Pepa the Brave

It's been pretty hectic since Pepa came home last Wednesday evening. We have to give her her meds (antibiotics and multivits) twice a day and she isn't being cooperative about them. Otherwise, she has been an examplary patient, hardly complaining about her confinement to a cage. I guess she understands that it is for her own good.

Although she refused food that night and the whole of Thursday (she hadn't eaten since her fall except for bits that were force-fed to her), she nibbled at the food we left for her early Friday morning and moved her bowels for the first time in a week later that same morning. That was a relief because it indicated that her bowels were not obstructed and her stool not impacted (which would have required further surgery!) and also that we won't have to feed her laxatives.

She has gradually regained her appetite since then except she now seems to be having a runny bottom. We've had to clean her up yesterday and this morning since its quite difficult for her to avoid her poo with her limited mobility in a small cage. She is still basically a paraplegic cat. She can't properly squat to poo-poo and it must be frustrating and embarassing for her because cats are basically tidy creatures, and Pepa more so than some other cats.

There may have been some damage to the nerves to her toes as well because she doesn't seem to be in full control of them such that when we put her down, they are curled up instead of splayed in preparation to assume a standing position. She now moves around basically by crawling on her tummy, propelling herself with her front paws, with limited help from her knees. Scrabbling like this, she struggles to revisit her favourite nooks and crannies whenever we allow her out of her cage. It's heartbreaking to see her like this, and to remember a spirited and lively cat, bouncing from one piece of furniture to another.

But we are constantly reminded that she herself hasn't given up on life, and her spirit is still the same feisty Pepa as before, wilful and stubborn and never the one to back down from a fight. We hope and pray for her recovery, at least up to the stage where she can walk, even if her gait is lopsided and stiff.

In the meantime, Saffron and Cory have ganged up on poor Damon, and even Nutmeg slapped him yesterday. Things don't seem to be working out and we really need to find a good home for Damon soon because we're starting to feel overwhelmed.

p.s. in the picture above, the incision can be seen near the top of her hip in the shaven area. This cat looks like she has a rat's tail. A tuft of fur is left unshaven at the tip of the tail because some cats apparently have problems recognising their own completely shaven tails and will attack them!