Thank you so much, everyone! We brought home Charlie this morning. When they brought him into the room he flopped across the floor like a fish out of water over to us and pressed his head into our hands. He just purred and made kitty biscuits as we held him, pet him, and talked to him. I started crying again, and I think the vets have come to expect every encounter with me included tears. It was hard to see him struggle, but to see our boy only interested in loving on us made it hard not to cry. He's been content here at home. He likes to have someone sitting with him while he rests. It's obvious that I'm more upset about this than he is. They gave us several types on pain meds and I think we have about a week's worth. He goes back on Monday to have his drainage port removed. Hopefully they will have the histology report by then to know whether he needs further treatment. 

I did notice that our younger cat is afraid of Charlie. He hissed and backed away. Charlie does look different and smells different, so it might take a bit for Chad to settle down. It's heartbreaking since Chad loves Charlie so much and has missed him. At least our Yorkie has been lying near Charlie and keeping him company. 

My phone wouldn't let me attach photos to my previous post, so I am following up on my computer.  I had to link to the photos from my Facebook and I'm hoping they will show up for you.  I have a photo of our dog, Tim, cuddling up with Charlie once he was back home, and the other is of my son holding his kitty in the hospital when we went to pick him up.  We did have to coax Charlie to eat this morning, but after starting out with a syringe of tuna juice he finally started eating and drinking on his own.  I was worried we would have to go into the hospital today, but he's is doing much better now he had some food and water.  We will be going in tomorrow to have his drain removed. 

We are very lucky that Charlie isn't interested in his incision.  We haven't had to put the cone on him.  He gets up occasionally, but he's more interested in lying on the be next to his human (my son).  He hasn't had much to eat since he's been back, but after using a syringe and getting him to eat a little this morning, later on he got up once to eat a little on his own.  He only went to the litter box to pee once today.  I worry that he may still be having some issues with pain.  He occasionally groans and shivers, and he will do this shortly before his doses are due.  I will bring this up to the vet tomorrow.  Other than these worries, his incision looks good.  I just wish he could tell us what he needs. 

Obiecat - I'm so glad I'm not the only one to resort to using a syringe!  We did use it again this evening with water and more tuna water.  It seems to perk him up enough to eat a little food.  After we get a few small syringes of fluids in him he will snack on the canned food the vet gave us, a little of the tuna that we pulled water from, and the food we usually feed him (it's a dehydrated raw diet that we add water to).  We give him a variety because at this point we want him to eat anything.  The pain meds have side effects that could suppress appetite, but not eating could be a sign that something is wrong.  As long as he takes in something, even small, I feel like it's a victory.  The sun is setting on day 3 post-surgery for us and it's still nerve wracking.  I'm glad we are seeing the vet tomorrow, not just to remove the drain, but also help put our minds at ease.  We love our guy and we're so afraid that we will do something wrong. 

We're also still waiting for our little kitty, Chad, to warm up to his big kitty.  Chad adores Charlie, but is terrified of him at the moment.  I was reading the thread about introducing the tripod kitty back into the home with other cats, and it looks like this could take quite some time to normalize.  At least our Yorkie, Tim, knew it was his kitty right away and has been a cuddle buddy.