So, Shiloh actually came home yesterday night, but point is, he's home!! YAAAY!!! His bill was actually cut down to $2500 by the vet, they capped it off. Got us a $400.01 credit. Whoo-boy. Will be sending a thank you to the vet.
Well, he was living downstairs in his cage, but those feedings every few hours necessitated that he be moved upstairs. Though there is a fridge downstairs, there's no microwave, and no pet wants to eat their handfeeding mix cold. So... upstairs he is. In his little travel cage, which he is clearly not thrilled about, but he's gonna manage.
He did greet me with his "all clear" sound this morning, though not as enthusiastically as usual. The handfeeding.... ah... is not going so well. They said at the vet that he liked the squash baby food. So, on the way home, I stopped at Meijer and got him some squash baby food. So, his apple banana critical care was mixed up with some lifeline and mostly the babyfood as the wet (and a little water). Got a nice milkshake consistency for once. I'm sure that's an interesting taste, apple banana and squash, but oh well. It smells better than regular critical care so it's surely got to taste better (though, despite the orange squash babyfood, it still is that nasty greenish brown color). So... he's not too fond of feeding time. I have some new chew marks on my hands, and I tell you, this thing can RUN. Little stinker.
At the vet last night, we learned that he does best eating when I'm sitting on the floor indian style and he's standing in between my legs. Little stinker wants to climb up my shirt so I'm holding him, but he already did a number to my jacket at the vet's, so I'm trying to keep him by the jeans, which he hopefully can't tear holes in.
So, at home, that's how I was handfeeding him. Little stinker, I put him in my lap and what does he do? Wipe his nose and face all over my shirt. It's like having a baby. So then, get a little of the handfeeding mix in his mouth, and he chews some, and then wipes his mouth on my shirt/pants. Let's just say right now if you all could see my clothes... well, I can't decide... I either look homeless, or like I had a food fight with a 2 yr old (and the 2 yr old won). And despite the CC mix being greenish brown, the spots on my clothes are more of an orangeish green color. Yum yum. I clearly will need to find different jeans to go out in public.
But he is eating some. You'd never guess, considering how much I have on me and how much I have to wipe up from him, but the amount in the mix container is going down, so he's definitely eating some. I need to weigh him tomorrow and get an actual weight on him so I can see how he's doing from day to day.
He is on metacam 0.15 cc once a day (for inflammation and pain), 0.15 cc baytril once daily (for infection), and 0.8 cc reglan (well, its metrocomp.... whatever... it's "reglan" to those that know) for gut motility twice daily.
He can't be feeling toooo too bad, cause he is a feisty little sucker. He is still mouth breathing somewhat, and has an appointment on the 26th (I called up and asked for an appointment on the 25th before realizing, oh, Christmas, duh) to be seen again by the doctor who oversaw him after surgery. Dr. Poliakoff? Maybe.
He definitely doesn't seem super comfy or anything like that, but then, he's totally off oxygen now. His nose is oozing a bit, and I'm not sure if it's infection or mucus or what... they did say it would, so I'm not too concerned... but I don't know if I should wipe it off or leave it. Don't want to dry it out, but I couldn't tell you if he normally has a wet nose or not. Course, he typically makes his choice pretty clear and wipes his face & nose all over me once I pick him up. Little stinker.
His breathing doesn't seem too bad until he starts really getting upset. So, when he really starts fussing about eating, he's done, he can go back. This morning, tried to make him eat some more when I was frustrated and he was frustrated, yeah, wrong idea. Completely stressed him out and he was mouth breathing horribly again after a few more minutes. So that's a no. But the feeding didn't seem as horrible later at night so maybe he's getting used to it. Maybe next mix I will put in more squash. But I don't really think the flavor is the problem, he just doesn't like being restrained, but there's no getting that syringe near his mouth without some form of restraining him. Ah well, the later feeding was better than in the morning so I won't complain. His breathing seems more through his nose, but still labored. So...I don't know. They said he will just have to get used to breathing the way he will. But then, there's still the question of the other top incisor and the bottom ones, so who knows how he's gonna end up breathing by the time this is all over with.
The important thing is that he's still alive and he IS getting some sleep, so he's not gonna die of exhaustion on us.
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