Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Cat From Space

The cats are the toughest members of our household. I have to throw water on either Alice or Olive at least once a week because they are either starting a fight, or trying to kill something. Two weeks ago I awoke to a robin flying around our bedroom and Ryan trying desperately to catch it. Olive hadn't harmed it at all, just brought it in for us to see. For the rest of the day, after Ryan got it back outside, that bird sat in our front tree and glared at us all. Olive glared right back.

Of course, the rule in life is that if you are going to be tough, you are going to get hurt. Right now, Olive is hurt. She came in three weeks ago with a bite wound. It was treated, she took antibiotics, and we thought it was over. Then, last Friday, she came inside with what really looked like Halloween makeup on her side. A wound the size of a quarter had opened, with various parts and whatnot visible underneath. I tried to clean it up. There was no cleaning. We took her to the vet. Even the vet recoiled. When she finally came home, Olive had two drains, 17 staples, and was wearing the cone of shame.

She has been wearing it since.

While the cone may be difficult for Olive, we are enjoying it quite a bit. It's really funny when she thinks she is licking her wound, and actually is just licking the inside of the cone. Oh, and it is great watching her thinking she can walk past something, only to get her cone hung up. The cone also makes it much easier to give Olive her super-duper antibiotic because, when she spits it out, it lands in the cone and we can just put it back in. Perfect. When it seems like it is really bugging her we just give her some of her painkiller. The beef flavored pain killer. No one better tell Anthony Bourdain about it, or that might kill his sobriety.

Really, the only problem with the cone is when Olive wants to cuddle -- in the middle of the night. There is nothing quite like being awakened with claws in your arm, and a cone scraping your face. Oh, and the drool spilling out of it due to her sleepy state from the painkillers. Beef flavored painkillers.

After all of this Ryan suggested just keeping he cats inside. No fights. No stitches. No drugs. No cones of shame. No 200 dollar vet bills.

I don't think he realizes that the current situation is much less complicated.

After all, we aren't that tough.

23 comments:

Wanna Bee said...

my kitty is from "space" this week as well! 19 year old Carly thinks she can fight, but her stitches came from tumor removal. The cone of shame is terrible, we have given up on it and she's not picking at the stitches - lucky us. Carly is still too pissed off to cuddle, cone or not. Happy healing!

Riot Kitty said...

I wish *I* was that tough. Mr. RK wishes he had beef flavored painkillers!

Unknown said...

Seeing her lick the inside of the cone would so make me laugh out loud! Just reading about it did. And how terrifying would it be to awaken to a live bird inside your bedroom? Okay, terrifying was taking it a bit far. Still, it would make me yell, I know! Then my husband would get irritated and say it was only a bird...

Ash said...

aww poor olive - hope she gets well soon. :)

G. B. Miller said...

I think we would all wish that we had beef flavored pain killers.

Anonymous said...

Poor Baby......

LL Cool Joe said...

Oh poor cat. Both our cats (now dead) have worn those collars, and still managed to pull out all their stitches. Never worked out how.

BugginWord said...

I love it when they get stuck in the litter box cause they've accidentally filled their cone with litter. Also, I'm going to hell.

Dual Mom said...

I think your hubs might have a valid point. Perhaps you could put the cat on a drug that will make him less inclined to want to rip the face off the world. Or anger management classes?

Kelly said...

You could put her on Prozak...

Allison said...

Okay, here's the obligatory "awww, poor Olive"...

But truly, pets with cones are HILARIOUS! Our 60-lb mutt had to wear one earlier this year. She likes to sniff the ground as she walks (always), and spent the first four days getting her conehead stuck on the ground. Cracked me up every time.

Hope Olive heals quickly.

Amanda said...

I am hoping that Primary Children's Hospital will give Luke the beef flavored painkillers after his tonsillectomy. I think he would like that.

Great picture of Olive. How does Meg react to the cone?

April said...

Although I'm not a cat person, I really feel for your kitty. Poor thing. That being said, have you tried water guns? While they may not be the conventional choice for breaking up a fight, I find them highly amusing. And if you get a water gun with good range, you can break up the fights of your neighbors children, I mean, cats without even crossing the fence. Think about it.

Mandy_Fish said...

I want cake-flavored painkillers.

Hippo Brigade said...

HAHHAHHA!! The cone of shame is hilarious. Poor kitty.

Jen said...

Cone of Shame, lol! Sorry Olive is hurt. I'm with Mandy though on the cake flavored painkillers.

Anonymous said...

awww. My Olive the dog (I didn't know you had a cat named Olive!) looked so pathetic after her surgery I couldn't stand to leave that thing on her, opting instead to be joined with her at the hip and yell at her if she tried to lick her wounds. I hope your Olive feels better soon, and that you aren't awakened by claws and cones anymore!

Tracie said...

Poor kitty!

justmakingourway said...

The cones always make me laugh. It's just made for comedy.

I'm sorry about poor kitty though. Hope she is doing better.

Someone needs to patent beef flavored painkillers for grown-ups.

Kate said...

I just stumbled across your blog. I love it! I'm going to poke around, I promise to put everything back where I found it!

Recommended Daily Dose

Me, You, or Ellie said...

Beef flavored painkillers? Sign me up.

Ellie

Nicole said...

My dog is currently wearing a cone of shame too! It's sad yet funny.

Her injury is on her paw so she also ends up licking the inside of the cone thinking she's licking her paw.

And when she tries using her back leg to scratch behind her ear, she's really just scratching the cone.

Poor thing. But also...ha ha ha!

Here is my post about my dog's cone of shame.

Aunt Juicebox said...

Oh my goodness, I hope she's healing nicely.