Meows from Mudpie!
Are you tired of hearing about my ears yet? (Bad pun intended.) I sure am tired of talking about them.
This is getting really old
Wednesday was my 2-week follow-up appointment after Mommy had to clean my ears every 48 hours. We knew things weren't going to go well because the wax chunks have still been coming out, including a big one on Sunday night, and on Tuesday Mommy could see my right ear completely filled up with wax just with the naked eye.
The gabapentin didn't completely knock me out like it did last time so I gave the vet a hard time. She got a couple more chunks out and said she has never seen so much come out of a cat before. Even after removing all that she still couldn't see my right ear drum. Her exact words were, "There is something seriously wrong with that ear." She made a recommendation for a board-certified vet that would be able to safely sedate me (because of my kidneys) in order to completely flush my ears and try to find out once and for all what's going on.
Trying to hide
We got home and Mommy had a good crying spell. Her mind went back to the vet wondering a couple months ago if there was a mass in there. Dr. Google told her that would mean either polyps (which can only be removed as part of a total ear canal ablation - the entire ear canal would be removed) or a tumor. She had visions of having to leave me at the vet for a major surgery.
She called the new vet on Thursday, and they were able to see us on Friday afternoon. It's never fun to have to wait for an appointment, but Mommy is a total procrastinator so that was a little too fast for her liking!
Who am I? Where am I?
My appointment was at 1:30 and they started working on me immediately. The new vet (who was amazing) started out by warning Mommy that judging by what the earlier vet saw, it was likely either polyps or a tumor, just as Mommy feared. She had to sign a form giving them permission to sedate me, but the vet explained that she is not a risk taker, she would only be mildly sedating me, and that the strongest drug could be reversed. Within minutes I was knocked out and the flushing began.
In no time at all both ears were finally cleaned out so the entire ear canal could be seen...and there were NO polyps or tumors!!! Mommy was so relieved she started crying. The vet was happy too. She said she was very concerned about what she might find. She thinks at some point I had an ear infection that was so far down it went undetected, and the inflammation eventually caused scar tissue which is why the wax builds up so badly. Permanent damage was done and Mommy will need to clean my ears weekly for the rest of my life so it doesn't get built up again, but that's no problemo!
Mommy, this is a G-rated blog. Our friends don't need to see my nakey tummy!
While I was under they completely took advantage of me! They trimmed my nails, shaved my tummy of some mats (they even pointed out to Mommy my spay tattoo, which of course she had to take a picture of), and check my anal glands! Heck, for all I know I could be preggers right now. Stay tuned.
On the way home Mommy stopped at Target for one thing so I stayed alone in the car for about 5 minutes. We didn't get home until nearly 4. I was still really out of it so Mommy curled up on the floor with me. I peed in my brand new scratcher bed, but thankfully she had thought ahead and put a puppy pad on it so it went unscathed. When she decided to get up and make a quick dinner I finally came to and stumbled out to the kitchen...only to fall asleep in my dish!
I was pretty zonked out for the rest of Friday, and now as we write this on Saturday I've developed another problem - I don't seem to be hearing much of anything. I always respond to my name and words like chicken, cheese, and squeezies, but today I'm not reacting at all. Mommy works in the kitchen and I don't even realize she's there. She emailed the vet but of course it's the weekend so we don't expect to hear anything back right away. She went outside and rang the doorbell, a sound I always hate. (We're a lot alike that way!) I did react to that as I always do, so hopefully this is just temporary from all the trauma and medication my ears have endured.
Mommy talks to me all day. She said if my hearing doesn't come back she's gonna have to start talking to herself!
