The Cone of Shame

An very unhappy cat

                One of the hardest parts of parenthood and pet ownership is watching loved ones suffer from illness or injury.  I happen to have dismal nursing instincts, so I am completely inept at helping them cope with wounds and medication.

                This week Jersey is in tough shape.  It all started with a cat bite at the base of her tail (hmm, Frank, you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?).  We didn’t notice anything until an abscess developed, making a swelling the size and shape of a golf ball. (I feel like an awful mom not noticing it sooner, but in my defense I look at faces and not butts when interacting with others.)   I knew it was bad when I heard her whimper as my daughter’s fiancé investigated the wound and putrid smelling pus oozed out.  Good-natured, never-complaining Jersey whimpering—there is no sound more heartbreaking.

                So Jersey spent the day with the vet (if you’ve been reading this blog, you know how that goes) getting her tail shaved, abscess drained, and body medicated.  Now comes the really hard part—we have to keep her indoors (no treats from the neighbors), we have to keep Frank away from her (yeah right), and she has to wear the cone of shame so she doesn’t bother her wound. 

                Frank just knows that he’s not supposed to bother her, so what does he do?  He finds her and even through a closed door, sits and stares at her for hours.  Whether she can see him or not, just sensing his presence agitates her.  Attempts to move or distract him only strengthen his resolve to annoy her.  Geez, that cat can focus!

                The neck cone lasted about 3 hours before I mercifully removed it. 

Jersey sports an undignified shaved tail

Because Jersey is not a super hygienic cat she hasn’t bothered to clean her wound and probably won’t ever, so the cone wasn't really serving a purpose.  Also, with the cone on, she can’t eat, drink, walk right, sleep, or protect herself from Frank.  As she dove under furniture to hide, the cone kept getting caught, leaving her stuck and exposed.  Once while was trying to get it off, she managed to get her paw through the neck opening and hobbled around on three legs.  Add that to the indignity of a shaved tail and her will to live seeped out faster than the pus from her abscess.

                Hopefully she’ll heal quickly so she can visit the neighbors a few more times before it snows.  It will be time to hibernate indoors with Frank soon enough.