “extremely healthy”). At the bottom, they (hand)wrote, “Sam is a sweetie and a pleasure to have here.”
  
  I put a gold star sticker on it and stuck it on the fridge. My baby’s such a good boy.

  
  

  
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  Vet called: The X-Rays show no fractures.The Sam has a serious infection. They are shaving him and checking his entire body for any wounds. They think it may be related to the old wound from a couple of months ago, because his white blood cells and antibodies are very high, indicating a chronic infection (the old wound may have healed, but it may have left infection behind on the inside, basically).
  
  The good news is, he ate a nice lunch, and wagged his tail shortly after the first dose of antibiotics.
  
  They are not ruling out that saddle-thing (some kind of blood clot that some older cats get, can be very dangerous), although they think it is “just” this infection.
  
  The Sam will be there until at least tomorrow, then sent home with some oral antibiotics (hopefully, in drop form… The Sam HATES pills). They may keep him an extra night, just to be safe, depending on his reaction to the meds.
  
  Apparently, he has made a few friends there. The doctor told me: “He’s a good little cat.” (I had to laugh at that. The Sam is nearly 22 pounds… he is NOT “little”!). The assistant that we saw earlier said that he was playing with her for a little while. The other assistant (Lindsay?) who is going to be there all night, said he was, “A dreamboat.”
  
  I’m all crying and worried about the little man, and he’s makin’ time.
  
  Thank you all for waiting with me. It was nice not to have to wait alone.
  
  I’ll update tomorrow, when I know more.
  
  Thanks again. You guys are awesome!!!
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  I am a mess.

  We had to bring The Sam to the vet today. This is the first time he’s ever had to stay at the kitty-doctor’s office overnight.

  There is something wrong with his back, near his cute little fuzzy butt. His tail isn’t working. He had a hard time hopping up onto the chair next to me in the examination room, and I felt my heart crack.

  It could be any number of things. They don’t think anything is broken, but they’re taking X-rays just to be certain. The other things that it could be… I can’t even bring myself to write them down.

  He was purring and giving us head-butts/kitty-love… and flirting with the cute assistant (The Sam has always been something of a ladies’ man). He’s a big, strong cat with no other health issues. But he’s almost ten years old…

  The waiting is killing me.

  Will you wait with me, please?

  He is my baby. I really can’t handle this.

  I’ll update when I hear from the vet.

   
  

  • 9:12 pm
  • 60 Comments