Vet Visit

Leo went to the vet today. He was such a good boy! And he’s just fine, I’ll get that out of the way right off. Know what surprised me? He meowed all the way there (a whole 7 minutes). He rode home from Chrystal’s, an 8 hour drive, and never once made a peep. Poor little guy. He calmed when I put my fingers through the bars on the door.

Last week I noticed something odd on one of his front paws. When I played with his toes, there was something odd between them. It took a while, and the help of Greg, but I finally got a look at it. There was something sticking out of a tiny toe pad that I hadn’t noticed before. It was hidden behind the two extra toes, they kind of overlapped it. I thought it was a thorn, but where would he get a thorn? Surely it hadn’t been there since he was a feral kitten outdoors.


I gave it a gentle little tug, but it was not moving. But Leo was, and he was not happy. We decided to let him go and call the vet. I wanted to make sure it was still there over the weekend, because if it wasn’t he probably didn’t need the vet. So Greg held him again, and yup, it was still there. He got a look at it that time and thought it was something embedded too. I looked closer and wondered if it wasn’t a growth. Well, best to leave it to the vet we decided and didn’t fuss with it since he was not happy about having it looked at.


So today we took him in, and after his fussing in the car, he behaved very well. At first it didn’t look like he wanted to come out of the cage, but just as the nurse was going to reach in, he came out like a good boy. She got a quick peek at the thing and thought it might be a growth, but he wasn’t cooperating with her so she didn’t get a good look.


Leo suffered the indignities of the vets examination quietly, without a peep or struggle until they got to the paw. He tried to squirm away but after a moment he let him get a good look. The verdict. This was yet another spare claw. It looks like a little stick, there is no claw shape to it, it’s just straight, not even a vein.



The problem is, being buried under the other spare toes, it can grow unnoticed and poke into soft tissue and cause problems. We’ll need to keep it, and the wonky claw that doesn’t retract, clipped well so they don’t injure him. The new stick like claw can be trimmed back completely to the pad, and the vet did that for us, you can’t even see it now. He also said that if it became a problem he could surgically remove it from the pad so it wouldn’t grow back again. For now, we’re going to see how keeping it trimmed goes.


I watched carefully how he trimmed the wonky claw because I’m afraid of that one and worry when I trim it. He trimmed it a lot shorter than I usually do, and guess what? No two points on it now! If I keep it trimmed short enough and often enough, it might not have two points again. It was starting to look like a little lobster claw!

Here’s how the wonky claw used to look.

Here’s how it is after the trim.

The vet trimmed all his claws, and even his back feet which I have not done at all yet. He struggles and I don’t want to upset him.. They weren’t horribly long yet, so I was giving it time. But it’s nice that he’s all trimmed up, and pronounced perfectly healthy! Vet said that for being a former feral, he was remarkably healthy. I know that is entirely due to Chrystal and the wonderful care she gave my baby boy when she rescued him!


I cannot thank Chrystal and her family enough for the care and time they put into Leo, not to mention his sisters and all the other kitties she’s rescued. They are just the most amazing people. If you read her blog, then you know how many kittens she’s rescued in recent weeks, so many, and so sick. The chip in donation thing is still up, and I know for a fact that she can sure as heck use every dime given. So please, consider sending something, every little bit helps. And while you’re there, consider adopting! See how healthy her kitties are before she lets them go to their forever homes!! Every adoption makes room for another rescued kitten, so you’d be helping out more than just one kitty!!

None the worse for wear.

If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not go back there, even though they did give me treats.. And even sent extras home to share with Star.