Tail-tip injury season blows in
Unfortunately, the feline hunters have not been so lucky and two this week have had to have a little bit of tail-tip plastic surgery to make their nowshortened tail heal OK.
October is the windy month for Palmerston North and the recent windy weather has been causing problems not only in keeping the washing on the line, but also for our four-legged friends.
Queen is a glossy black young feline who was having a nice sleep on the warm concrete drive when suddenly a gust of wind blew the garage door shut and somehow hit her in the process.
Queen’s family heard the accident and quickly raced her in to the hospital, but she was already starting to have seizures as a result of her head injury.
With a very mobile little arm, it was a lottery to find the vein, but between movements we managed to place a catheter and give her a muchneeded relaxant drug. This calmed her, but the seizures became progressively worse, so we decided to put Queen into a prolonged sleep state – commonly described as an induced coma – for 24 hours. After a long night, Queen was gradually waking up and, amazingly, looking great.
But, Queen couldn’t see. We were all very disappointed, but there is a happy ending.
We continued with antiinflammatory drugs and, after another 24 hours, most of her sight had returned and she was sent home to a very loving family – amazing and very lucky.
Queen isn’t the only victim of garage doors and every year we get several cats that have been injured, or worse, by remote-controlled garage doors. Please make sure that you can see the door before you push the close button. It may not be one of the cats or dogs in the way, but one of the children.
Other doors in the wind have also been a problem this week. Young Tullie is a sausage dog – the proper name is a dachshund.
He is a wiggly-legged, muscly 2-year-old miniature wirehaired dachshund with a real Schnitzel Von Crumb attitude. They just make you smile, watching them walk so quickly with little steps.
But, Tullie wasn’t happy when he came in to see me. He had been snuffling and shuffling in the back door with his nose following the smell from the kitchen when bang, the wind slammed the door on his tail.
It makes you cringe, thinking about it. Imagine if it was your finger. That is what he felt like. So, some much-needed pain relief, a sedative and straight to the X-ray room.
Luckily, the vertebrae were all OK and the injury was all soft-tissue bruising. With lots of pain relief and anti-inflammatories, a much happier Tullie was home in the afternoon to rest on his very own chair in the lounge.
Unfortunately, the feline hunters have not been so lucky and two this week have had to have a little bit of tail-tip plastic surgery to make their now-shortened tail heal OK after losing the tip in a banging door.
So, in windy weather it may be an idea to put a heavy object by the door to keep it open, or at least keep only one entrance door open and not both front and back, which can result in slamming doors and shortened tails.
Speaking of doors: When fitting a cat door, it is worth spending the extra on a magnetic one, or better still, a microchip cat door that will avoid all the other neighbourhood cats coming in and eating at your place. It will also avoid unwanted stray cats from coming in and possibly upsetting things and resulting in them or your cats starting to urine mark.
Tip: Always let the dog – and the kids – out of the car on the passenger or kerb side only.
Keeping your canine friend in a car-harness will also avoid them pouncing out the driver’s door as soon as you open it and getting run over. The safety harnesses come in all sizes and are a good investment, as well as stopping them smearing all the windows on the inside with their noses and muddy paws.
Have a great week.