November Patient of the Month- Inky!!!

This month’s Patient of the Month came to us under a bit of mystery.  Found as a kitten at Miami Country Day School in 2004, Inky settled in to his forever home quickly. While his health was mostly problem free, as he developed out of his kitten years and began to settle into his adult personality at 1yr his behavior became HORRIBLE!!  However, Inky had so ingratiated himself into the hearts of his fur-ever family, there was no turning back and they explored every avenue to help him through these terrible 2’s.

His humans read almost every feline behavior book available. They tried medications, they hired behaviorists and they tried holistic care. They even consulted a pet psychic hoping to find a fix. Happily, they did.  Now at the seasoned age of 11, Inky was settle in his home and routine. He was (usually) very well behaved and extremely smart and loving. Sometimes he even did “tricks” on command!

Then, one day, he stopped eating. He began vomiting and had a very painful abdomen. He was clearly not feeling well and was brought to the HAH. Dr.Cappe evaluated Inky and after a thorough exam, bloodwork and radiographs-the answer was found. Inky had an abdominal hernia. An abdominal hernia exists when one part of the body protrudes through a gap in the abdomen and parts of the stomach push through the opening.  This is most common to occur in kittens before they reach age 1 and is usually inherited (congenital). However, trauma can bring on an acquired hernia at any age.  Inky however,  had incurred NO trauma!!!  

His compromised diaphragm was of an unknown origin and existed for an unknown period of time.  The immediate concern then was surgical repair and evaluation of potential damage related to the long term effects of his compromised lung and organ development. 

Inky went into immediate surgery with Dr. Herrington. The surgery was intense. Inky was on manual respiration while the hole in his diaphragm was cleared and closed. Once the air was removed from the chest cavity, allowing for appropriate respiration, his recovery was managed by our Boarded Internist, Dr. Fishkin to ensured Inky woke up smoothly and pain free.

Overnight, Inky rested comfortable and by morning he was nearly back to normal. His fiery personality was in full swing now that he could take a breather.

Inky recently had his stitches out and is doing great at home. His case was certainly unique but his team of humans knew exactly what to do. This month we recognized this fiery feline as our November Patient of the Month!

To learn more about Inky and the behavior of cats_ check out Inky’s blog @ http://www.felinebehavior.blogspot.com/