I'll repost this in the Health forum when I have access, but until then, I'll get it out here.
Bartleby came to us when we bought the house. Skinny, infested with fleas, and he totally melted my heart. Already having three cats, it was a hard sell on the husband. But he relented, and we took him in.
This was 8 years ago. The vet estimated his age at the time to be 2-3 years. He fattened up nicely and became a good cat. He's especially patient with my daughters. My three girl cats have since passed away, so Bart's the last. Two of my girls died from diabetes complications, the third was sudden--we assume old age? She showed no symptoms, just died one night.
In any case--back to Bartleby. Last Wednesday he came downstairs limping. I could see the puncture wound in his right hind leg. He didn't come downstairs until late in the evening, so we waited until the next morning to take him in.
They diagnosed a cat bite and put him under briefly to clean the wound properly. He was returned to us that afternoon and his paw was three times its normal size. He was given a heavy duty antibiotic at the vet's and was sent home with more as well as pain meds.
We got through the weekend, he perked up and began walking around. But the foot wouldn't shrink. It was still terribly swollen. Monday morning I call the vet and give him an update. He suggests bringing him in on Thursday for a re-check.
Tuesday. I wake up to Bartleby in my bed. Great, right? He's clearly feeling better. After breakfast, I get a look at his paw. Overnight, the fur fell out and it's a pus-filled mess. Back to the vet. She agrees that it's much worse and suggests it's possibly a snake bite. Hydrotherapy/heavy duty anti-inflammatories/new antibiotics is recommended--I leave him there so they can do that. We discuss amputation at length.
Today I get an update from the vet. He's still not doing much better, but he's also walking around acting like the foot doesn't hurt at all. Vet suggests that there's probably a lot of dead/numb tissue already. And it's just going to spread up his leg. Obviously, we discussed it in more depth than that but good gracious I've already written a novel.
In any case, his leg will be amputated tomorrow. I'm confident this is the right decision. Even though he's twelve, he's relatively healthy and I know he's got at least a few more good years. I don't want to take a chance that the infection spreads to the rest of his body.
So. I'm here to ask--what can I expect? I've read a lot about younger cats, but my boy is older. If anyone has some experience, I'm all ears. Thanks in advance!
I'm really just anxious to get him home and fuss over him. I'm a little scared the incision is going to make me faint though.
