It was all the way back in August last year when I first met 11-month-old Danny. This tabby arrived at Ten Lives with a painful injury to the hock of his back right leg that would see him in our care for over 6 months.
He was given his initial examination, microchipping, desexing, deworming, and defleaing. His wound was bandaged ready for him to go into foster.
I waved goodbye to his new foster carer as Danny sat in the cat carrier, his bright eyes sheepishly looking up through the cone-of-shame (E-Collar) he was all too displeased in having to wear.
Now, one thing you need to know about Danny is that he was not one for tolerating cones, or bandages for that matter. In fact, the entire length of his stay in our care was marked by his quiet rebellion to those things.
Danny would protest his collar, and even managed to rub it on his wound causing further injury. When his collar was removed, he would gnaw at his bandages until they came loose, hence exposing his wound. Without either, he would lick at his leg causing new trauma.
This made his recovery complicated. After weeks of foster care and follow up examinations it felt like we weren’t getting anywhere.
Despite this, Danny had adapted to life in foster care and could be found booping noses with the family dog, people watching, and snoozing in the sun.
October came, and despite the courses of antibiotics and many a wound cream, the E-Collars and bandages were still aggravating poor Danny. Doing away with them altogether resulted in him gnawing at the wound directly. This was after the use of copious amounts of wound guard – an ointment with a bitter taste to dissuade interaction.
The problem remained that we still didn’t know why Danny was gnawing at his wound, a wound which the vet team suspected may be entirely self-inflicted. Was there a nerve issue, or arthritis?
Bring in the lasers. Danny received two rounds of laser therapy which uses intense light to increase blood flow at the wound site. If we didn’t see some progress soon an amputation would be necessary. Between Danny’s total of four stints in foster care, he would stay at the Centre for monitoring, sometimes weeks on end.
Danny was getting rather fed up with all this time spent in the Ten Lives Vet Room; he had better things to be doing – climbing, playing, and chasing his carrot. Yes, his carrot. During his time in care, he became rather enamoured with a particular cat toy. He took it everywhere with him, chasing it around the floor, and even cuddling up with it at night. It became his security blanket, his confidant, his rock through his long rehabilitation.
We never found out exactly why Danny felt the need to gnaw his leg, nor could we pinpoint exactly which treatment worked, but over the months, through sheer patience and determination, his wound did heal.
And so, the day finally arrived. After over 6 months in our care Danny was ready for adoption. After just three days, Danny found his new family who were quick to snap up this loveable tabby.
Danny’s rehabilitation was long, a true testament to the dedication of our Vet Team and the strength of this wonderful cat. And as for his beloved toy carrot? You can guess that he took that with him!
As a V.E.T.S. Club member it is your subscription that allows the Ten Lives vet team to provide the much needed care that these cats received. So, thank you.
Words by Rich East. Images by Joel Diprose and Rich East, Ten Lives Creative Team