Thank you both for the welcome to this forum! Where would we be without your amazing support??!!!  

As you have said, this has been a scary journey for me - and it almost broke me seeing Sky struggle so.  He is still adjusting.. as am I. I look forward to not shoving so many meds into his throat and letting him live peacefully with his new normal. 

Oh, I found out the results of further slides they did to see if there was a fungal or bacterial reason for his joint issues. Nope - they found nothing! So the good news is that no additional treatment is warranted. But we may never know what caused the terrible pain and injury to his leg. 

I can't imagine how my story has helped anyone. But if it does, then wonderful! If it helps to read a whiney, self-doubting, helpless person then I'm the gal 

Sky hasn't made the trek downstairs tonight. Guess my cooking wasn't inspiring. He's right.. it wasn't steak so why bother?!

But he seems to be feeling OK. No poop. What would a post of mine be without a poop scoop? 

Thanks again for all of your emotional encouragement and practical support!!

Rebecca & Sky 

Hi Holly and Everyone!

Two weeks ago as I write this Sky was in surgery. And I was a nervous wreck.  Today we reached another milestone 

Sky was really hungry this morning - the empty stomach requirement for Carafate (for suspected ulcer) is REALLY a hardship - so when I got up at 7:30 to let Marlowe out and feed the other cats, Sky followed me downstairs. He went into the laundry room where he normally ate, and I fed him there for the first time! Not only that but when I opened the back door he went outside..despite the cold, wet weather. I could tell he was hoping for some special grass out there that seems to help his tummy. That wasn't entirely successful as he tipped over and decided it wasn't worth it. I also thought he might poop out there as he didn't yesterday and that was a favorite spot.  I picked some of the grass for him and gave it to him inside. Then he had some freeze dried raw chicken and devoured quite a bit of it.  And this part is for you, Holly : He walked toward the stairs and pooped on the floor - but it was a beautiful poop!!  He then ran up the stairs.  I call that a WIN!

Thanks for the info on those caps, Holly!  Actually, we kinda figured out something like that and it's working  Dr. Louise gave me empty gel caps and I'm cutting the metronidazole into tiny pieces and putting it inside. I can even get the Pepcid he needs inside too which saves dosing him another time. It's working and I can do it with water. Was doing with cream but it messes with the no food schedule. And the caps don't taste bad as long as I get it off the outside. Apparently, the met is SUPER bad tasting and even compounded it still tastes horrid. 

I thought Sky's stitches would be coming out today. However, what I didn't know is that they are dissolvable! They will fall out on their own if not removed. I LIKE that!  Louise and I haven't discussed as our priority has been poop. But I would like to save the trip and just let them come out on their own. I found this out when I spoke with the surgeon about the additional slides they ran for fungus and bacteria. In case, I forgot to post the results, they came back negative. So we will probably never know exactly what caused Sky's leg issues.

So 2 weeks into this journey and here we are! It has been draining and I had another down day yesterday as he seemed tired of it. But today started out brilliantly, so we are getting there!

Thanks and hugs all around!

Rebecca & Sky

Thanks, Jackie, for the vote of confidence. I have felt so inadequately prepared for this. And there have been a lot of unknowns to deal with. But Sky is such an easy boy to begin with so I just try to listen to him and my vet and do my best to adjust to their information. 

And Sally, you always make me smile! You have the BEST illustrations EVER!  Hahaha!

R&S