Asking for help is not exactly in my wheelhouse. And sometimes, the Universe dishes out some tough love to make sure I remember to practice asking for help when I need it.
It's been a rough week for kitty feet around here. I had to take Charlie in for his distemper vaccine update but noticed he had also developed another granuloma on his front paw. He gets those as an allergic reaction when he tries to play with spiders. Spiders, you see, don't understand that Charlie is trying to be their BFF. They, quite rightly, view him as a predator out to murder them (and Charlie did accidentally eat a baby spider once when he tried to transport it around the apartment like one of his toy mice). So I had to pop another $40 to get prednisolone to take care of that.
A day or so later, I noticed Clancy was seeking out quiet places to hang out. I attributed that to the #@&%! smoke alarm that started chirping (we ALL were seeking quiet refuge from it!). But later that evening he was favoring his back left foot. It looked a little swollen but there was no blood, so I figured he, too, had picked up a bug bite. I monitored him to make sure he was otherwise okay. His appetite was still great but he was still seeking out of the way places to rest.
Thursday around lunchtime, he came out and wanted to sit on my lap. Since I was just wrapping up a work project, I invited him up and we sat for a bit. Then he shook his back foot and, well, yuck. I took him into the bathroom to try to clean off his foot so I could get a better look at it and then I was bleeding too (he's not the most compliant patient).
Unfortunately, his regular vet couldn't see him and I tried a few others closer to us. With the pandemic, vet offices have been running short-staffed and are absolutely slammed with patients, so I understand. Still, my buddy needed some medical attention. Thank goodness for a friend who gave me some other places to try. After several more calls, the folks at Oak Heart were able to get him in.
The tech and vet were very kind and patient with Clancy, even though he was not having any part of being examined. The team determined he would have to be sedated for her to clean and examine the wound because he wasn't letting them near his foot without a fight. They took him back to the treatment area and hearing him scream absolutely broke me. My poor, hurting, pissed-off baby!
I'm so grateful that they were able to take care of my sweetheart (even if he wasn't being his usual sweet self at the time). The staff was kind and empathetic to both of us. I'm grateful to them and to my friend who suggested this clinic and the friend who helped make the vet bill much easier to swallow. We are truly blessed!
Clancy is doing much better. His foot is healing and he's back to "ka-kaaaa-kaaaak-ing" at the birds and squirrels outside the window.