In a Cat's Ear

[puppetmaker]

For the past couple of days I noticed that Stalin had been cocking his head and he had his left ear down. When I would pet him, he would shake his head if I touched the left side of his face. I pointed this out to Peter who picked up Stalin and agreed that something was not right. My further evidence was that Stalin went into the cat carrier with no protest what so ever. He is usually the hardest one of the three to load for the vet. Somewhere in his little brain he knew we were trying to help him.

The vet examined him. No fever which is a good sign with cats. The vet looked in the left ear and proclaimed that Stalin had a funky ear infection. He cleaned the ear out much to Stalin's fury. Stalin is a master of the swipe and escape when he doesn't want to be somewhere but the vet's assistant held him as the Vet got all the crap out of his ear. Staling also got a shot of antibiotics and cortisone to help with the inflammation in the ear cannel which was apparently very painful. We now have an ointment to squirt into his ears for the next two weeks and then he gets a recheck. Fortunately this is not something that is going to spread from cat to cat.

We brought him home and let him out of the car carrier. He spent a good part of the evening curled up on the sofa behind me with his chin on my shoulder. Good defensive position for him to be in. He would occasionally nuzzle my neck and purr, which I think was his way of saying Thank you.

This morning both ears are up and his head is level again. He came by for his morning head scratch and then went off to one of his favorite sunny spots and is currently watching the world out the window. Things are pretty much back to kitty normal.

I am grateful that we have such a good vet that could help Stalin.

Comments

[celticboy.livejournal.com]

aww poor kittykat

Glad to hear he's doing better today

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Me too. I just wish I had figured it out sooner so he wouldn't be in pain.

[celticboy.livejournal.com]

*hug* It's ok I'm sure he understood that you were only a human and couldn't be expected to deal with him as an equal. :)

[wherdafux-d-cat.livejournal.com]

Cats are lamentably good at hiding their pain, alas. You did well by getting him taken care of as soon as you realized all wasn't well. Makes me crazy to hear people talking about letting their cats (okay, pets in general) go for days in known pain, just to see if it works itself out, because they couldn't be arsed to take care of it, etc. You done good. *skritches for Stalin*

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

Whew. Yeah, good vet and good for Stalin for knowing that his people were *finally* getting what he was saying. (cats of course having little patience for the lack of understanding of their higher language by us lesser beings.*g*)

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Very true. However we do learn. Like I know the difference between the "food dish is empty" meow and the "we must nap with you" meow.

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

Oh, see my girls divide the duties to make it easier on me. Cinder meows, and leads me to the food. Mulgee will meow and go to the tub. (she knows tub=water and *hopes* that I will make the connection with my little brain.). Mulgee is also in charge of telling me when I need to go to bed. She can be patient, but only to a point. *nods* Yes, they have me trained.

[mythandwonder.livejournal.com]

Yay! Healthy kitties are good. Glad to hear Stalin is okay.

[readinggeek451]

Poor kitty. Glad to hear he is on the mend.

[alryssa.livejournal.com]

Ugh, ear infections are nasty, even by human standards. I'm glad he's feeling better! *sends kitty scritches*

[fufaraw]

Good vets are second only to good pediatricians, in my book. I'm glad it was easily treated.