Saturday, March 14, 2009

In Which Piggy Discovers What He's Been Missing

Hi everyone:

It's Allison, Grover and Piggy's mom. Listen, I am so touched by the outpouring of love and generosity through your comments and emails and blog postings for Pig. Words cannot express how much it means to us to know that people (and kitties!) who have not yet met our boys in person can hold them in their hearts and prayers and help guide us through.

Thank you. Those words sound so insignificant. But I'll say them again. Thank you!!

We should have test results on Monday. Pig took quite a while to come out of anesthesia yesterday, but he did just fine and has some cool stitches to show for it. Stay tuned for Grover's post entitled: Frankenpiggy!

The incision was for the bone marrow extraction and also for the lymphnode biopsy. The endoscopy already showed one thing, which is that he has mass erosion in his digestive track all the way along. I'll be very happy to know what we are dealing with as this has been ongoing since December 23rd. And still, Piggy is acting completely normal. So strange...

Something funny: Pig's vet told me he had sedated Pig and Pig was laid out on the table when the Pathologist arrived. The Pathologist, having not expected to see a big, pink, bald cat laid out, stopped in his tracks, his face drained of color and he held onto the door frame to steady himself...because he thought that the big, pink, bald thing lying there was a BABY!

Hee hee. So, that had me laughing yesterday (and today, too!) :)

When we got home from the vet, Pig immediately ate a giant bowl of food, drank a big bowl of water, pooped, peed and began licking and scratching at his stitches (which were, according to his vet, in a place he can't reach...yeah, right).

He started to bleed a bit from the incision, so I wrapped the wound with this sticky gauze stuff, going around his chest and under his legs. He was not pleased, and as soon as I let him go, he began walking backwards and howling. Then he ran under the bed and proceeded to scratch the gauze off.

Then I put a band-aid over the incision. That worked for about 2 minutes and then he licked it off.

So I wrapped him, again, in the gauze, deciding he will just have to deal with it; but it was pitiful to watch him walk around backwards and howl so I took it off.

I called the vet, who was closing in 10 minutes, and they were very apologetic because they thought he wouldn't be able to lick or scratch there (why? why would they think that?!) and said they would, since they were closing in ten minutes, leave one of those "Elizabethan collars" at the pet store across the street from their office for me to come pick up.

I started to get dressed to go do that and realized I couldn't leave the house and leave Pig here alone as Pig was scratching the bejesus out of his stitches. As I stood there figuring out what to do, the vet tech called back and said that it would be better if I put a sweater on him instead of the collar.

I said, "Pig does not have any sweaters because he is a CAT AND CATS DON'T WEAR CLOTHES!" I know people DO dress their cats...especially Sphynxs and I always think it's cute when I see it...(Piggy's littermate, Rocky, has a wardrobe of clothes and costumes bigger than my own!) but I myself have never put a sweater on Pig and it didn't lessen the quality of either of our lives.

The vet tech told me that she thinks a sweater would work better than the collar because the collar is not going to come down far enough to cover the incision.

She suggested I not buy one in a pet store because they are stupidly expensive, especially since he won't be wearing it again (because his mom, me, is, apparently, a judgmental bitch), and she suggested I go to a baby store and buy a cheapie baby sweater, something he could wear for at least 2 days til the incision starts to heal a bit.

I tell her that there are no 'baby stores' near me and I'm home alone and I can't leave him to even come get the collar because he is trying to rip his stitches out RIGHT NOW and of course then I start to cry.

She says, "You're small...maybe one of your tee-shirts will work."

I tell her I will go try to find something and she said she will stay there until I call back to tell her everything is OK.

I start frantically ripping through my closet - even my smallest tee is (obviously!) too big for Pig.

Then my creative mind kicks in (as the hysterics do), and I start searching through my socks for the widest ones - I try to get one over his head and he freaks out and, in the process, gouges my ankle, so now I am bleeding, too.

I find another sock and cut holes in what I think are the approximate location of his front legs. I am able to pull this sock over his head, but I'd made the leg holes off-center, so now he's howling again.

I take that sock off him and go into the duffel bag that has all my circus clothes that I no longer have a reason to wear since I was injured in 2007 and can no longer do aerial acrobatics. I found this very tight pair of thigh-length, thick, red, stretchy leggings that I used to wear over my unitard to help protect myself from the burn of the tissu and trapeze in class.

I held it against Pig to figure out where the leg holes should be, and then I cut slots in the leggings, pulled one leg (from the foot hole) over his head, stuck his front paws through the slots (perfect placement this time, thank goodness!), folded the ribbing down on his neck like a turtleneck would be, and cut the 'shirt' off a few inches behind his front legs.

Well, he immediately calmed down and it is obvious he's a little traitor to my 'cats don't wear clothes' stance because he LOVES his sweater. He was all proud and started licking me and prancing around like some kind of diva. I swear I saw him glance in the mirror and admire his dapperness. Then he climbed on me and started purring loudly and went to sleep.

And he hasn't scratched at or licked the incision, or even paid any attention to it at all, since.

And now the little bugger has converted me into a person who PUTS CLOTHES ON HER CAT! So welcome me to the club, y'all.

Pig had a very odd poop this a.m. - a huge pile of barely digested food, but his vet said this is normal after having an endoscopy and it should resolve itself in a few days.

Pig, still in his fancy sweater, (I think he looks totally freaking hilarious in it, so I have to keep peeking at him) is sleeping under his blanket on the bed and is as happy, as the saying goes, a Pig in shit. I'll keep you posted when we have some news on Monday...

Thank you, again, from all of us. You are forever in our hearts. We appreciate you!

OX

Allison, Grover and Piggy

26 comments:

Elenka said...

Your story is wonderful. I am sending positive vibes toward Piggy, in his little sweater.

Elin said...

I'm attracted to your mom's eyes..She does look like Angelina Jolie!!

And I will link u~

xxxx

Daisy said...

I'm glad Piggy is doing well after his surgery, and your "sweater" solution was ingenious! I laughed and laughed about the story of them thinking he was a human baby laying there.

I am sending my best purrs for the test results to be real good.

ps: Pig, you look handsome in your new sweater.

Teri and her Stylish Adventure Cats said...

Ahhh...from one who dresses up their cats, when I saw Pig's little red sweater, I thought "How cute and what a perfect fit!"...then I too was giggling when I read on about how his first sweater came into being!

My first "cat coats" I made from the sleeve of an old sweat shirt, with the ribbing as the collar. Then I made quite a few from polar fleece (light and stretchy) and well, to try and keep up with Daisy the Curly Cat...our wardrobe has grown quite a bit.

I am glad he did so well with his procedures (and yes, that first poop is often very odd) and I will be watching for news on Monday.

Motor Home Cats said...

That had us laughing our heads off. We are purring for Piggy and hope that the test results show something easily solved.

Piggy does look quite pleased with himself in his cute sweater.

Purrs and huggs,

Tavi, Cody, Camie, Miss Jade and NK

Anonymous said...

we love you, pig. i pray for you and your mommy every day. your are in good hands. she took good care of me too right when i needed it. give her hugs and kisses for me too

Ikaika said...

Sweet Piggy looks so pleased with himself and very comfy cuddled in your arms. We are purring for him and sending healing energy his way.

Our Nigel (who came berfore), was also diagnosed with eroded intestinal villi when he was six years old. The prognosis was grim, but I decided to treat him with quality cat food, which I'm sure you are already doing, and giving him filtered water, as our city water was heavily chlorinated. (Nigel was also prescribed meds, which he refused to take.) Long story short, with good food and water, and eventually some digestion-supporting supplements and herbs, he lived to be just 2 months shy of his 21st birthday.

Hang in there, Pig. You'll do just fine!

'Kaika and his mom

The Creek Cats said...

We have to say Piggy looks so cute in his sweater! Welcome to the club :)

We are glad to hear Piggy's encoscopy, bone marrow extraction and lymphnode biopsy. We will be purring and purraying the results come back as something easily treatable.

Bless heart, Piggy!!!

Sparky said...

Piggy looks so proud in his sweater. That is a good ending to what was probably a very scary, nerve wracking, and stressful day. I only have one shirt/sweater thing for Marley and Reggie and neither of them liked wearing it; they would both walk backwards trying to get it off of them.

We are all thinking of Piggy and hoping the test results finally solve what has been going on with him.

Anonymous said...

We're purring for you Piggy. And you look fabulous in your pink sock/shirt.

The Meezers or Billy said...

we are glad that Piggy still has some spunk after his hard day yesterday. We are still purring and purraying for all of you.

Psst Piggy and Grover - your mom is purrty!!!!

mister jeter harris, hizself said...

well ... i red dat one all da way to da end! an, piggy, u look so hansum ... u shood alwayz ware red swetterz!!!!
i reelee like wut mi grate an fabyoolus frend 'kaika rote. dat'z gointa be u, mi frend!
i'm purrin fer u!
luv--yer grate frend--jh

Jans Funny Farm said...

Glad Piggy is so well-dressed now since it seems to make him feel better about his stitches. Hope his test results won't show anything bad.

Kaz's Cats said...

Piggy looks great in his sweater - we're glad that you found a way to help him let his stitches do their job. We're sending big healing purrs and purrayers to Piggy, so he gets back to full health really soon.

Purrs

Gypsy & Tasha

Karen Jo said...

Piggy looks handsome in his red "sweater". Grin. I hope that the results show something easily treatable.

Poppy Q said...

Hi Piggy, my name is Poppy Q and I heard you need some purrs to get better. I loved the post and your new red sweater. I am glad you like to dress up, you might give Daisy a bit of competition.

Sending smooches your way.

Anonymous said...

I guess I'm the only one who notices that Piggy is trying to "cop a feel" as the kids used to say when my mom was in middle school 14,000 years ago.

Mew look very sexy in mewr red muscle shirt, Pig. Have mew been working out?

Teri and her Stylish Adventure Cats said...

We have an awardie waiting for you on our blog...and a question, How did you make it say Treats instead of Comments on your blog...we want ours to say Purrts!

mister jeter harris, hizself said...

thinkin uv mi frend piggy tonite. hope u get sum good nooz tomorrow.
luv--jh

Jake and Bathsheba said...

Best wishes to Pig! I liked hearing the story of his sweater. Next he might be competing with Daisy and Skeezix as a model for cute clothes.

~Bathsheba

Tiki, Kirby, and StanLee said...

Piggy is very stylish. We're purring for good news. Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Nikki said...

I did not know about Grover & Pig's blog! Awwww... I was wondering about Pig, you know I'm crazy about him!!! xoxo

Angel Junior, Orion and Sammy said...

Oh! We are MOL here! First of all, we are glad that Piggy made it thru the biopsies and finally has some cover over his incisions so that he won't tear the stitches out.

We are MOL at the fact that he is so happy in his sweater. don't let him talk to Skeezix or Daisy.....you will end up with tons of clothes!

We will be purring for conclusive and easy to treat results!

mister jeter harris, hizself said...

resultz?
jus wunderin.
luv--jh

Quinn and Angel brandi said...

now a kitty in a sweater is hansome, or cute, or both. Much better than one of those embarrassing collars that make you walk into things and be funny looking AND misserable. Bless little Piggy and continue healing.

ibcmeir said...

I know Piggy may not appreciate the sweater, but that look was made for Piggy...Smokin' Hot!