Need some medical/vet advice

[citrine]

Hi everyone.....this cat saga is never ending!
I got Casanova neutered last Monday....on Saturday, I took him to the vet because he was not acting right....ended up having swelling and fever...spent a night there...released the next day.
Had to take him back on Monday evening....they drained him again....kept him for two days....
Today, he is limping a bit on his left side.....and is quite vocal when he goes to his litter box. There was some blood in his stool on Wednesday....the vet thinks it is due to the antibiotics.
I am absolutely worn out from all this cat stuff.....and am at my wit's end and my money's limit. I am working another job on the weekend to pay for Romeo's stay/death and now a normal procedure has become a veritable nightmare with Casanova.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Sarah in SC]

You are having some terrible luck with your pets! I'm so sorry! I've neutered a lot of dogs and cats and never had this. I've seen some big swelling happen in older dogs, but nothing like this. He's in pain, clearly. I wonder if the vet can give you something to ease the pain or sedate him slightly until the antibiotics start to work on that infection.
Good luck--when it rains it pours it seems. All I can say is that I've been there.

[layla17]

Have you considered another vet? Not in a critical way ... I just mean is there another prominent vet in your area to receive a second opinion?

[calmloki]

Dang Citrine, sorry to hear this. No help, but a possible consideration for the future: On our old houses we've found that often doing nothing is the best thing - you fix one thing and something else gets stressed and has to be fixed up. Investments are often best left un-tinkered with (supposedly). People who get one medical condition repaired seem to end up on a treadmill of medications as one med causes gas,which is fixed by another which causes sleeplessness, which is fixed by another which causes a heart attack, which.... Consider that kitties did, and do, just fine in the main with no intervention from us. They live, they die. We have some cats that are outside in the rain and some that come in. The ones that come in complain terribly if they are outside. The ones used to being outside are plenty happy if we come out and give them some attention, but don't act like they're gonna die if they don't get in right now. It may be that your kitties are getting too much of your focus.
But i'm an old farm boy - had a hard enough time springing for shoulder surgery for me (still not convinced it was worth it), can't imagine paying for repeated surgeries for a dog's tendons as CFB has been doing. Anyway, best of luck with Cassanova - and your art!

[citrine]

Definitely pouring!
I just want to make sure that he will be ok.....this is the second vet in the area.....maybe it's just because he does not like the new litter, or the little cone on his head, or that he is in pain.
I like what you wrote calmloki.....and I know he has way too much of my attention....but I am just a raw nerve at this moment....and I am sick on top of it.
I definitely need to paint more....maybe that and some nice calm music might fix the two of us.

[Twinkle Toes]

Try a cup of hot tea or your drink of choice, a little soft music and maybe a nap...what I'm suggesting is to make yourself feel better. I'm a dog person and have little knowledge about cats, but when I don't feel well my dog curls up beside me or at my feet and sticks with me until I feel better. I more or less do the same for him.

Good luck, and I hope both of you are back to your old self soon...you painting...and the cat...well, he'll have to develop a few new habits now.