Well some of you might have noticed that I have been absent from blogging for a while, two weeks actually. Usually this is either because I have been on holiday taking lots of lovely photos, or real life has intruded on my free time.
Alas in this case it has been the latter, at the beginning of the fortnight I had just recovered from severe ‘Man Flu’, it might even have been ‘Real Flu’, and now at the end of this week, I am recovering from Norovirus which at the start of the week left me shattered for the rest of the week 😦
But what has happened in between, what has kept me away from posting blogs?
Well a few weeks ago I noticed a lump on the side of one of our lovely boys cheeks, Roswell had just not appeared quite right when I looked at him. You can just see the lump under his left eye here.
So he was off to the vets as swiftly as possible, “well it might just be an abscess but it is a bit hard” – said the vet, so a course of antibiotics to see if it went down, alas it did not, and so returning the week after, a sample was taken, under much protest from Roswell, and sent for analysis. The return was inconclusive and so the decision was taken to remove it.
It was a very fraught day awaiting his return for his cat parents and brother alike, but finally he came home to us, he does smell different though thought Falco. Of course when unsupervised he would have to wear the cone of shame.
The lump was duly sent off to histology for further analysis, and we waited. While we waited Falco tried to get used to Roswell in his cone.
Who was this strange alien cat whose head bobbled up and down as he walked? The first day or so were spent with Falco running away from Roswell, who only wanted to be with his brother and thus followed him around. The occasional hiss and spit, and sometimes the need to be in separate rooms. But finally Falco got used to Roswell in the cone. Although at one point looked a little scared when he thought he might have to wear it.
Roswell did not know what all the fuss was about, he had got used to the cone fairly quickly. Yes it did get in the way and catch on things, and it was a pain to eat and drink in, but possible. He does however look rather depressed in the cone, earning him the title of Pouty cone face, on a return check up at the vets. Sometimes he just looked grumpy though.
Finally the results came back – it was a soft tissue carcinoma, it had been fully removed and the prognosis for the future was good. And so after yesterdays return checkup, the wound is healing well and the cone can come off in 4 days, he will be so happy! Never have we had so much lap time, never has he washed so much as when we remove the cone to let him, returning it at the moments of “no you can not wash there”.
A very special special thanks to Barrmore Vets in Llanharan for all they have done for our lovely boy, and the care that they have shown him.
Ken
