Month: June 2018

Kanaka is moving about with more confidence. He is sleeping well and does not appear to be uncomfortable or in pain. Appetite is good and much purring and affection. He will come out of the pen in the morning and will stay out all day (under supervision – no cleaning of the incision yet). He is finding his favorite places and making some new ones due to limited vertical mobility. We are looking forward to when we can put the pen away and no more cone at night (still hates it, who doesn’t?). As can be seen the incision is healing nicely. It will be much better once the fur grows back in. Not into the buzz cut look on a cat!

Hi full personality is coming back. Definitely feel that reducing the meds was a good thing. Kanaka is moving around more and with more confidence. Still a bit wobbly, but more assured. He is beginning to feel the limits of the pen, but we need to keep him confined to limit activity unit he heals more. He hates the cone! We have to put it on at night as we cannot watch him 24/7. We wait until the evening meds kick in and then apply the cone. He then settles down and goes to sleep. We follow shortly thereafter.
Pix: Hand feeding breakfast
First day home in front of the fireplace.

Little victories. We have a web cam to keep an eye on Kanaka. While we were watching TV we noticed (via the web cam) that he was exploring the litter box. He used it! A quiet celebration (he doesn’t like to be disturbed while doing his business). We attribute part of this small step to cutting back a little on his pain meds. He is more attentive and his old self. We are still keeping a close eye on him all the time so that he does not try to clean the incision area. His responses to us and other people are still there. He will come when I beckon, and he goes to his safe places when someone comes to the door. Much more purring and affection.

Kanaka slept most of the night. Tough staying up ’till midnight to give him the Bubrenex. My loving partner stayed up to do that, I was in bed. She is staying home (vacation time) to take care of him. I meanwhile am going to work everyday. He still hasn’t used the litter box. However there were a few “crumbs” out that weren’t there last night. I fashioned a low wall litter box by cutting down an old plastic storage box. Made a lower area for easier access. He is spending most of his time in the pen. Had to give him a “sponge bath” to clean off the pee. Not happy about it, but he did cooperate. Afterwards he took off down the hall to the bedroom and got under one of his favorite chairs. This is the furthest he has walked without stopping or just plopping down. Progress. He is moving a little better today and purring and talking. Appetite is good.

Kanaka is a 15 year old American Short hair that adopted us when we were living in Hawaii. We brought him with us when we moved to the mainland.  He was  recently diagnosed with injection site carcinoma. It was growing fast. The options were chemo, radiation, and a prognosis of 6-9 months and increasing discomfort, or amputating his left rear leg. We opted for amputation. We dropped him off at the surgery center yesterday morning and picked him up today. He is struggling to get around and is on some pretty heavy pain meds (Buprenex 2-3 x day, Gabapentin 1-2 x day). He has not re-aquired the use of the litter box as of yet,  but we are chanting, Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, for his speedy recovery. We are looking to also use CBD to ease him off the meds. We have confined him (temporarily) to a 4′ x 4′ pen with his essentials until  he is able to get around more easily.