Life (and Paw) is Good: A diary

Monitoring low maintenance Whitey and his paw bandage (June 6th)

A few quotes from my Facebook stream:

June 12th - Whitey's sturdy paw bandage is off, replaced by a bandaid. The latter, as expected, lasted ~ an hour. Doctor says not to worry about it.

June 10th - Don't tell our vet, but Whitey (with his bandaged paw) left collarless overnight. Bandage still intact after 36 hours of feline freedom.

June 6th - Every five minutes, my Mac reminds me to check on Whitey. This ensures he is not attempting to damage his bandage. As you can see, checking on him is not terribly strenuous. The only thing less strenuous is being Whitey himself.

Note, by the way, that just out of the picture is Billy in his sun drenched chair. He makes his brother look alert.

June 6th - Whitey left UNCOLLARED & alone (and asleep) for an hour while I went for a bagel & @kewms rode her bike. Bandage untouched. #FaithRewarded

Whitey and the Cone of Shame

According to our veterinarian, the damage to Whitey's paw was a not another cat, so Penwiper is off the hook (on this one).  Rather, the injury is a triangular flap of skin which was torn by being caught on something. We don't know what he caught it on.

The injury now has three stitches.  Whitey has also two new fashion accessories, courtesy of the vet. The first accessory is a bandage for protecting the stitches, and the second accessory is a classic cone to protect the first accessory from Whitey's teeth.

A subdued Whitey with bandage and cone

Between the funny paw with no traction (he keeps shaking it to get rid of the "stuff" on it) and the cone, Whitey's Cat Physics are seriously screwed up -- he has trouble with the stairs (the chin of the cone catches on each step) and any tight spot. Our Spider-Cat has decided climbing cat trees with only three traction-enabled paws and a big head is pretty much right out. Ditto for visiting his safe place under the futon.

We are taking the cone off for meals (which are supervised anyway); it's just easier for all.

Unfortunately, Penwiper is bothered by Whitey's cone even more than Whitey is.  Much growling by the Dark Lord has occurred.  Thus we've setup the Executive Suite as a safe room for Whitey, although we may throw PW in there instead. That's because Billy knows it's just his littermate with funny collar, and Oscar mostly has ignored Whitey.

("I'm just happy I didn't go to the vet." -- Oscar)

Whitey goes back to the vet on Wednesday to get the bandage changed, and then again on the following Monday to get it removed.

Whitey and The Usual Suspect

Whitey is wounded.  He's not hurting, but we're not used to seeing blood on his hind leg like he got tonight.

(Scratched nose? Yes. Other wounds?  No.)

Whitey's Right Rear Paw

After getting a photograph of it at a good angle, above, we can see it is obviously a claw sized puncture wound. If I was in CSI mode, I'd get a sample and compare any foreign DNA to a certain Tuxedo.