An update on "declawed Jersey"

By yesterday afternoon I was ready to state that the declawing operation on Jersey went 100% well and that she has sailed through it with nary a problem. Staff at the animal hospital said that she was alert and playful the day after the surgery and when I picked her up two days post-surgery, she was basically the same old kitten she was early in the week.

She didn't seem to be in any pain so that made me feel much better... I still struggled with the concept of making her go through the procedure even though it really is necessary for the two of us to live happy lives together. I never could have imagined how painful a cat scratch would be until Jersey became part of my life!

All was well until last night... 3.5 days after the surgery. It seems that she hadn't quite yet understood what had happened to her, and I can't help but wonder when she will grasp it completely. You see, she had this tendency to only jump "half way" when attempting to get somewhere higher than kitty cat eye level. Last night I was sitting in my chair in my office when she decided to jump up on to my shoulder via the chair back. As late as this weekend she would normally grasp onto the fabric of the chair back and climb the rest of the way. She tried that last night... didn't latch on and had to "bail out", falling to the floor.

I only had enough time to while around but couldn't catch her so she landed front paws first. The right one in particular. She let out a pitiful cry and so I picked her up and we spent the rest of the night in bed watching TV, napping and/or sleeping. At this moment she's walking normally and even trotting from time to time, with a barely noticeable little limp, I guess. When she stops or sits down, she picks the paw up some of the time. That must mean that her paw is hurting a bit.

We gave her the last pain pill the vet gave us for her earlier this evening. I'm hoping that she feels better as the hours and days go by because it's a shame - it seemed like all was flawless! Having said all that, I guess what happened last night was exactly what the "rules" I received were trying to have me prevent: keeping the cat from jumping or running for fourteen days!!! How does one do that? Beats me. But not doing so results in a sore paw, so I'll try to figure out how to keep her as quiet as possible for the week to come to make sure she's 100% pain free as quickly as possible.

In the meantime it's been two scratch and pounce-free nights since she came home. It's nice not to have a limb set on fire in the middle of the night when kitty decides that a (possibly) flailing arm or leg is a play toy!!

I'm sure we're all going to live happily ever after... but I really do hate the declaw procedure... if only there was an alternative - and according to my allergist it would be to have no Jersey and to live in a bubble, isolated from all potential allergens.

I think not.

Off with the claws

"Off with the claws" - that's a little insensitive, I know. But as I sat down and tried to explain to Jersey on Sunday night that by that time on Monday, her front paws would hurt and those little hooks she uses to hang from her cat tree will no longer be there.

Believe me - it really hurt me to bring her into the vet's office to have this done. While I swore that I would never have a cat with claws (though I also swore that Mr. Patches would be the one and only feline to share living space with me - ever...) I thought from time to time that I might spare Jersey from undergoing what amounts to an amputation process to remove her front claws.

Why? Because I was afraid of the pain. Not for me, of course, but as I look at a picture of her when she was four months old (she's almost seven months old now!) I can't help but feel remorseful for having put her through everything that has happened to her since around noon this past Monday. I tried rationalizing that "it's not so bad" when I get scratched, only to swear at myself every time I do.

So... due to the allergy I suffer from I did pack her up and bring her to the hospital on Monday morning. It is now Wednesday and in about five hours I get to see her again for the first time. According to her surgeon and nurses, she hasn't interspersed my name in and amongst a bunch of swear words, but she's arguably too young to be swearing yet. We'll see how she reacts when she sees me again.

I know - I'm personifying her - something pet owners are often criticized by non-owners. But I know that she's been on pain killers for the last couple of days now and for us humans, even the most powerful drugs never totally kill the pain. Soon enough she'll be OK and we'll live a long and happy (scratch-free) life.

Allergies suck. But what can you do!? There are many people out there with far greater concerns, for my day-to-day life is more or less unencumbered by the affliction - as long as I stay away from pine nuts of course!! Nonetheless, we must do what we can to minimize the conditions that can cause us problems, and I'm hoping that Jersey will forgive me.

I'll give her a few extra treats for the next little while!!

Now I know "how" I am allergic to cats

Ever since I was a little boy and had been subjected to an allergy test I've known that I would always be allergic to lots of environmental stuff and... animals.

I have always lived with animals, be they canaries, budgies or collies. When my wife-to-be moved to Ottawa, I inherited her cat. While I initially had some allergic symptoms when being in contact with Mr. Patches, I quickly became accustomed to him (as I seem to have managed to do with any or all animals throughout my life) and sneered at the doctors who told me that living with animals was to be avoided as much as possible.

When we lost Mr. Patches to illness in October I decided that despite the fact I always exclaimed that my household would never see another feline, I needed a new four-legged friend. Mr. Patches was supposed to be with us for several years and so it wasn't quite time for me to be pet-less.

Our new addition was a three month old kitten named Jersey. Once again I felt a bit of congestion when playing with or handling her, but as usual, that did not last very long. I would not get off scott free, however. What I had not anticipated was the effect of living with a feline with claws on all four paws.

It turned out that when she would innocently (or not so innocently!) scratch me, the area that she'd "attack" would redden and puff up. Itchy pain would soon follow. For the first two or three weeks I couldn't understand why this would happen. One night, my wife reminded me that I was supposed to be allergic to animals and it was almost 100% certain that I was experiencing allergic reactions after being scratched.

Sure enough, that has turned out to be the case.

While her licking me has little or no effect, my handling or playing with her doesn't bug me much. I'm puzzled by what venom must be present in her tiny little claws. I know there isn't any - she's not a snake - but regardless, a Jersey scratch has as much or more of an effect than a "scratch test" at my friendly neighbourhood allergist. Of course, that is most likely because an allergist pricks you - he doesn't drag the needle over a two or three inch area on your arm!!

So, while I had initially toyed with the idea of not subjecting Jersey to the pain that comes with de-clawing surgery, I have no choice but to bring her in. I know that Mr. Patches did not suffer any long term effects when my wife had the procedure done to him, so Jersey will be good as new soon enough.

Once she's healed up, we will be able to enjoy each other's company without one being a detriment to the other. We'll then be able to live happily ever after!!!

But who knew?! I sure didn't...