Milita Update

This past week has been a little too eventful around here.

Last Friday morning (around 3AM), I saw Lita try to get on the bed twice in a row and fail.  I picked her up and put her on the bed.  Then I noticed she couldn't get comfortable.  So I called D in to look at her.  It was obvious to me that she was in pain, so we made her comfortable and called the vet first thing in the morning.

I put Lita in the middle of my bed so she wouldn't accidentally fall off and attempted to sleep for a few hours before the vet opened.  Needless to say, I did not get much sleep.

Fortunately, the vet agreed to squeeze us in, even though she had no real openings.  So off we went to the vet as soon as they opened.

At the vet's office, it was clear that Lita was in pain.  She growled and yelled any time someone touched her left back leg.  She was not interested in roaming around the office while we waited for the vet like she usually does.

The vet noticed right away that her leg was swollen and took her back to attempt to get an x-ray of it.  That didn't go over so well apparently.  They sedated her slightly with a drug injection, but she still refused to allow them to x-ray her leg.  Who could blame her?

The vet came back and said they could not get an x-ray of her leg and that she was afraid to sedate Lita any further because she was afraid it would be fatal to Lita with how horrible her lungs are.  We discussed splinting her leg, but the vet said that all cats have to be sedated for that procedure because it is incredibly painful.  So we decided to not take the risk of sedating her further at that point, to give her regular pain medication (every 8-12 hours), and that I would update her on Lita in a few days.

I didn't want to worry anyone over the weekend, but I was VERY concerned about Lita.  She barely moved for two days.  I'd take her to the litter box, bring her her food, and syringe her some water.  I carried her from couch to bed - wherever I was so I could keep an eye on her.  Carmine didn't so much as try to play with her like he usually does.

On Monday, she managed to make her way into the kitchen when D was getting a cat snack ready.  Since then, she's been moving around more and more.  I am trying to limit how much she walks, though.  She is limping when she walks.

Her ankle is still swollen.  I'm not happy about that.

The vet is afraid Lita has broken her leg, and so am I.  We are kind of waiting to see how Lita does over the next couple of days, but we may have to risk sedating her to get the x-rays.  I am seriously hoping and praying it does not come to that.  Lita's lung function is quite poor, and I do not want to take that big of a risk with her unless it is absolutely necessary.

As to how she injured her leg - I haven't the slightest idea.  She must have done it while D and I were out at the store on Thursday afternoon because she was fine before we left.  I wish Carmine or Lita could tell us what happened.