Today began with a call from the vets. We were disappointed to hear that our beloved little guy still wasn't well enough to come home but we know he is in the best place. Prince Bishops Veterinary Hospital have been great, I can't begin to praise them enough.
We asked if we could go in and visit him and they were only too happy to agree, in fact they had been about to ask if we wanted to. We booked an appointment to see him and I got myself so excited at the idea of seeing the little guy that Marie and I hopped on the first bus we could and found ourselves there an hour ahead of the appointment. Realizing this we opted to stay on the bus to Consett and do some quick shopping for an hour, since in my haste to get to Ekanath, I had left the bag of cat treats I had for him on the bed at home. We popped into a new store on the high street and were amazed to discover that the Vet's Kitchen treats he likes were 3 bags for £1! (We usually pay about £1.50 a bag), so we got him some of them, grabbed a bite to eat (by now it was lunchtime and I hadn't eaten anything at all) and headed back, arriving bang on time. We were shown into the private room he has been given (apparently the cages in the cattery are too small for such a big cat so he has a private room to himself and a dog cage with a cover over it to act as his hiding place and make him less fearful). When we saw him he was cowering in the corner of the cage, most of his fur shaven off, a shunt in one paw, stitches all the way down his chest and upper leg, a chest drain in and he has a wound from the neutering as well. He looked thoroughly miserable and it broke my heart! Within moments he realized who we were, grew less fearful and when the veterinary nurse left the room, Ekanath came out to see us. He was incredibly affectionate, purring and rubbing on us, he even tried to scent mark me at one point! We gave him some of the treats we had bought him (we had made certain this was okay first) and were able to pet him for over an hour before he grew tired and needed a rest. During that time he had come out of the cage, explored the whole room and loved up to both myself and Marie. At one point the vet came in to keep us up to date with his progress, eliciting a growl from Ekanath who only calmed down when we began petting him and speaking to the vet. He ate something while we were there too and we could see that his breathing, while not yet back to normal was certainly miles better than before! He groomed himself extensively as well, which is always a good sign (one of the first things that ill cats stop doing is grooming).
The vet updated us on his condition, the prognosis is good but his recovery time is unlikely to be short. If all goes well tonight we *might* be able to bring him home tomorrow, but we don't know for sure and won't until tomorrow. If he can't come home tomorrow we will at least visit him again. I didn't manage to get any photographs of him today as my phone froze solid then crashed out and wouldn't come back on until we were on the way home. Thank you for all the well wishes that have been pouring in and thanks for the donations that many of you have sent. Donations will go into his own account and will be used on vets bills, any medication he needs to have at home and the new microchip activated cat flap we are going to have fitted in order to keep him safe when he is at home. This is the one we will be getting him:- Large Cat Door
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