Sam Update and Photos 10-21

Sam is continuing to recover nicely. As several of you mentioned, he was
more subdued yesterday and today although he has moments of zoomies when
he'll play with a mousie or run through the house. For the most part,
though he would rather sleep in a lap or on the electric blanket on the bed.

Marina...

tee is very cute on him. Too bad it was bothering him. Many purrs on the
way for the patient patient. (is that the new Yahoo interface? ugh!)

John F. Eldredge...

That's a really big incision. It looks like it goes at least halfway
around Sam's torso.

jXwXeXrXmXoXnXt...

It's better than the new Webshots interface. I hate how long Webshots
takes to load, on every single page! (On the other hand, this Yahoo thing
is weird. What was wrong with clicking on a thumbnail to see the larger
picture?? Now you have to drag the ones you want to see to a "tray"?
Sheesh. It wasn't broke...)

Sam does look very cute. I'm glad he's continuing to do so well!

Adrian A...

I don't much like the new Webshots interface, but I do like the fact you can
download an image in its original size.

Julie and Sam...

I had bought two tee-shirts, one a medium and one small. I was afraid the
small would be too small so I put the medium on Sam. Today I put the small
on him and it doesn't seem to bother him at all. The neckline is still large
enough for him to breathe but the arms aren't as long and big. He's been
wearing it for several hours now and hasn't managed to get out of it. He is
cute in his t-shirt I have to admit.

The pictures I have of him vary greatly which might be why everyone thought
he was a little different, although there aren't any pictures that would
show a short haired black cat. Barnabus is our black cat but he's
medium/long haired. When I first brought Sam in and the early pictures
showed a very oriental looking cat with short, sable hair and blue eyes.
After living inside for several months his fur begain to grown longer and he
took on the look of a Maine Coon without the weight. I can see Tak
mistaking him for a medium-haired flamepoint in some of he pictures (white
balance being what it is).

I gave up on the idea of the pet steps since he wasn't using them and
returned them Saturday. At the same time I found a t-shirt made for a small
dog that I bought. The only shirt I could find that didn't say "Dogs Rule"
was one that says "Proud to be an American" with an American flag. I have
included a couple of pictures of that at the link below as well as some of
his incision site. Sam didn't object to the shirt but his leg kept coming
out of the arm hole and he'd get caught. We finally decided to take it off
of him. We didn't want him hurting himself worse than he is already hurt.

Takayuki...

Kreisleriana...

Aww, that is so cute. Purrs for the little feller.

Theresa

Make Levees, Not War

Cheryl...

He looks very good for only days post-op! Another option if he
can't deal with the tshirt (which is so totally cute, BTW) is if
you have an old pair of spandex leggings around. Cut like a tube
from it and it fits nicely over bandages. The only problem I had
with that with Shadow was because he was rather fluffy was that it
tended to roll.

Best wishes to the lil guy and purrs still a-coming!

He is very cute all curled up, and he's such a good boy not pulling
out his stiches. That's a big incision! I'm glad he's doing so well.

Christina Websell...

I am so pleased to hear that Sam is continuing to recover as well as can be
expected after his major surgery. Thanks for the update.

Julie, the tee-shirt is not snug enough, as you realise because his leg kept
coming out of the armhole, so go to a thrift shop and get a stretchy type of
top suitable for a small baby. Or several, to try on for size. They stay
on better if the sleeves are long, rather than short, if you can get them
and if he is prepared to wear it.
I've had to do this once or twice myself for my whippets after surgery and
baby clothes worked quite well, especially the towelling suits that we call
"Babygro" here. It does of course help that whippets actually seem to like
being clothed, presumably because they feel the cold.

I was surprised to see that Sam is a long-haired tabby, for some reason I
had imagined him as a black shorthair!
My two send purrs that he will feel back to his old self very soon.

Tweed
KFC & Boyfie

or

Randy, Sam got his get well card from you and Dennis and the crew. He looked
at it, sniffed it and tried to eat it. We appreciated it. Speaking of

jXwXeXrXmXoXnXt...

LOL!

eating, Sam is eating well, drinking and using the litterbox, so I think
he's doing well at this stage of the game.

jXwXeXrXmXoXnXt...

That's such great news!

Purrs,
Joyce

Again, thanks for everyone's purrs and concerns.

Julie and Sam

Sam...

thinks he's cute, scar and all!

Jane...

I"m so glad to see that Sam is doing so well. He's a very lucky kitty
to be owner of such a concerned slave. Give him a scritch for me.

polonca12000...

Since I couldn't post, I was sending lots and lots of silent purrs and
best wishes for Sam.
We will continue to purr and send best wishes for Sam and hugs for you
for taking such good care of him, Julie,
Polonca and Soncek

Karen...

Wow. That incision is HUGE! I'm so glad he is still acting well. I
wonder if this will help with his breathing trouble. It might have been
making things worse? You could get a baby t-shirt. I think those work
better for cats.

Julie and Sam...

I wondered, too, if this will help his breathing. It was below his lungs
but near his diaphram so it might have been putting pressure on his
lungs. I'm not sure that it will help because he still has the donuts
and rods associated with asthma but I think that overall he'll feel much
better. I had bought two t-shirts, one a medium which I put on Sam and
the other a small. The small fits much better and so far he hasn't come
out of it. I don't think he likes it especially, but he doesn't try to
get his arm out of it and it is protecting the patch.

Randy...

Aw, Sam is such a good boy. Glad you enjoyed the card. Tippy would probably do
the same. The other three would just ignore it. Purrs continuing for a speedy
and complete recovery.