Pobrecito Titi

A week ago, while we were still in San Diego, Titi came home one night [after exploring outside for a few hours] without his collar.   

We thought maybe it came off while he was squeezing through a fence.   Later that night I pet him and he made some strange noises and moved from the bed to the closet.  Weird.  In the morning he didn't wake up with us as usual, instead he stayed in the closet for 2 hours.  I investigated and there was a bump on his back and it seemed painful.  The next day the the pain seemed to subside, so I thought it was getting better.

After a couple days, I started to get worried.  Titi didn't have as much energy and the bump that had seemed to be going away was now bigger and more painful.  I made an appointment at a vet for Saturday morning. 

WARNING!  THE FOLLOWING CONTENT MAY BE UNSUITABLE FOR CHILDREN OR PERSONS WITH A WEAK STOMACH. 

The vet said he would have to shave Titi's beautiful fur to take a closer look.  What they found was this:

We left Titi there for a few hours because they had to drain the abscess (an infected puncture wound, usually from fighting with another cat).  When we picked Titi up a few hours later, I was horrified to see this:

A rubber pipe was pushed through Titi's skin to drain out the liquid from the TWO abcesses they found under the fur.  I cried.  

"What in the hell did they do to my sweet kitty?"

 I was equally horrified at the bill. 

We were sent home with pain killers and a bottle of disinfectant to clean the wound 2x a day.  Titi has to wear this pitiful cone on his head.  I feel so bad for him, he is trying to groom himself and just ends up licking the plastic.  Pobrecito!

{my pitiful little cone head}

The good news is that tomorrow the drain comes out and they'll stitch him up.  He is sleeping a lot and seems to be healing.   He will still have to be a "cone head" for a few days so he doesn't tear out the stitches. 

My heart aches for my little Titi. My poor helpless Titi.  I have been babying him, I guess my motherly instincts are starting to kick in:)