Sister’s Tail Tale

As you may know, we had a partial amputation this spring when Sister came home one morning with a large wound in the middle of her tail.  The vet said she couldn’t tell what had happened, as it did not entirely fit either being crushed or bitten or snagged.  She did end up having about half her tail taken off and staying in the house for 2 weeks, which for a previously 100% outdoor kitty, was pretty rough.  Fortunately, the first 2-3 days she did a lot of sleeping and resting after her surgery.  Then it got a bit more stressful when she decided all her waking hours should be spent trying to find the exit and crying.  All in all, though, she did well and, while not having ventured inside more than a handful of times since (and those for maybe 1-2 minutes each), she seems to have forgiven us for her incarceration.  Here are some shots of her and her half-tail.

2014.05.06 Sister7 2014.05.06 Sister5 2014.05.06 Sister9

Sad horse

The vet came out on Friday to do the horses’ annual shots.  They only get the basics – tetanus and encephalitis – since they never see any other horses to get any other diseases.  Usually it’s fine, but this time for whatever reason Isadora got a reaction to it.  She was very lethargic Friday night and ate maybe half her grain/pellets, which is sad because right now her PM feed is only 1 pound.  Her back hocks (ankles) are also VERY swollen.  She already has known arthritis there, so I’m guessing it got exacerbated.  Saturday morning she only ate half of her senior feed/pellets, which isn’t as bad, as her AM feed was about 3 pounds.  Her hocks were still really swollen, though, so I gave her some Banamine (anti-inflammatory).  It seemed to help her ouchies, but her hocks were still swollen by evening.  She did eat all her food though.  Sunday she seemed to be feeling much better but still had very swollen hocks.  I gave her the rest of the Banamine that I had on hand (half of which she spit out, thank you very much!).  Unfortunately, from what I’ve read, this reaction can last up to 5-7 days.  But, also that we can premedicate with an anti-inflammatory a few days in advance next year to help prevent this.  Dharma, incidentally, had absolutely no problems at all.

Unlikely hunter

Onyx caught 2 mice in the last 24 hours.  He would not let either Bit or Pearl play with either one.  Both were confiscated and taken outside.  There have been several mice caught in the house over the 2 years we’ve been here.  They seem to come in through a corner of the back bedroom.  Neither Bit nor Onyx seem to understand that they are supposed to eat them.  Once they catch them, they drop them, catch them, drop them, etc.  Pearl has actually brought mice to the door, wanting to bring them in, we assume it’s to teach Onyx and Bit how to hunt, as she has seen them hunt and it’s pretty funny.  Pearl likes to teach.