Update on K.C.

Knitseashore left a comment on my last post asking for a K.C. update.  So I thought maybe I'd do a (warning: long) post about what's been happening over the past week.  It's been quite a (long) journey.

I posted last week that she had gone in for surgery on Wednesday.  It was exploratory surgery to find a piece of ovarian tissue left behind when she was spayed.  The surgery went well and the tissue was found and removed.  The vet brought her back home to me in the afternoon.  The anesthesia had not yet worn off, but the best place for her to recover was in her own home.

It was really hard seeing her so drugged up.  She couldn't walk more than a couple of steps without falling over.  It broke my heart.  We had to keep her sequestered in the bathroom.  That night, she somehow gathered a burst of strength and charged past me when I opened the door.  We tried to catch her, but she made it to the stairs and we had to watch helplessly as she tumbled down.  Luckily, she wasn't hurt, but she really gave us a scare.

By Thursday morning she seemed much better.  She started eating again and could walk.  We needed to keep her quiet until Saturday, so she was stuck in the bathroom.  I would visit every hour or so, and she would curl up in my lap and purr while I petted her.

On Friday, she stopped eating again.  The vet said it was probably due to constipation, so we started her on something to help with that.  Her system kicked in on Saturday, but she still wouldn't eat.  When that happened with Charlie, we found baby food did the trick.  Unfortunately, K.C. wasn't interested in the baby food at all.  The vet called on Sunday and told us to try tempting her with tuna.  (We had been resisting that because Charlie had a terrible fish allergy, but the vet said it was worth risking an allergic reaction if it would get her eating.)  She gobbled up two dishes full and in a few short hours was looking much better and has no signs of seafood allergies.

Things went smoothly on Monday, but by Tuesday we were back to it again.  Her incision and stitches started looking funny and she slept all day  (That is, the stitches that were left.  She had already pulled out three of them, and was doing her best to bite at the rest.)  By Wednesday, the area was looking swollen.  I called the vet (again) and she came right over to take a look.

She didn't think they looked infected, but noticed that the portion where K.C. had pulled out the stitches was healing much better than the portion that still had stitches.  So she took the remaining stitches out.  Once they were gone, she could see tell-tale signs of an infection starting.  She left some antibiotics with us.

Now, finally, I think we are over the worst!  K.C. has been doing really well since Wednesday.  Her appetite is back to normal.  She's playing with her toys again.  She was running up and down the stairs this morning!  She still gets tired quickly and has been taking some extra naps, but she's come a long way.  And I think the worst is behind us now!!