The Cat

A couple of weeks ago I noticed my cat was not eating. My cat never misses a meal. She follows us around crying until we feed her. But, on this day she had spent the entire day in the closet and then didn't ask for dinner or breakfast the next morning. I then went into the closet to investigate.

I noticed that her eye was swollen and weepy so I called the vet and scheduled and appointment. I thought perhaps she had an allergy or a cold. I really wasn't all that concerned. I packed Daisy up in her cage and we were off to the vet.

When the vet pried her eye open we noticed that the eye was full of blood. The inside of the eyeball was swollen and completely filled with blood, you couldn't even see the color of her eye. The vet told me it was an injury. Like a kick to the head. The impact was one of great force, but it couldn't be from a car because there wasn't any other injuries. She checked Daisy for broken teeth, broken bones in her face, shoulder etc. The whole time I was feeling sick to my stomach. It was such a shock I wasn't prepared to hear this.

When the vet took Daisy to the operating room so that the other vet could take a look I called Jeff on the phone and explained what was happening. Saying the words out loud made me start to cry. I couldn't stop either, I was crying for the rest of the appointment and while scheduling the follow up appointment. The thought of one of my neighbors kicking my cat in the head feels like such a violation. The thought of Daisy enduring such trauma is also incomprehensible to me.

The second vet had to see Daisy because the first vet would not be in the office on the day of the follow up appointment. The second vet said she thought the eye looked like a tumor and not trauma to her. Which would mean Daisy didn't get kicked but was going to die. Which is worse?

On the second visit her eye had improved quite a bit and it was then determined by the second vet that she indeed was kicked in the head. Today we are going for another follow up.

I have had to put drops in her eyes. I think they burn too because Daisy freaks out. She has lost vision in the eye. She might have to have her eye removed. Last week there was still so much blood that we couldn't tell what was going on.

Our cat has another problem. She pees all over the house. She always has. The vet from about 9 years ago when we first rescued her from the mean streets of Italy told us, that is the way she is and she was at that time too old to be retrained. Either live with it or put her to sleep. We have lived with it for 9 years now. She only pees on tile floors and bathtubs. I think if it was carpet it might be harder to clean. Our dog pees on our bed every once in awhile which is worse. But, waking up and stepping in cat pee while your eyes have not yet opened all the way is a pain. She never does it in the same spot either so I am always having to search for where she peed.

A day or two before she got kicked in the head she had peed right in front of the closet in the entry way of our house. I was in bare feet and trying to find an umbrella for Mandy. It was before six in the morning and I was not all together awake. Stepped in cat pee, in bare feet and slipped and fell and hit my head and hip. I was not happy. When I told Jeff how upset I was, he said maybe it is time we put her to sleep. We were so smug in our condemnation of the kitty. A few days later I am sobbing at the vet. Perhaps this was karma? For saying such mean things. There has always been a part of me that does not like Jeff's cat. He is the one who rescued her before we were even married. I guess now we have bonded because I am the one taking her to the vet, crying, giving her drops four times per day etc.

I am scared to let her go outside. She is scoping out the doors. Hiding behind things and trying to make a break for freedom every time we open a door. The other day Lily's teacher called on the phone and while I was talking to her Lily opened the door and let the cat outside. I have no idea why. I was still listening to the teacher and I went outside to try and catch the cat who promptly found a loose fence board and scurried to the empty lot (forest) next to our house. I walked back to the house and Lily had locked the door. I have no idea what was going through her head, she did finally let me in. I am afraid her teacher must think I am retarded after that conversation, I don't think I was really all there. Later I went outside and called Daisy and she came back through the fence and ran in the back door. What a relief I was really worried.

I don't understand why she would want to go outside if that was where she was assaulted. Is she dumb? The peeing all over the house instead of her litter box seems to suggest that she is dumb. She does pee in her litter box sometimes, we keep in clean, scooping immediately if it is dirty. There doesn't seem to be any reason that I can think of why sometimes she just uses the floor instead. I wonder how long the vet is going to milk this trauma. Making me come back for check ups etc? So far we are up to about $150.