Injured kitten

Tess is adorable. Her sutures shouldn't be gaping though, sounds like she should've had them closer together. Perhaps she also needed a good sized piece of gauze wrapped around her entire middle to keep things together....

Draining a bit is another thing: is it clearish or does it look nasty?

The vet had a lot of trouble closing the edges of the wound. I'm thinking that maybe since she's moving around more, her skin has resumed its normal shape, so the sutures are no longer tight enough. Of course, I'm not a vet so who knows? The drainage is mostly clear, and a little bloody. The gauze would have to be around her skinny little leg, so I don't know that it would stay on very well. I haven't seen anything like pus, and there's no bad smell, so I'm holding positive thoughts so far.

Ah, clear and a touch bloody, that's lymph with a few drops of blood mixed in. Just because there's no skin there she's leaking normal body fluid. I had the same weeping out of me when my shoulders peeled down to raw meat after a very bad sunburn. As long as it doesn't get infected that should ease up as skin heals over the spot. She's not bothering that spot much, is she?

She doesn't spend any time licking the wound or picking at the stitches that I've seen. She only just has regained the ability to hike a rear leg up over her head in order to practice kitty personal hygiene.

It sounds like all the normal non-stitched healing I've seen in horses. They get the same drainage, and as long as they don't get infected, they heal just fine. The scars are noticeable, but what's a little scar? It does sound like the little girl is over the hump. (((hugs for little kitties)))

If she's able to stretch like that to wash up without pain she's definitely on the mend. And what's a few scars anyway? Just a lasting testimonial to all she had to survive through to get where she is today. Heck, I even have a few scars.

The vet said that the sutures are fine, and that everything is healing the way it should. He said that there will be a scar, but I don't see that as a problem, really. Even if the fur doesn't cover it, it will be on the inside of her leg anyway.

Yesterday when I was going to put new hot water in her hot water bottles, she had pulled one layer of her blankie back, crawled inside, and pulled the "covers" over her. What a little smartie!

How adorable and how smart. Glad Tess is mending so well.

Sue Short wrote:

How adorable and how smart. Glad Tess is mending so well.

Ditto from me. I think Tess is a star!

And third here. How adorable. She's an "underkitty!"

gbste wrote:Yesterday when I was going to put new hot water in her hot water bottles, she had pulled one layer of her blankie back, crawled inside, and pulled the "covers" over her. What a little smartie!

Very smart! And I bet that was a very adorable sight to see too. Has she done it again yet? I'd love to see a pic of her doing that.

She snuggles in like that quite often, but she's out of there like a shot once she knows she's going to be able to boss a person around, so it's hard to get the picture.

Tess has really "upped her game" while playing with her toys. She zooms around the bathroom chasing jingle bell balls and little pieces of paper, and she bolts out of the door occasionally too. She's having much less trouble using the litterbox, and the last time I put a disposable waterproof pad on her bed, she dragged it out and shredded it up, so I guess we have her final word on that idea. She hasn't really needed one the last couple of days, so I'll give her her way on this. Her blankie is washable in any case.

She's supposed to have her stitches out on Monday or Tuesday. Most of the wound looks well healed. One section still gaps, but it doesn't bleed or swell, so that's probably where she'll show her battle scars later. The tail still droops and drags, but I will give her a few more weeks with that before we decide if it needs to be amputated. It's getting to be a little difficult to wash her tail, as she's against that idea, but we'll stick with it.

Sounds like she well on the mend. Precious girl.

Everything sounds like it's progressing really well. Perhaps she just has pretty muscle damage around the base of that tail, so it's hard for her to lift it. I think you've definitely got the right idea about giving it a little while longer. But, a kitty with a shorter tail isn't a bad thing. I'm just glad she is able to use the box and PLAY.

I am so glad to hear she can PLAY! She's doing well and is doing all sorts of adorable things. I have no doubt tail or not she will find a great home in no time at all when she's ready for it. Tess is going to have a lot of admirers in any case.

Tessie got her stitches out yesterday after school. One section over the "knee" joint still has a scab over it, and the vet was extra careful not to disturb that when he took out the sutures. I told him that he had done a good job putting her back together, and he said that she had done a good job healing. She doesn't need to take Amoxi drops any more.

Tess is rocketing around the bathroom like a little wild child, and we are working on a new rule: no biting. She's against that rule, the feisty little thing.

Diego (see "more orphans" thread) has abandoned his carrier, and is sleeping in Tessie's with her, so we can clear a little bit of clutter out of the bathroom at least. He will probably have a new home on Saturday, so she won't have to share for long. He's a little intimidated by her, and she doesn't exactly like to share, so I don't think she'll miss him. If Diego's brother Bernardo gets over his URI, he can share the bathroom with Tess, and we can get the big wire crate out of the hall. Then I'll be able to reach my little sox drawer!

Did the vet say anything about why her tail droops? Glad to read she has nooooooo problems bossing her current peoples around!

Nice of Tess to give house room to Diego, even if neither of them like it much. I'm so glad she's happy enough to play!

Echo echo!!

Well, Tessie somehow managed to lose the tip of her tail. It was there yesterday morning, and gone when I got home from work. We took her to the vet, and were told to put her back on amoxi and keep an eye on her. The end of the tail is dead and needs to be removed, but they'd like her to be bigger before they put her under anesthesia again. Hasn't had an effect on her really, she's still rockin' and rollin'.

So she will lose a bit of her tail after all. As long as it doesn't get infected she should be okay, just needs to grow a bit to be big enough to handle the anesthesia (usually about 2#). Otherwise, from your description she's doing really well.

Someone will love her despite, or maybe because, of a shortened tail.

What a bummer!!!! Still sounds like she is doing well.

One of my favorite kitties is a boy with 1/2 a tail. My friend has him, and he came that way. He's just great. He knows he's a handsome boy even with his little difference. Tess will be just fine with her tail troubles. It does sound like she's doing just great. I hope she grows quickly so this issue can get resolved and she can find her peoples.

I second that emotion Becky.

Well, Tessie sloughed off the dead part of her tail yesterday. I'm keeping the end of what's left clean and medicated, so we'll see how that goes. She may have saved herself a surgery, depending on how everything heals.