Feline Friday: Mystic's Surgery Edition

Some of you are already acquainted with my cat Mystic the Magnificent, brother of the slightly-more-famous Magic the Cat (Queen of the Universe). Mystic is my big guy--a little over 16 lbs, with shoulders that stand about 3 inches above those of his sister and mother. He's mostly a gentle giant, when he's not trying to kill poor Samhain (who weighs a tad over 6 lbs and never did anything to him other than to refuse to back down in the 8 years she's lived here) or pick on his mom or sister. But really, just a big Pooh Bear most of the time.

About 7 months ago, I found a little lump at the base of his neck. Nothing much--about the size of a pencil eraser--but it didn't go away, so I took him to the vet. She poked and prodded it, said it was probably nothing, and to just keep an eye on it. (Have I mentioned that I love my vet? I do. She's the best.)

About a month and a half ago, I took Mystic, Magic, and their mom Minerva for their yearly check-up and shots (yes, it IS fun taking them all at once, thank you for asking). Dr. Baker looked at the lump, said it looked exactly the same, and to watch and wait.

So naturally, two weeks after that, the lump suddenly got much bigger. It was obvious he'd been kicking at it, so it may have been just the area around it. Back to the vet we went, and she said, "Yup. We should probably take that off." Scheduled surgery for a week later.

At which point I looked at the lump, and it was right back to its original size. *headdesk*

I deprived him of breakfast and dropped him off before work anyway, with the message that the doc should do what she thought best. She voted to "watch and wait" again, and home we went.

Upon which he kicked at the lump again, and it got bigger. Again. *repeat headdesk*

So this Monday we went through the whole thing again (except that now he was wise to me and hid behind the furniture and made me chase him around for 15 minutes before I could stuff him in the carrier) and this time the danged lump came off. (Along with a sizeable chunk of my wallet.) The vet sent the lump out for a biopsy, and we should hear back sometime next week. I'm not too worried, really, but a few crossed fingers and some aggressive wood-knocking might be good.

Here's poor Mystic after. He came home wearing a surgical stocking to keep him from scratching at the stitches, but as you can see, it didn't really fit well. Bad spot, large cat. Also, he unraveled part of it and tried to choke himself.

They shaved a LOT of fur.

 So I went to the pet store to look for an alternative. Unfortunately, he is SO big, most of the kitty things didn't work. But I did find this cute kitty pirate harness with hoodie.

Like, man, he's the Cat in the Hood

Cute, isn't it?

Mystic didn't think so.

Needless to say, the cat was not amused. My cats don't go outside, so they've never even worn collars. This is my friend Julie's coat he's sitting on. I think he was hoping to go home with her.

This one worked for a while, until Wednesday night, when the incision must have really started itching. It did seem to keep him from getting at the stitches, but it didn't really go up high enough, and by Thursday morning, it looked like this.

Guess I'm not going to be able to take this one back to the store.

 So Thursday after work, I went back to the pet store and found this cool coat meant for a small dog instead. Is it just me, or does he look a little like The Fonz? That's Minerva, looking extremely dubious.

Coolest cat on the block. Also, no way to reach the stitches, because of the collar.

He's still unimpressed.

Hopefully, this will keep the stitches intact until we go back to the vet next Wednesday to have them removed. Anyone else have any cat (or dog) surgery stories to share?