Sunday, April 12, 2015

Cats...

It is a well known fact in the greyhound community that greyhounds are not 'cat friendly' outdoors. You can't blame or change years of evolution and training.  it is something we cover extensively during home visits and adoptions.
I wouldn't call Cody cat tolerant indoors..
I just wish someone would have told this to my neighbor's cat.
Last Sunday night, during bedtime potty..the worst happened.  My neighbor's cat had, stupidly, wandered in to my yard unbeknownst to me.  The backyard light apparently didn't scare her off either.
So needless to say..Cody won that fight.
But he did not come out unscathed.
The kitty managed to bite him in the ankle.  I had thought it was just a few scratches that night..but by the next morning. Things had gotten very very bad.  We took him to our vet and it was not broken but badly infected (less than 24 hours!).  But after 24 hours of antibiotics..it was worse.  So we rushed him to the emergency specialty vet.  They shaved it, scrubbed it, lanced it and put him on HIGH power antibiotics.
 After a 5 days, we had improvement but he was still not putting weight at all on it and it was nasty..to say the least.  A 3rd visit to the vet and we started a topical antibiotic and higher caliber pain meds.
 You can see above that he just rested it on his toes..zero weight.
The high dose pain meds seem to have helped.  yesterday (day 6) he started putting weight on it every 3rd or 4th step.  Which is a huge improvement. But even though he wants to play, he just stands on three legs and enjoys the weather.
 Vitamin D will help.
Luckily, my neighbors were super understanding and, though upset, didn't blame us and knew we had done everything we could.  In the end, it was a poor decision by the cat and everyone feels horrible. But never underestimate the power of a 'minor' cat bite..they are notoriously bacteria ridden and difficult to treat.  I'm hoping Cody will be full weight bearing within a few days.  But on day 7, we still have a ways to go.

Rest in Peace, Spongebob.

6 comments:

Sue said...

We are sending Cody loads of positive healing thoughts and gentle hugs (((Cody))).

Hope the vets bill won't be too expensive.

Sue, Polly & Honey

Hazel said...

I have memories of a cat biting me and all the problems that ensued, so I am really in sympathy with Cody and all his pain. I am curious about the emergency specialist vet...is that a normal service in your area? I've never lived in an area which had any vets besides the regular vets.

houndstooth said...

Yeah, cat bites can turn out to be really wicked! I hope Cody is feeling better soon!

Two Greyhound Town said...

I hope Cody is feeling better soon. It definitely looks like a nasty wound.

Hiking Hounds said...

Ouch, that looks bad! Glad you are all doing well in general though.

Greyhounds CAN Sit said...

Ah, so that's what happened to Cody :( Cats can be so stupid. I've been there done that with cats. It's a cross we greyhound owners/lovers have to bear ... and Frankie owners! Thankfully my dogs have (so far) come out unscathed. I've never seen anything like Cody's leg. That would have been very scary and worrying. Very pleased to see he's all good now.