Cheeto's First Vet Trip

Two Thursdays ago Dustin came home from work and noticed that Cheeto was limping. We thought it was strange but both agreed we'd keep an eye on it and see how he was doing the following day.  He had been in a fight days prior but was just now showing any signs of pain. That Friday I took off work as a birthday present to myself. Dustin and I got breakfast and ran a bunch of boring errands but had a nice little morning just hanging out. When we got home we noticed Cheeto was still limping. I called the closest vet.

Me: Our cat has been limping since last night. At what point should we bring him in?
Vet Tech: Oh I would bring him in immediately.
Me: Well in that case, do you have any availability for today?
Vet: We've got a 3pm.
Me: We'll be there.

Dustin loaded up Cheeto in his carrier and we drove less that a mile down the road for his visit. The staff was incredible. The girls at the front were so welcoming and sweet and complimented our big orange cat. We didn't wait long before being taken to the little room. We sat Cheeto's carrier on the table and waited like two nervous parents. Dustin gave Cheeto a little pep talk which made me laugh. As nervous as I was for him, the jokes helped ease me a bit.

Finally a young male vet tech came in and asked us an array of questions about Cheeto. He then checked his joints. Then he left to get the vet. She was very nice and informative. She also checked his joints and noticed an abscess on his front left leg which she pulled off. The vet tech held Cheeto in place but really he was so good. He didn't howl or even whimper. He didn't hiss or kick or even scratch. I was proud of our boy. The vet explained that he probably had an infection that need to be treated with antibiotics. They gave us a choice of 2 weeks of pills or 1 shot. Since the shot was only $20 more we decided to go that route. One and done! They also gave him a anti-inflammatory shot. He was really good through both. By the time they were done the poor vet tech's navy blue scrubs were covered in orange hair. I awkwardly said "Sorry about that." but I guess it's just one of those things that come with the territory.

After we were given a few anti-inflammatory pills and paid our $150 fee we were out the door and headed home. I was so relieved that we went and had him looked at then just waiting it out. I rather be safe than sorry always. He was really good about taking his two pills that weekend. Apparently they smell like yeast which cats love. Who knew?

It wasn't until just a couple days ago we noticed his limp was completely gone. He finally started to put his full weight on his front leg which we were so excited about. We kept Cheeto in the house while he was healing and every so often he would meow at the front door or paw at the back slider to be let outside. We refused since he was not 100% yet. I didn't want to risk him hurting it even worse out in the wild. We let him outside yesterday morning and he went out and then ran back inside. Later on he had his first night out last night. Dustin and I tried to lure him back inside before we went to bed but he was having too much fun chasing lizards. It made us really nervous but we had to just let him be. He was there to greet me at the front door for breakfast at 7am this morning. And the little shit brought us a dead rat at some point last night. So I'd say he had a good time out there. I'm thinking of getting him a cat harness. I know, I know, that sounds incredibly silly and ridiculous but it's the only thing I can think to do to let him enjoy outside without getting injured. I'll keep you all updated on our that idea progresses. Ha!