Dumb-Dumb and the Dental floss.......

Dumb-Dumb is the nickname Mike and I had adopted a while back for Ashlynn's cat, Picasso. Collectively, we have referred to Picasso and our dog, Mason, as Dumb and Dumber and periodically have wondered which is which. Last night, I think Picasso took the title of Dumber, even though I am sure at some point, Mason will reclaim it.

Now, a normal cat probably finds plenty to get himself into trouble with, but leave it to our special needs cat to swallow an undefined amount of dental floss. When we discovered the dental floss on the carpet and pulled on it, I was surprised that it was connected to the cat. Even more shocking, was that it was in his throat and quickly we realized it wasn't going to be easy to get out. I called the emergency vet clinic while Mike ran out to the garage to get the pliers as he figured that he'd be able to pull it out. The Vet quickly advised against it and don't worry, Mike put down the pliers. It was up to me to take the world's dumbest cat to the ER with the hope that this would be any easy fix.

I arrived with Picasso in the pet carrier at the animal ER at 10:30 pm and thankfully, animal ER's don't have the wait that us humans have to endure. They took him to triage for weight and other stats, then showed us to our exam room (how professional). The vet tech removed Picasso from the carrier and at that point we got a gauge of how much floss was hanging out of his mouth--over 7 feet of floss! After some discussion, it was decided that they would sedate Picasso, exam down his thoat visually, and do some xrays to determine whether he had something connected to the floss or some intestinal blockage. After viewing xrays, they didn't find anything (ie., needle, metal spool, etc.) in the body, but couldn't see the floss either. They tried to pull on the floss, but it became evident that they weren't going to be successful in pulling it out. The xrays also showed that there may some early indications of intestinal blockage, but time would have to tell.

The vet wanted to admit him for hospitalization and repeat xrays in the morning, but I knew that being an ER this could get real expensive real fast. So after a lot of discussion with the vet (and Mike via phone), I insisted that we'd have to take the chance and I would take him home to follow up with our vet this afternoon. As of this morning, Picasso is still alive and normal, with the floss cut back enough that he could swallow it with the hope it will come out the other end.

We've had Picasso now for around 8 years and while he is elusive and seemingly crazy, I realized last night that I actually love this little guy. I briefed Ashlynn and Alec this morning of the possibility that Picasso's days may be numbered, but Ashlynn seemed confident that he will make it though. As annoying as this cat can be, he probably will...............