I am a horrible kitty mom.

Some catshrink. Sam, my big boy, is a fastidious groomer. He fights me like crazy when I try to trim his nails and usually wins. I've been crazy busy this summer and have neglected him and the others. The other cats's nails are fine -- they pretty much trim them themselves as does Sam. Usually.

I noticed his toe looked funny and I took a closer look. He got totally pissed at me when I tried to look -- but I did see that the nail had grown and curled around embedding itself in the pad. Eeewwwwww! I don't know why/how I didn't notice. I'm still kicking myself.

I called the vet immediately and they squeezed me in. I thought they'd have to put him out but were able to take care of it without doing so. He was due for a checkup anyway and given his age -- and huge weight loss -- he went from 20# to 14.5# in a year! -- they wanted to do a blood workup. I'll have the results on Monday. Meanwhile, he needs to have antibiotics twice a day (thank Jeebus for pill pockets!).

I couldn't tell that he'd lost that much weight -- he looks a bit thinner, but not much. He's now stretched out on the sofe grooming himself acting like nothing happened. I'm still pretty upset about this.

I'm a terrible kitty mom. :cry:

Sam knows that you love him:hug:

He took his meds just fine -- scarfed down the pill pocket like it was Fancy Feast Salmon Dinner. Whew!

just don't tell us outright what's going on with them. :( I didn't really catch a clue until I decided the weight loss was not good for him because he went from chubby to normal to paper thin, and he started drooling on me and had breath straight from Satan's bum. :cry:

So I totally feel your guilt and pain. I hope your baby will be ok! :hug:

It is so hard to know that they're sick -- unless it's constant vomiting or the runs we don't have much evidence.

Our eldest cat (Flash) had a claw that curved itno her pad. We managed to snip it out, but I felt terrible. She forgave me the very next time I opened a can of tuna.

Works wonders.

:P

Have you seen this? (The Engineer's Guide to Cats)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHXBL6bzAR4

It is amazing how they can walk on a paw with a nail embedded and not limp. I really had no idea... He did seem a little thinner but certainly not 25% of his body weight!

That way your cat hasn't gotten wind of what is going on before you even start.

I also put on a long sleeved shirt.

I once cut the quick in my dog's toe -- it's so hard to trim when the nails are black. I didn't have a styptic pencil but held a kleenex over it for a while until the bleeding stopped. He was cool with that -- he's a sucker for kisses and belly rubs! I had to work at not letting him know how upset I was about drawing blood.

I just wish my Lolly didn't take 4 pills a day because those pockets get expensive!

Anyway, I hope kitty is ok!! Bless his little ole heart. And you aren't a bad kitty mom. If you were, he'd still be in your house with the embedded nail.

The best invention in kitty science. But... Sam's brother Wrigley wouldn't have anything to do with them when he needed meds. Now he won't eat any treats at all thinking they're tainted. Wrigs always was a pea brain!

And you're right -- they are pretty expensive. Sometimes I grind up the pill and mix it into a little wet food but I think these might taste kind of nasty.

peanut butter, bread, and cheese may contain a pill, so she turns her nose up at those things now. Pill pockets are only good for a couple of weeks and then she catches on. And back to the peanut butter, bread, and cheese I go. It is a cycle. The pockets, however, work the best. But using 4 a day, when only 30-ish come in the pack, at $10 bucks a pack, gets expensive.

You saw the signs and got him to the vet asap. I've been there and it's really hard to see changes like that with kitties.
Please don't beat yourself up! He knows you love him and you have done what you could for now!

But the vet said it wasn't in that deep and they didn't need to sedate him. He can be a wild man so I guess it wasn't that bad... but. He's sleeping like a baby right now. He's my love bug.

I know exactly how you're feeling right now. You've done everything you can. I guarantee he's so happy his Mom is with him that he doesn't care about any pains. He'll be back to his old wildman self soon!