We caught one of the five so far. The cats did not go for the drop trap this a.m. in a timely fashion so now its the one by one scenario.
Yesterday, I could no longer bear the pain of my thumb. I soaked it and soaked it and with heavy magnification glasses on, plus a flashlight held in my mouth, I was able to see a white spot beneath the skin beside my thumbnail. I knew what that meant. Infection.
I got a syringe with 23 gauge needle on it, and they come sterile, for giving cats' vaccines, and began, holding the syringe in my left hand, poking with the needle down beside and under my thumb nail. If you think that sounds painful, it was. But not nearly as painful as my thumb has felt the last few days.
Suddenly I hit the pocket and out from under my nail pus comes pouring. Yuk! But the pain relief, as the pressure subsided under my nail, was instant! Out with the pus, came a sliver of wood or something. I'd driven something, probably a splinter of metal or wood, under the edge of my thumbnail. Now I knew why it was hurting.
I had to jab at it a few more times before soaking my thumb again, and repeating with new needle. I also drilled two tiny holes in my nail above that area to release pressure. I did it with a needle also, turning it back and forth, like a hand drill until I hit what lies beneath. I soaked it next in peroxide and hope I got the entire object out of there.
Don't try these things if your heart is faint.
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| This is the first catch at the new Albany colony, the mom of the four teens, who are bigger than she is. |
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| The Christmas trees in the snow and ice out at the farm stand near where I feed the cats. |
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| They're not sold as frosted trees, but they certainly were frosted and frozen! |
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| Miss Daisy and Starry are best buddies. |
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| There is often lots of competition for spots on the bed with me at night. Old Lucy likes to be right beside me and sometimes trods clumsily over other cats to get there which puts her in no favor with the likes of Starry. Lucy and Slinko have become very close, oddly. |
I'll bet it did hurt. And I suspect the relief was enormous. I hope you did get it all.
ReplyDeleteI hear you on the clumsy trotting over other cats. Which often resulted in battles here, as the one who had been comfortable bit at the legs of the one tromping over...
Yes, it can start tiffs for sure.
DeleteYou are much braver than I am. I didn't like hearing about your thumb operation, let alone thinking about doing something like that myself.
ReplyDeleteSomeone thanked me for not taking a video of it and sharing.
DeleteI don't think I could have done anything like that to myself. You're very brave!
ReplyDeleteYou are very brave. I don't know if I could have carried out the self surgery. You probably did better than a doctor would.
ReplyDeleteWell, I couldn't wait, Andrew. Can take two months to get a doctor appointment around here. By then my entire thumb, maybe my entire arm, would turn black and drop off.
DeleteI, too, am glad you didn't take photos or video. ~grin~ I'm definitely not sturdy stuff in the medical department. How awful that it's so difficult to get a doctor's appointment!
ReplyDeleteI adore the photos. What sweet faces. Be well!
Thanks Darla
Delete"Can take two months to get a doctor appointment around here"
ReplyDeleteSay you have an infected thumb, and if that doesn't work, then surely you have Urgent Care facilities, and if you don't, Eugene does.
You might need antibiotics. I came close to losing my thumb because it became WAY infected before I saw a doctor (you might remember the horrendous photos that shocked so many of my readers), so I had to have emergency surgery to save it, and even then (as I later learned), the hand specialist consider the outcome in doubt. So, if your thumb feels okay and looks okay, fine, but don't play around with an infection.
Yes, I could go to Urgent Care if I needed to. I remember those photos!
Delete