A tale for the anal, I mean, annals of veterinary medicine

So I've been busy lately. My 6-month old kitten had to be taken to the vet clinic last week to get spayed. It was going to be a simple procedure. However, my kitty has a frankenpaw, a weirdly deformed thing with a crazy huge nail growing out of it. I thought we'd be able to manage it on our own, but alas, I was wrong.

When I brought her in for surgery, the frankenpaw had worsened. The nail was growing into the pad of her paw and bleeding. I knew something had to be done. So, with a very heavy heart, I left her in the care of the vet clinic.

I got a call a few hours later. They had taken x-rays of kitty's paw. Our vet had never seen anything like it and suspected he never would again. Three digits were fused together. So, he put her surgery on hold and called in a couple colleagues to assess the situation and decide what to do. This was truly a unique case.

By evening, my boyfriend and I made our way to the vet's office to discuss the plan the veterinary team had come up with to fix kitty's frankenpaw. They showed us the x-ray:

I know. How crazy is that shit. She's truly one in a million. You see, we found her abandoned in a provincial park at four weeks old. I figure her previous caretaker(s) took a look at her paws and decided she was the expendable one. Oh ye of little faith. My little trooper prevailed and found herself a loving home and an excellent medical team.

So, the next day the surgery went ahead. They spayed her (which involved taking out all her lady bits - who knew?) and they fixed her paw:

We picked up kitty the day after surgery. The ordeal was not quite over yet. Kitty had to wear the cone of shame. You see, she has to keep it on until her stitches come out. I suspect it's more traumatic for me than it is for her. For the first few days after surgery she wouldn't put any weight on her former frankenpaw. I called her McLimpy. She recently started walking on it again. Here she is, resting comfortably:

How can you not love that face?

 
Kitty is progressing well. She's emerged from her stoned post-op phase and has regained all her former energy and verve. The cone comes off in two and a half days. Mommy can't wait. In the meantime, mommy needs a drink.