Monkey Health Update

[shadesofmauve]

I’m exhausted. I suppose it’s rather like having a kid that’s sick, only instead of having to wake up during the night to help them, they get up to help themselves and then run into things because they have a cone on their head. Loudly.

Which isn’t very like it all, but still doesn’t equal ‘lots of excellent sleep.’

Monkey only seems to feel comfortable when he’s really close to me, so after every night-time foray to the litterbox or wherever he’d come back, get close to my head, and rest his chin on me. By which I mean ‘rest his cone on on my face.’

He was an absolute dear while I cleaned the drain sites. I gave him his kitty narcotics about half an hour before, timed to get him blissed. I'm expecting an award for ‘cleanest cat drain site’ when we go to get it removed, because all the times I had to clean my own pin sites came back. Sterile procedure for puncture wounds with foreign objects inserted, that you wish to remain open? Yes, sir, we can do that.

(It was actually really weird -- it was kind of relaxing, in that "Hey, this is something I am super competent at" way. Not that it's super hard or anything, but despite over a decade since the last time I had to do it, swabbing gunk away from an insertion site was comfortingly familiar. That's bizarre.)

Was able to get him all cleaned up, and encourage a little more pus to drain, in the process. And he was a very good boy through it.

He still can’t seem to figure out the cone, so even things that he physically should be able to manage — drinking from the big bowl, eating — he finds frustrating and gives up. I’ve been taking the cone off to let him eat and drink, under very close supervision (as soon as he moves away from the bowl he lifts his paws to scratch, and back on it goes).

Oh, and since he’s deprived of his normal relaxation behavior — licking his own belly until he’s nearly bald — he’s started self-soothing by grooming his cone.

Comments

[opalgirl28.livejournal.com]

The Orange Stripey Spawn of Satan couldn't eat or drink with the cone of shame on after his neuter, either--we had to take it off him, actually. (He was also running into walls).

Aww, grooming the cone = kind of adorable.

[shadesofmauve]

It IS kind of adorable, in a really pathetic little way. I always kind of thought the comforting thing about his over-grooming was, well, being groomed, but apparently it's doing the grooming.

Monkey's never had to deal with a cone before -- he didn't have one after being neutered, Calliope didn't have one for her spay, and they were both little angels.

[tersa.livejournal.com]

I've never had a cat in a cone for any length of time, so when you started talking about how Monkey wanted comfort by putting his chin on you, I started cracking up.

I'm sure I would've felt differently had it been me. :D

Also, I am also amused by his grooming the cone. I never really made the connection, but one of Arnold's nicknames was 'the Groominator'--never enough to lick himself bald anywhere, but he seemed to love to groom. Himself. Toast. His monkeys. His monkeys' visitors. I wonder now if it was a soothing thing for him, too.

(Icon is Arnold, caught mid-groom of Toast.)

[shadesofmauve]

The cone-on-me thing *is* pretty funny. Not pleasant at four am, but funny. This morning I was laying on my side, and he went to sleep with his cone on my neck twixt head and shoulder. It was ridiculous.

It all reminds me weirdly of me and my folks when I was going through medical stuff, actually -- there were a lot of times when I was afraid to go to sleep alone, and someone ended up awkwardly rocking the thirteen year old to sleep. Complete with uncomfortable medical devices and all. :P So I can hardly begrudge him his little comforts.

Ha, yes, Arnold's grooming sounds familiar! Monkey has also occasionally groomed toys/the carpet, but usually it just looks like he's been grooming himself and, er, missed. The carpet was right there, after all. And his sister gets a LOT of grooming.

He's now backed himself into a corner and is grooming the cone again. For reassurance.

I took a crappy video of the cone-grooming last night. I'll have to put it up somewhere.

[westrider.livejournal.com]

Funny how kraftsfreude still holds, even when it's a really odd "kraft" ;)

Hope everything goes well for him, and he can be deconed as soon as possible.

[shadesofmauve]

Ah, thank you, I KNEW there was a word, but couldn't remember it. I know you've used kraftsfreude before.

Like I remarked to Tersa above, the parallels between Monkey and I and me and my folks when I was going through surgery have been kind of startling. Partly projection, I'm sure, but I have a LOT of sympathy for hating the 'helpful device' more than the actual injury, for not being comfortable sleeping in it alone, etc.

Never licked my splint, though. :P