Sunday, October 11, 2009

Namerovsky...goes to the emergency room at 3 AM

ok, let me start by saying that everyone is ok.

Namerovsky got hit by a car yesterday.

The vet thinks he's ok...just in pain. He can't walk right now, but it doesn't look neurological. X-rays ok. But he got a shot of morphine and didn't start walking after that either. (Though it was very cute to see him stoned.) It doesn't look serious.

Anyway, I need to go to work, so I'm going to get him set up with everything in reach (guilt guilt guilt).

No one saw, not sure what actually happened. At least somehow he got himself home.

Last night, he came home, as usual. No walking on three legs, he was on all four, weight bearing. But I realized that instead of the usual "Mrrrp mrrrrrp!" and cuddliness and dinner, he had gone to hide in a corner and was lying in a weird position, with his back legs sort of splayed out. I came over and looked at him and there was a gash on the inside of his leg from mid thigh to mid calf. That was all I could find. He seemed ok, though. I figured some dog had grabbed him or something. It wasn't really deep and the leg was ok.

But then we went and watched a movie, put him on the sofa, and he didn't move later. Didn't get up for dinner, didn't respond to petting (and he is a petting whore). Didn't run over to the fridge when we opened it. Still, the slice on the leg wasn't that bad...so I figured he had a scare from a dog or something.

I took him onto the bed to really look him over, and he was partially conscious. Reacting only to pain. I roughed him up and he just would sort of open his eyes a little. Heart rate was 140 and steady (not that I exactly knew what is normal for a cat, but that didn't seem like it would be too bad for a critter of that size), good breath sounds. He didn't seem shocky. But...it was obviously not just the gash on the leg either. His pelvis seemed stable but painful, and some of his stomach did too. His gums and eyes were pale, and he was COLD. And I questionably thought that he was starting to show peritoneal signs, which made me get tears in my eyes so B.B. Av said, "That's it, we're going."

I picked up the limp little body and he growled with pain (never heard him growl before) and we got in the car and headed to the animal ER, which I like and it also is a non-profit that benefits the shelter he came from.

The vet on call was a girl my age, and I felt so guilty for waking her up at 3. I poured him onto the exam table. She said it did look like a car hit and drag wound, but also couldn't find anything specifically wrong with the leg or abdomen except the same tenderness I found. He was hypothermic. I suited up in the lead bib and dragged him to x-ray...of course, that's when he started squirming around and it took several shots to get a pelvic where he wasn't moving. Nothing there. He was actually moving the legs and they had normal tone...so the conclusion was he just wasn't walking and all the systemic stuff and lying there was from severe pain, another indication that this had been a car hit and not just a cut.

He got a shot of morphine and wound cleansing and some antibiotics and we got sent home to monitor him. He was very cute once the morphine hit and he was making this blissed-out little cat face. I didn't put him in bed with me like usual because I was afraid he'd fall out; instead, I made him a bed in a box. He peed all over himself in the night, but at least that means there is no bladder rupture, which was another concern - it was one big puddle, like a bladderfull, no blood.

This morning, he's not moving around either, but he's more awake and without getting up, he does put his head up for petting. I'm going to leave him water and food right there, hopefully he will be ok all day.

I've gotta get dressed to go. Late already. I guess I'll buy him some baby food or something on the way home (anyone got an idea for great cat treats?), he didn't want any wet food or anything. Anyway, I guess that's the second life he's used in the last six months. My funny little garbage cat. At least he's ok, I think. I don't even care if he can't walk again. He'll get a little cart if he can't. (I was considering specifically getting a cat with a disability when we got him.) But I think he will. I'm so glad he came home after it. If he hadn't, he'd have been out there til morning.

And yes, I know that cats should be kept indoors. It has proven impossible. He literally tore out metal window screens to get out. Even the vet said that if he wants it that bad, there's probably nothing I can do.

10 comments:

Milk and Two Sugars said...

Oh, poor Namerovsky! I really feel for him and for the two of you, seeing him so distressed and hurting. Hugs from the antipodes.

XE said...

Oh my gosh, I'm glad he's okay! Hopefully the vet hooked you up with some pain meds to continue at home (SQ meloxicam maybe...)

Are his mucous membranes recovering their colour yet? (Sorry, I spent a lot of time in vet med before coming to university).

gabbiana said...

Poor Namer. I hope he's okay.

punchberry said...

Feel better soon, Namer!

Dragonfly said...

Hope he feels better asap. And don't you feel bad....cats will be cats...

Bardiac said...

I'm sorry to hear he's hurt. Hope he feels better soon.

tracy said...

Poor Namer and you. Hope both of you are on the mend.
Hugs,
tracy

Bardiac said...

I hope Nemer's okay, and you, too.

Turboglacier said...

Namerovsky!! Feel better soon! I'm going to go take a tire-iron to the car that hit you! (And if it makes you feel any better, one of our guys has a tail injury and is wearing a cone on his head for two weeks! At least you don't have that indignity!)

Sara said...

Ahh the cone of shame. I thought we'd escaped that,but last night I caught him licking the leg wound.

I'm mostly worried now about it ending up with a scar that is contracting. I keep stretching it out.