Is it just me?

Or is my brother growing horns?


~5-Cat Style

It's International Box Day Today!

Bronzy: Hey Slash, I found us two boxes that we can play with. I'll take this one and you can take that.

Slash: How come I have to take the one with the girly design and a hole at the side?

Bronzy: All that is not important. What's important is getting inside the box and letting your imagination take over.

Bronzy: You can be anything you want to be. Right now, I am an F1 racer seconds away from winning the Grand Prix!

Slash: I'm not feeling it.

Bronzy: And now I am a scary skeleton in a pirate's chest waiting to scare my next victim!

Bronzy: Oh, wait! I am no longer a skeleton. I am a... TURTLE!

Slash: That's really dumb.

Bronzy: Now I am a popsicle and my tail is the stick!

Bronzy: OMG! I better stay in this trunk because there's a zombie squad out there looking for me!


Slash: You're out of your mind and I'm out of here.

~5-Cat Style

A Birthday Re-Celebration with Bronzy & Slash

Bronzy: Slash!!! Why is Mommy's present on the floor?!
Slash: Uh-oh...

Bronzy: I hope nothing is broken. I better check it.

Bronzy: Hmm... The wrapping is still good.

Bronzy: And the paw-written message is not smudged.

Bronzy: Slash, can you show me how you wrapped Mommy's present in this twisty style? It's nice!

Slash: Sure! It is very easy. First you grab on to one end of the wrapper.

Slash: Then you lie down on the floor with the wrapper in your paw.

Slash: Holding on tightly to the wrapper, roll over quickly.

Slash: And repeat it many times.

Slash: Then ta-dah! You get a twisty wrapper.

Bronzy: Hey, that is really clever.

Bronzy: I hear Mommy coming. Quick! Twist the ends some more.

Slash & Bronzy: Happy Birthday, Mommy!!! This is from us!
Mommy: Thank you, my darlings!

Bronzy: I'm sorry I missed your birthday, Mommy. But I will recover fast and make sure that I'll never miss another.
Mommy: Thank you, sweetheart. That really will be the best birthday present of all.

~5-Cat Style

Bronzy returned home last night

Her belly is looking a little better. The external stitches have been removed and the fur is growing back quickly. However, the swelling is still there. Although it isn't as large as it was before, it is still big and very hard.

The vet said that Bronzy was responding well to the fluid drainage till a couple of days ago when the swelling rose and hardened again. He thinks that this is a continued reaction to the internal stitches and so in a week, when they are dissolved, the reactions should stop. If they continue, the vet said that he would like to perform an exploratory surgery to find out what is wrong.

I am not about to let him open Bronzy for a third time just to have another poke around. So I will wait a week to see if the swelling subsides after the stitches have dissolved. If the swelling remains or rises after that, I will take her to the cat specialist clinic that fellow blogger Kaz has recommeded to me. But I'm hoping Bronzy will recover before it gets to that point.

At the moment, I am doing my best to keep Bronzy relaxed because any jumping or running will worsen the swelling.

So out came the cage that was purchased when I first moved into this house.

Yes, I know it is quite large for a cat. It was actually built to hold dogs the size of German Shepherds. Since I wanted something that I could confine my cats in without it being too confining, I thought that this cage was perfect.

So here is Bronzy lying on an enormous pillow that was actually Slash's bed when I first got him (but the emperor has shown a clear preference for my own bed since).

On one side is a water bowl to help Bronzy stay hydrated. There is also a make-shift litterbox that is actually the lid of a small filing box. This is to help prevent any "accidents" that may occur in the middle of the night. In the day, she is let out every few hours to stretch her legs and remind Slash that she isn't just a funny-looking stranger.

I think Bronzy likes the cage well enough. She seems to be quite comfortable in there.

I check on her every half hour to make sure that she is resting well and to see if she may need anything else. I do mostly french maid duties like fluffing Bronzy's pillow, sweeping away stray litter crystals and giving her a good scratch behind the ears and around the neck.

Of course, there isn't much I can do about the view.

So Bronzy yawns big and often to let me know how visually boring all this is.

All this won't be for much longer, baby girl. Just rest well so that you'll recover sooner and reclaim your authority as Queen of the house.

~5-Cat Style

And the roller-coaster ride continues

Bronzy was supposed to come home today. But upon arriving at the clinic, the no-go was given.

Although she was responding well to the fluid drainage last week, her swelling increased significantly today. It could be due to the removal of the stitches which was performed in the morning. But, at the moment, no one can confirm anything.

Before my exam tomorrow, I will call the clinic to find out if Bronzy is showing any improvement. If she isn't, I think a second-opinion is in order.

~5-Cat Style

Happy Birthday, Mommy!!!

Today is Mommy's birthday.

I gave her a present that Bronzy and I had picked out together.

I also sang Mommy a birthday song which made her laugh.

Mommy was very happy and touched, but also sad that Bronzy isn't here to celebrate with us as a family. So Mommy said that she would wait till Bronzy came home to open her present.

I think that that is a good idea.

Then Mommy hugged me and said thank you for making her birthday wonderful.

~5-Cat Style

This was what the vet said...

They had to re-open Bronzy. The internal stitching is intact and there is no abscess. But there is a lot of fluid building up around the surgical site and that's causing the swelling. They think that she is having a reaction to the stitches.

This isn't life-threatening, but they want to keep her at the clinic because the fluid will require continuous drainage over the next few days. Only after the reactions have stopped and there is no more built-up of fluid will she be able to come home.

I am relieved that the problem seems to be manageable. I really hope that they are taking care of my baby girl and that she will not have to endure too much discomfort from the needles.

~5-Cat Style

PS. I wanted to get this out earlier, but I had an exam this morning that required mad preparation yesterday.

Bronzy's swelling now acknowledged as something more serious

In spite of the earlier reassurances given by veterinarians and nurses from various clinics over the past week, Bronzy's swelling on the belly has been getting worse and worse.

I've been told time and time again that she is merely healing slowly and differently. In fact, just two days ago, it was explained that because Bronzy was active and still jumping around, fluid was building up and causing the swelling, but that it wasn't a serious affliction.

But something is clearly not right.

So she was brought back to the clinic today. The vet in attendance thinks that one of two things could have happened. The internal stitching could have ruptured and the swelling is a result of her intestines spilling out or that there is an abscess growing underneath.

Bronzy will remain in the clinic over night. We will only know the exact cause of the swelling tomorrow after a second operation.

~5-Cat Style

Our 3rd award - The International Award

A very sassy cat has given us an award. So we are now proud recipients of the International Award. Thank you, Derby!

What we have to do now is...

1. Link to the person who passed you this prize.
2. Display the badge, the rules and the questionnaire in all or one of your blogs
3. Publish the date when the award had passed to you.
4. Answer four questions following this rule.
5. List at least seven (7) friends in its list of blogs.
6. Come back to BLoGGiSTa iNFo CoRNeR and leave the URL of your Post in order for you/your Blog to be added to the Master List.
7. Have fun!

That's a lot of things to do! We better get started now.

The one who tagged us is Derby, the Sassy Cat.
We were tagged on June 9, 2009 (also the day of Mommy's first exam).
The 7 friends we are passing this award to are:

• Sweet Praline (USA)
• Pablo (Australia)
  
• Kracker Cats (Alaska)
  
• Lingcat (Singapore)
• Ginger, Garlic, Pepper, Sesame, Winter, Abel (Malaysia)
  
• Huffle Mawson (Australia)
• Tooty (Singapore)

~5-Cat Style

I asked Mommy why Bronzy is so lazy

My sister has been a sleeping a lot. Mommy said it is because she is recovering from an operation and so it is okay to be lazy.

Mommy asked me to look at Bronzy's tum-tum and said that as a good brother, I should help to check her stitches.

Can you see the reddish, swollen half of my sister's belly?

So I decided that I would try to be a good brother.

As Bronzy slept, I tried to stay awake so that I could check on her stitches.

As Bronzy slept some more, I tried harder to stay awake.

But my eyelids kept falling down.

Finally, my face fell down!

So I decided that a facial injury was just as good a reason to be lazy. Now Mommy will just have to check on the two of us.

~5-Cat Style

Bronzy is A-OK

Her little belly is swollen on one side and the surrounding area is still red. But they are nothing to worry about.

Turn that frown upside-down, Mommy. I'm a super kitten!

So, as it turns out, I was just being a paranoid mommy-droid. But I am not ashamed and I couldn't be any happier.

~5-Cat Style

PS. Thank you so much for your supportive messages on Blogger and Facebook. They gave me cheer and a great deal of strength at a time of intense "mommy-ish" paranoia.

A Possible Infection for Bronzy

Early this morning, we noticed that Bronzy's surgical area had swelled up to form a huge "hill". It felt slightly hard. I checked the stitches and they were intact. There was also no redness around the area of the wound. But off to the Vet she went anyway to see if it had gotten infected.

The vet said that she was healing well and that he liked what he saw.

Bronzy's stitches after she returned home from the spay. There is no swelling or redness here

But only just a while ago, I noticed a red patch near the surgical area. It is a darkish red and I am concerned. Although Bronzy is behaving quite normally, she will be brought back to the Vet tomorrow for a more thorough check.

I really hope that all of this is part of a normal healing and that I am just being a paranoid Mom.

~5-Cat Style