Our Little March Lion

Well, March has certainly made it's presence known in our household! First it was the unexpected layoff for Wellyn closely followed by a sick kitty.

Diego started vomiting on Saturday and by Sunday was much worse. That required a trip to the emergency vet for x-rays, fluids and some medicine to help settle his stomach. By Sunday evening he was no better and had continued to vomit so it was back to the vet for another round of x-rays and hospitalization with fluids overnight. Diego is a sweet cat at home, loves the kids and me especially and lets Wellyn live here. He's not as fond of company unless they are kids; for some strange reason he likes the neighbor kids when they come over but will randomly attack visiting adults. So let's just say he was less than fond of being at the pet hospital with a bunch of strange adults poking him... he was repeatedly sedated for anything they needed to do with him.

Our biggest concern was that he had ate a piece of foam from the interlocking foam floor pieces in the play area in the basement. He has always loved to chew and shred foam, but it has mainly been craft projects the kids have brought home from school or daycare. The past few months though he was started in on the basement floor. I bought some bitter spray and that really helped so I hoped that would be the end of our problem. Unfortunately, my bitter spray came too late...

Monday morning came the call from the vet he was no better, still vomiting causing concern for his liver and kidneys so they recommended surgery to look for an internal obstruction. That's the thing about foam, it doesn't show up on an x-ray. Grrrrr!!!

A few hours later we received the news he was out of surgery, awake and they had removed a piece of foam that was obstructing his small intestine. So, after two nights and four substantial vet bills we were able to bring him back home. He has 32 staples in his tummy which is more than I had with either c-section.


Trust me, I'm very aware there are many people out there who think it is crazy to go to such lengths and expense for a cat... but I have to say, the relief for Brendan at having him home and safe again was overwhelming and worth it. Brendan burst into tears after visiting him the first day Diego was back home with us. Diego and Brendan share their birthdays and Diego sleeps in Brendan's room on his bed with him every night... such buddies. I am so glad the surgery went without incident and we were able to provide the care for him.

Here he is a few hours after coming home, just chillin' with the e-collar on:


He is on the road to recovery - off the narcotic pain medicine, swelling is down and he is able to jump up on our bed! The other upside is he's been purring up a storm since coming home; even when our neighbor came to care for him while we were out of town for the weekend.