Day 93 -- Another Oral Infection

Leo didn't look too happy yesterday afternoon, and didn't finish all his food -- but it wasn't one of his favorite flavors of Fancy Feast (believe it or not, I have now started a list so I can remember which ones he likes best)...and later he seemed perfectly content, hanging out with us on the couch last night.

The attack of the killer tail!

Today, Leo kept to himself -- sleeping from morning into afternoon in the furry cat chair in the studio. I was busy and didn't check on him, and since he ate all his morning food, I figured all was well.

We were out this afternoon; among other things, getting more cat food (I brought my favorite flavors list!) The kids love looking at the cats up for adoption at PetSmart -- me too, but it is also quite sad to see such beautiful animals without homes.

There are about 5 or 6 cats there at any given time. Each cat has a card posted with its name, age, and other relevant info. I usually end up wanting to take at least one of them home -- hard not to want to when you look into their sweet faces. Happily, today two of the cats' cards said they were in the process of being adopted.

It was feeding time, and the cats were all more active than usual (I've joked with my husband before that I thought the cats were drugged, as they usually seem to be comatose.)

The attendant saw us looking at the kitties and asked if she could help us. Told her we were just visiting, and that our cat had cancer so we weren't looking for another pet at this time. Almost immediately regretted it, as her face fell -- getting sympathy from a complete stranger wasn't really my intention...then again, I'll take kindness whenever it is offered.

But I digress. We got home, I went to visit Leo, and when I rubbed the affected side of his jaw, he let out a soft little growl to tell me that it hurt. And the left side (tumor side) of his jaw was visibly swollen.

So...I gave him some of leftover-from-switching-antibiotics Baytril tonight (he barely ate any of his dinner) which will hopefully hold off the infection until I can get more of the antibiotic Clindamycin compounded tomorrow.

This is the - what? - fifth or sixth infection he's had in the three months since this jaw tumor reared its ugly head. I should be used to it by now. Even though it's likely he will respond to the antibiotic, it's still upsetting to see him obviously uncomfortable.