Conference misery::feline_v1

I'd try the water bottle.  I know my cats love to get drops of water 
from the bathtub faucett so your kitty might like the bottle.  

I hope things work out for you both and as long as she's not giving up 
after all that pain, I think she'll do fine.  Cats are wonderful 
survivors when they find someone who cares like you do.

Pat, Holly, Buffy, D.P., Thai, Midnight, Jamie (& Cookie)

                      <<< Note 4063.0 by CTOAVX::DUSZAK >>>
                         -< HELP WITH MISSING TONGUE >-

    I desperately need some advice.  I have a two year old female cat who I
    raised with an eyedropper.  I am extremely attached to her and she to
    me.  This week she was hit or kicked in the face by someone, and lost a
    third of her tongue.  I decided not to have her put to sleep and took
    her home from the Vet with his encouragement to see if she can find a
    way to learn how to drink. It is now about five days after the incident
    happened and she seems to be coming out of her pain.  She started to
    wash herself last night and eats well but with a lot of difficulty.  At
    first she would try to drink but would stop knowing she couldn't.  Now
    she doesn't even try.  I get some water into her with an eyedropper and
    do add some to her food.
    
    The one thing that is encouraging me is another cat that I know of who
    also had this happen to him.  His jaw was broken and he also lost
    teeth.  But, he is now doing fine and survived it all.  The Vet says
    some cats can learn to suck the water up.  I also thought I might get a
    water bottle and hang it somewhere, but I really don't think she'd go
    to it.
    
    Does anyone know of a situation like this?  It will break my heart if I
    have to put her to sleep.  I don't think I could bring myself to do it.

    I think I would try using an eye dropper or syringe for a while,
    at least until she is well healed.  The rabbit water bottle is
    a good idea.  If she is eating lots of canned food, she may not
    require 'too' much extra water.  You could water down her dry
    food and maybe add water to her canned food until she has 
    readjusted to her new situation, which she WILL.  Cats have
    amazing resilience - you will be surprised to see how quickly
    she readjusts!  Hang in there!
    
    E.T.

    Oh, my gawd...!  I'm so sorry to hear what happened!
    
    This just popped into my head immediately upon reading your
    note.  How about hanging a baby bottle, with a nipple?  Make
    the hole big enough so that when she bites on it water will
    come out.  Don't want it to empty out when she's not drinking,
    so you may have to experiment with the hole size.  You could
    put a bowl under it to catch the drips.  You may have to get
    her used to using the nipple by offering it to her by hand
    at first.  Just a thought.  My heart goes out to the poor 
    little thing.
    
    karen

    I'd go for the water bottle idea, too!  Hang it where
    the water dish is usually at.  And add water to the
    canned food.  A friend of mine's cat cut her tongue
    badly, almost halfway thru on one side.  The vet said
    to just make sure it didn't get infected, and that she
    had plenty of food & water available, and no competition,
    (over the food, so she could take her time eating)
    and she should do fine.
    
    SHE DID!!
    
    Hang in there!  She's just sore right now.....
    
    L-

    Is your cat dehydrated yet?  If not, then she is getting enough
    water from her food.  If she is dehydrated, have your vet show you
    how to give her sub-q fluids.  This is much easier for you and for
    her than having you give her fluids with an eye dropper. 
    
    If she cannot learn to drink, I imagine that you could give her
    supportive care via sub-q fluids on a daily basis without any adverse
    reactions.  I maintained Laci on fluids for many weeks while she
    healed from her run in with a pellet gun.
    
    Jo

    Does she like to drink from the faucet?  Maybe you could leave it
    trickling for her.  I think the baby bottle or rabbit bottle sounds
    very good too.
    
    Try to keep a positive attitude and I think she'll adjust fine.
    And please keep us posted.  We're usually full of ideas ;-)
      Hang in there.
      Nancy DC

    The poor baby....I'm sure she's in very good hands.  I agree with
    all the ideas,,,but I suggest that while you are experiencing with
    the different suggestion make sure you do add some water to the food 
    to ensure she is getting some.
    
    Please keep us posted...what is this babies name??
               
    Sandy

    Just last nite I received this month's Cat Fancy magazine.  If you want
    a little hope, this is the issue!  They have an article that tells
    about many cats who have overcome adversity with severe physical
    problems.  Hang in there and give lots of love, if some of these
    kitties can do it, yours surely can too!
    Karen, R,S,W,A
    

    Thank you for all your encouragement and suggestions.  It feels so good
    to have someone listen in times like this, especially people who you
    know love cats as much as you do.
    
    Axel is doing just great.  She's bouncing around the house and is more
    loveable than ever.  She waits on my bed every night for me and sleeps
    with me until about 5:30. (This is new)  She still isn't drinking and
    fights the eyedropper like crazy.  I am still adding water to her food
    which I know she isn't crazy about, but she does eat it.  I have been
    testing her for dehydration.  To test for that, you pull up the skin at
    the scruff of the neck.  If it stays up a while or falls slowly they
    are dehydrated.  So far so good.  My other two cats, Friskie who became
    her mother (he's a male) when we got her (two weeks old) and Cujo still
    avoid her.  Axel is now able to clean herself a little.  I was hoping
    Friskie would clean her ears and neck as he has always.  The other two
    can tell something is wrong.
    
    It really looks like she will survive, I am so glad I didn't react as
    most of the people around me did and have her put to sleep.  Almost
    everyone at the time said, put the poor baby out of her misery.
    She did suffer a great deal, she walked around foaming at the mouth,
    growling and crying - but by the time I found out what was wrong she
    had already gone through the worse.
    
    I have found by owning pets that they are survivors.  I had a ferret 
    once who got closed in the back of a lazy-boy chair.  The kids took him
    out and he left all overy my new living room rug a long streak of
    what looked like his guts.  It was actually all the food in his
    intestines.  I flew out of work, and rushed him to the Vet a good half
    hour away, while he went into convulsions and cried all the way (and
    ferrets don't normally make noises).  It was the longest trip in my
    life.  The Vet was waiting for him and gave him a shot when I arrived.
    He went in and out of convulsions all night but in the end survived.
    He was as normal and healthy after that as could be.  Sometimes I think
    they are stronger than we are.  
    
    Again, thank you all for caring.  I will keep you up-to-date.
    
    Mary D.

    
    I know that my guys drink an awful lot of water when they eat 
    crunchies (dry food), so you may want to stay away from that for
    a while. 
    
    Glad to hear your baby is doing better.....good luck!
    
    Barbara, Ebony & Ivory

    I would vote for canned (aka moist) food also, for its
    water content.  My guys basically seem to need no
    supplimentary water when on canned food, but drink a lot
    of water when on dry food.  the canned food might be
    easier for her to eat also even after her tongue is healed.
    
    poor baby.
    

    My poor little girl is still not drinking, but is doing fine otherwise.
    Her tongue looks healed.  She is getting water that I mix in her food.
    She is also still spending the whole night with me.  She is so
    loveable.  It breaks my heart that someone hurt her.  There are some
    rotten people in this world.
    
    Mary D.

    It's been a few weeks now and for the first time this morning I saw
    little Axel drink a bowl of milk!  I just couldn't believe it.  She
    drank it about as quickly as if she had her whole tongue.  I think the
    fact that it was milk gave her incentive.  I have been adding water to
    all her food which she didn't seem to like at first and so would run to
    the other cat's bowls.  I soon learned that I had to add water to all
    of theirs.  Next she fought the eye dropper when I would give her water
    from it.  Lately I found that she loved being "baby" while I gave her
    milk from the eye dropper.
    
    I am so happy that I gave her the chance to survive.
    
    I have a question that maybe some of you can help with.  She sheds a
    lot.  Maybe it's just her type of fur.  She is black and white and silky
    long haired.  Lately she has been sitting on the dining room table on
    my new table cloth and leaving lots of hair and any where else she
    happens to sit.  Any suggestions?  I do brush her.

    Have you started using the heat in your house yet?  This might be the
    reason why she is suddenly shedding.  Keep up the brushing.
    
    Oh, just thought of something, she only has half a tongue.  She
    probably can't groom herself like she used to.  Usually, she would
    probably be ingesting all that fur, so you will have to take care of it
    for her.  
    
    Jo

brushing helps, but now that your kitten hasn't a real functional tongue, she
may need you to use a flea comb on her to help remove the loose fur that
sits under the top coat.  I use a flea comb on my herd once a week, and
brush daily...the daily brushing is our "quality time" together....the combing
is necessary unless I want to live ankle deep in fur - the gang doesn't like
it, but it sure works.

    Thanks for the advice.  I will keep on brushing and try the combing. 
    Axel growls when I brush her.  She really hates it.  But her growl
    really cracks me up.  As I think I mentioned, I got her when she was
    about two weeks old, eyes still closed.  Some how I thought she would
    have no cat instincts, having known no mother.  I remember the first
    time I heard her growl.  I said "Axel, who taught you to growl!"  I
    thought it was so cute and still do.  I enjoy her so much, sometimes I
    think because she is the baby of the three cats and because she is so
    tiny.  My other two male cats are big.
    
    Thanks again for the advice.
    
    Mary D.