Nine Lives

Well it’s pretty safe to say that my furry friend Dexter has been through the wars recently. I’ve had a lot of people asking on twitter and instagram what happened to him and how he is doing now, so I thought I’d share the story. Which ends in the seemingly obvious moral of how massively important cat insurance is.

It all started the weekend I went down to Leeds to get tattooed, and my flatmate Gary called me the day before I was coming home to say that Dexter had been sick a few times and was moping about feeling sorry for himself. Both Dexter and Tinkerbell are sick every so often, but never enough to worry because it’s always fur ball related. However this time Gary was suspect of Dexter climbing on top of the bookcase in the living room and trying to ‘groom’ the hair extensions on a fake unicorn head we had up there. Sounds absolutely mad but Gary is a propmaker and this was a wonderful creation of his he made back at uni! Neither of the cats had bothered about going up there years before now, so I don’t know what all of a sudden struck Dexters interest.

I got home at 6ish the next day, and got quite a fright when I saw how much Dexter wasn’t himself. I kept a close eye on him overnight, and rushed him along to the vets as soon as they opened the next morning. They took him in for bloods and an xray, with their biggest concern being these long fake hair extensions that he had been grooming getting caught up in his intestines. After him being kept in overnight and a massive chat with the vet, we decided that an operation was the next step to go in and investigate, then remove whatever was lurking inside his tummy. Turns out it was the tiniest clump of long hair that was stuck in there, causing all the trouble. One more day and Dexter probably wouldn’t have survived 🙁 The hair had caught between his bowels and intestines, causing them to concertina and cause a blockage. The vet told me a few stories of cats swallowing needles and thread – and funnily enough it’s not the needle they were worried about, it’s the thread! Any piece of hair, string, ribbon, tinsel, thread etc that is longer than their own hair can cause serious amounts of damage.

Dexter came through the operation and was in the pet hospital for a week and a half afterwards in recovery. They said if a human had been through this procedure they would be in intensive care for weeks. They had to cut him open inside in 6 different places, and remove a part of his bowel that had been damaged. He was on a drip for the duration of his stay, and was in a really vulnerable position to the point that I didn’t know if he was going to make it through. Every day I waited for the call to say he could come home. I cried with relief the day that finally came!

Here is my handsome boy about a week after he got home. You can see where his legs have been shaved for the drip he was on (which he was apparently quite a pro at pulling out the last few days of his stay!) and I was having to give him tablets twice a day for about three weeks, along with trips to the vets every three days. Until he finally got signed off last weekend 🙂 He looks quite skinny in this picture but his appetite is back in full swing and he’s piling the weight on again. Dexter has some lovely new toys from Gor Pets to enjoy now that he’s home (a new scratching post and a bouncy mouse toy) He has also totally claimed my gorgeous tartan blanket from Heritage of Scotland. It’s Loch Carron Lambswool with the Bruce of Kinnaird tartan, and I’d been using it as a throw for the bottom of my bed and over the chair in my bedroom. Then I noticed that on the blanket is the only place Dexter would sleep when he was back in the house. So I think he’s claimed dibs on it for now, but I’ll let him away with it since he’s not been well.

You can’t quite see in this picture but a huge section of Dexter’s belly got shaved for the operation. He’s such a hairy cat so it’s really strange seeing skin for a change! It’s growing back pretty quickly already though.

Oscar and Dougall got this new play pen from Rakuten Play for when they have ‘floor time’. I’ll be honest, what’s happened with Dexter has made me even more wary about any potential dangers in my room. So although the pigs don’t have as much free reign as they used to I feel a lot better knowing that any hazards are out the way when they’re out their cage. The above picture was piggy dinner while I cleaned their cage, but they’ve also got a good few toys to play with and ‘mweep’ around during floor time 🙂

To celebrate Dexter coming home, Jokers Masquerade sent him this absolutely BRILLIANT costume! Can you guess who it is?…

Katy Perry California Girl – SO GOOD! I’ve used Jokers before for past Halloween Costumes, but I had no idea they did pet costumes too. Okay, this one is for a dog BUT you know my history of dressing Dexter up haha. And before you say it, absolute alarm bells were ringing around that wig – believe me. But don’t worry, I popped it on for photo purposes, completely supervised and put it straight in the bag and away in a drawer once we were done. I have learned my lesson and there is no way I will go through that drama again.

Daisy dukes, bikini on top! Hahaha how absolutely raging does he look in this picture?! He wasn’t tolerating the wig and the glasses at the same time, it was either to be one or the other. But the cupcake bra he was very happy to wear, and actually wandered off for a bit once I took the wig off. I’m determined to get some better pictures of Dexter come Halloween time with this outfit on, and possibly try it on Heather’s dogs next time she comes round as the outfit is a Large (he’s a big cat after all)

To say this stuff with Dexter has been an ordeal, is an absolute understatement. Any pet owner will know how much animals become more like family, and the thought of them being ill or passing away is really unimaginable and hard to deal with. The biggest lesson I’ve learned through this, is that even though Dexter is a house cat – pet insurance is still absolutely vital. I was naive to think that because he stays in the house means he is exempt to any sort of danger. So if you don’t have pet insurance I cannot stress more that you should seriously consider getting it. Dexter’s vet bill tallied up to £966 in total, and I couldn’t have got through this experience or paid the bill without the help of my friends and family. I’m a very lucky girl, and Dexter is a very lucky cat. I am so grateful to have my fur-baby home. They say cats have nine lives and I am absolutely positive that Dexter has used up one of them. Take it from me, life lesson learned!