Dobby is having a bad day (long)

[Marla]

My roommate's cat Dobby was born in our den from the mama cat left behind by the house's previous occupants (who left a year before -- grr! and the mama cat lives with my father now). His birthday is Monday and he'll be 4 years old. Apparently he decided to celebrate it by spending a lot of money.

Dobby is a big (17 lb.) swaggering solid white tomcat (fixed) who thinks he owns the neighborhood. We've tried keeping him inside, but it can be difficult with an armload of groceries or something, and he always seemed to do just fine holding his own in fights and running fast from cars. The worst he's ever come home with is a little tear on his ear.

This morning Dobby came home with a deep cut at least 2" long (he didn't want me investigating too closely) to the bone or close to it, following the curve of his tail, about 3" from the base. It looked like it was sliced with a lawnmower's rotary blade. I called my roommate who was already on the way to work and told her to get home and take her cat to the vet. She asked if I'd take him and I told her I would if she'd pay for the time I missed from work. An argument ensued but the end result was she turned around and came home and took Dobby to the vet.

She took him to the vet closest to our house where I've taken my cat and dog but she hadn't been before. He agreed it looked like a cut from a rotary blade and suspected Dobby had been under the hood when someone started their car this morning. Thank goodness whoever it was apparently turned off the car immediately.

Anyway, to keep a long story from getting any longer, he scheduled Dobby for immediate surgery and thinks he can be ready to go home this afternoon, but is entirely unsure whether he'll be able to save the tail. Apparently Dobby didn't suffer any internal injuries, for which we are grateful, but he may or may not lose his tail and either way my roommate's going to be out about $400 which will probably mean I have to cover more of the bills.

[JLC]

Awwwwwwww....poor Dobby! I hope they can save his tail!!

Is Dobby named after the house elf in the Harry Potter books? Cute name! I'm glad his injuries weren't more severe!

[Marla]

Yes, he is named after the house elf, and my sister's childhood nickname was Winkie, so we have a pair of them. I hope the doc can save his tail, too. He said he was going to give it his best shot because cats are too proud to not have tails, tho dogs do just fine without.

[CTReptileRescue]

sorry to hear about Dobby.
I have assisted with a few tail amputations and luckily it is not an extremely complex procedure. I bet he'll be good as new in no time.
I'm glad his injuries weren't more severe!
Thanks
rsuty

[Marla]

Thanks, Rusty. I'm glad it was just his tail, too, as I've seen a lot worse done when cat meets car (that's how I came to have a tripod cat for a while). Hopefully he'll be able to keep his tail and there won't be any problems with infection.

[Marla]

OK, an update on Dobby: although we couldn't see it, apparently his tail was sliced all the way from base to tip. The doctor was, however, able to save the tail. It's a good thing that it was sliced rather than chopped or mangled. Dobby will be coming home in a couple of hours. ::whew::

[JLC]

I'm so glad he's going to be OK! He'll be proudly waving his banner in no time!

[Marla]

Thanks, Judy, I hope you're right.

[Sassafrass]

Glad to hear that Dobby is doing well...he's still in my kitty prayers tho.

[Marla]

Thanks, Sass. I'm sure he can use them to help fight off infection.