[::ahem::] In which I bring you the state of the kittyverse chez nous, because I’ve (still) been slacking on the kitty update posts! Apologies to you who ask, and thank you again for your patience.

The main news is that Cita is doing well, but she’s still healing, and she’ll be having a procedure next week.

I’ve posted most of these Cita pics on Facebook, but a kitty update post provides a good opportunity to see the evolution of her healing… or, shall I say, the evolution of her healing apparatus. She’s gone from a cone to a onesie to an inflatable collar to a triceratops get-up (which I haven’t posted on Facebook).

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Cita’s two major wounds were looking good in the healing process. Then one of them opened up again, so we’ve been managing that situation. The other wound stayed closed… but beneath that closed wound on her belly, things got strange.

First, it was a thickening of the skin on the wound. Then the thickening deepened, and now it’s like a ball or a mass you can actually close your fingers around as you massage her belly. Her doctor’s been monitoring her, we’ve been monitoring her, and we’ve continued on with her antibiotics, along with a few other measures.

At Cita’s last appointment (a few days ago), we had an X-ray done to see what’s going on under her closed belly wound. We don’t know what it is, but we’re going to have it removed. It’ll be a minor surgery, and it’s scheduled for next week.

This is not a life-threatening situation. Whatever this thing is, it’s more than likely a result of the healing that started before we realized that she had a wound there. The doctor’s attempts at aspiration have yielded inflammatory cells and infectious cells, but, oddly, no bacteria. We’re basically removing a ball of gunk. It’s just hanging out between her skin and her belly wall (all of her organs are tucked inside her belly wall – she doesn’t have a hernia, as her doctor thought might be the case – and they’re healthy).

This brings us to Cita’s healing apparatus. A cone was needed to keep her from licking her open wound, so we tried the one we got at the vet:

 

 

She couldn’t function in the cone (she couldn’t get down from her low futon without falling, she couldn’t use her litter box, etc.)… so the doctor recommended that we put her in a onesie:

 

 

The onesie started out well, but then she wriggled out of it, and we couldn’t keep it on her. Our next option was an inflatable collar:

 

 

She’s still wearing this collar, albeit upside-down; this is keeping her from licking her open wound (which is healing nicely, by the way)… but it doesn’t keep her from licking her belly. It’s fine that she’s licking her belly now, since her belly wound is closed, but it won’t be fine next week after her surgery.

So we had to come up with an apparatus that would prevent belly-licking. We decided to fashion an extension to her inflatable collar… something wide enough to do the job, but not angled up like the cone. Her peripheral vision still works in this:

 

 

Because why not a triceratops collar? I suggested it, Callaghan made it (beautifully!), and now we have a Citasaurus. Here’s Tri-Cita-tops in the wild:

 

 

Of course, she hates it. But it works, and she can function in it. We’ll put it on and leave it on after her gunk-removal procedure next week. A whole new healing process will begin. She’ll need to be a Citasaurus for a few weeks.

Tricitatops is the sweetest Citasaurus you could ever hope to meet.

As for Nenette? Nenette is doing well and being a great sport about the whole situation.

 

 

She can’t go into my former office anymore (she used to love that window), but she’s not making a fuss. She has endless ways to amuse herself. She can stare into a glass of water for minutes on end.

 

 

Here’s her favorite pose:

 

 

So there you have it! Summary: Cita is still recovering. She’s doing well, but she needs minor surgery. Nenette is doing well, too, and she’s being awesome with the shift in routine around here. Nenette may be stranger-shy, but she’s quite adaptable.

More updates to come post-Cita-surgery!

Happy Friday, all!