1 post tagged “bad mom”

I'm feeling awfully worried and guilty at the moment. My girl cat, Lilu, named for her bright orange fur and likeness to the heroine from The Fifth Element, came up to me tonight for some love. So I petted her, rubbed behind her ears, and then started scratching down her back when I felt two big tufts of matted hair. As I have done a dozen times before, I got up to find a pair of household scissors, then came back to corner and calm her so she'd let me cut the mats out. As usual, she squirmed a bit and squeaked a bit, but I cut the mats free and let her go on her merry way.

Well, about ten minutes later she came back over to me for more love so I started the whole process again, petting and loving on her, and then...one of my fingers slipped over a strange wet spot and, gulp, into some sort of indentation. Lilu didn't react at all, but I instantly knew what I'd done. In cutting the matted fur I had cut her too.

I hobbled together a pet first aid kit (why on earth don't I have one of these ready at all times?!) and closeted my poor baby into the laundry room with me. She squirmed and squeaked as usual, but was generally calm, even letting me buzz the fur away from her wound with the pet trimmer. It didn't bleed much at all, but it's a cut clear down to the muscle; there's a little elongated slice missing from her skin where the matts were and I can see the sheen of fat and tissue. It must be painful, but the only time she seemed to be in pain was when I rinsed it out with peroxide and put some antibacterial ointment into and around it. (Could that be possible? They say animals have amazing pain tolerance.) I tried to wrap a makeshift bandage around her to keep the wound covered until I can get her to the vet tomorrow, but she slipped her way out of it twice.

Poor Lilu. She ran into the office on her own, making a beeline for it after the Johnny cat gave her the evil eye. I went in to pet her and calm her down with some Peace and Calming oil, and I left her food and water. I'll bring her a cat box in just a minute too. I wanted to bring her into my bedroom tonight, but I don't want to spook her anymore than she already is. Maybe I'll stay in the office with her instead.

I'm suddenly in the middle of a swirl of guilty thoughts about how I'm not taking care of these animals well; that I'm neglecting them; that if I'd brushed Lilu more, she'd never have developed those matts in the first place...

Enough of that, though. I have to go take care of my baby and spinning my wheels won't help. Sigh. Still...bad pet momma.