Molly cat had a little scab on her left shoulder, about the size of a 5p piece. It wasn’t really bothering her, but it had been there a while so I made an appointment with the vet.
That was last year, during (I think) Lockdown Two. Before the appointment came round, the scab disappeared. Fair enough. I cancelled the appointment.
But then, a couple of weeks ago, I noticed it again. Only this time it was about the size of a 10p piece, and it was bothering her.
I made an appointment, and in the intervening two days the lesion doubled in size, became generally more obvious, and – well, basically not very nice.
Our vets have a very good system – you can see the waiting room from the street, so when you arrive at the door you either ring them or just wave like a crazy person and the receptionist comes out to you. There was already someone waiting, so he showed me round the back to a sort of holding pen, where Molly and I sat and made small talk until it was our turn.
Once in the waiting room proper, there is a ‘pet park’ where you leave your cat basket or tether your dog, ready for the nurse to come and get them. There’s also an ‘owners’ park’, with a couple of chairs, socially distanced. The vet comes in with the notes, and you discuss what appears to be the problem. They then go into the consulting room and look at the beast, and come back with the diagnosis – and the bill.
Molly needed an antibiotic jab and a steroid jab. They shaved the area around the lesion, and clipped her claws so she wouldn’t be able to scratch so much. And they prescribed cream to be applied twice a day. The vet told me if the problem had been anywhere else, they would have fitted her with a lampshade, but with it being on her shoulder, it would be exactly where the collar of the lampshade would sit, so it wouldn’t help.
He suggested I could try to make a sort of bandage for her with tubigrip, or an old pair of tights. I don’t own any tubigrip, so sacrificing a pair of tights seemed to be the best option.
Have you ever tried to put tights on a cat?
My first effort didn’t work – I got the ‘tight’ on, but as soon as she moved it just rolled up around her neck.
Someone at work suggested a new-born baby vest – so off I trotted to Home Bargains in my lunch break and bought not just one but a pack of 5 (!) for the princely sum of £5. I tried one on her – she looked ridiculously cute, but it was too big, and didn’t cover the affected area.
Does anyone want 4 unused 0-3 month baby vests in grey and white? Free to a good home.
Third attempt was another version of the tights theme. I cut a longer length of tight, and cut ‘arm’ holes in it, to make a sort of upside-down vest (the armholes are at the bottom rather than the top). That stopped the whole thing from rolling up, and – it worked!!
And today I’ve just made a her a new one because the first one has been on 3-4 days and was getting a bit ragged round the edges.
It’s working a treat. She tries to scratch, of course, but between the clipped claws and the 45 deniers, she isn’t able to do herself any damage.
And doesn’t she look smart!!
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