A Tragic Tail....

So yesterday was full on crazy. We had a great day a church. A nice dinner of breakfast items. And a cat that needed part of her tail amputated.

Let me back up.
We got home last night about 6:30 from a friends house. We were going about our business at home of some chores and what not. All the cats were underfoot. It's the norm here. Anyway, I went to go to the bathroom and our kitty Hazelnut was sitting outside the door. (She always has sat there. She likes it for some reason.) Casey was on the outside of the bathroom in that hall and we both went to close the door.
Then we heard a screech like a hell-beast on fire.
Poor little Hazelnut had flicked her tail into the crack of the door and when it shut, it shut on her tail.
Now normally cats can have a little accident like this and nothing really happens. It's like shutting your finger in a door. It doesn't always end in tragedy. I guess this was not one of those simple moments.
For whatever reason all we can figure is she panicked and tried to pull her tail out. Well by doing so she stripped it of about 3 inches worth of skin, muscle and fur so the bone was completely exposed.
Casey called the vets emergency line and grabbed her carrier. (Well not really her's. Cuzco's carrier was closer but we didn't really care at that point.) I went to catch her. She was hiding and shaking and bleeding in our bedroom. How fun right? I wrapped her up in a towel and got her into the carrier. We then said a quick prayer and off we went. I explained on the phone to the emergency line what happened but she had her tail tucked so far we didn't really get to see the damage until later. We also called my father in law just in case our heads were to pumped full of adrenaline to think clearly. Although outwardly I was pretty calm and so was Casey there was just an edge of panic I could feel.
We then got to the vets office. It took our vet about 10 minutes to show up. The weekend worker had Hazelnut all checked in and ready for him so as soon as we got there he only had to weigh her and listen to her heart. He pronounced her a very healthy kitty minus the obvious injury. He then explained the procedure he was going to have to do. He would have to amputate from the top of the healthiest not exposed vertebrae. He then said that we could pick her up in the morning. My FIL also stated we may not want to see this. I brazenly proclaimed it wouldn't bother me, and that I would stay with her. I hated the idea of her being alone during surgery and then alone all night. The weekend person had left and I didn't even see any other animals. I couldn't leave her without making sure after surgery she was comfortable (as possible) and okay.  Casey gave me a glance and said he would stay for the surgery too. (That honestly made me nervous. My husband does NOT do well with needles, and cutting, and medical stuff.)
I held her while the vet sedated her. He made small chit-chat. Casey at some point mentioned my phlebotomy certification and the fact blood and other stuff really doesn't bother me. The vet then smiled and said, "Well if you are comfortable with medical things, and you promise not to call me all night long, I see no reason you can't take her home with you after so she doesn't have to be here alone." Exactly what I was worried about. I promised I wouldn't bug him until the morning and he laughed.
When he shaved her tail it showed the damage went farther than we all thought. I held her tail for him (even though I know he was capable to doing everything on his own. I think he just wanted to make me feel useful.) He cleaned it. (That part DID make me wince. I know she was out, but the idea of cleaning exposed bone just makes me shudder.) Then he put on a tourniquet and I held her tail up while he talked out loud of each step he was doing. Cutting down the muscle and skin, cutting around this vertebrae, so on so forth.
Casey was given the job of making the carrier a comfy place for her to ride home in. He didn't watch the icky part, and I don't blame him one bit.
After her stitches were finished and everything was cleaned up we then found out I had left my wallet (and our money to pay for the surgery) at home. He then joked that we could come back in the morning and pay. After all Dr. Bell (the other vet at their office) knew where I lived. (She made a house call a few months ago to update all their shots.)
We got her home and settled in the bathroom. It's dark and quiet and a great place for her to rest. It's also one of her favorite places in the house.

Taken only a couple days ago. She loves to sleep in the sink.  What a cute tip of her tail huh?

I'm home from work today to keep an eye out. Right now she is snoozing in the cat tree in the living room near Blitzen, Cuzco, and Izabel.

It's so nice when they are like this and not torturing each other.

We are trying to have a happy mix of quiet alone time for her, and being with the rest of the family to her spirits stay up. A lot of people don't realize that while in recovery many cats can get depressed and it makes it hard for them to heal. So she needs to be with the other cats but a few times I've had to put her back in her hiding place because like anybody who has just had a trauma and is healing, she gets cranky after a while.

Taken today. Poor Hazelnut. She's got a stub.

We both feel terrible for this happening. It was an accident sure but it sucks still. It's silly but when I think of how her tail used to be only a day ago I want to cry. She was so cute with her tail. You would always be able to tell how happy she was because it would stick up and have a question mark curl at the end. She also liked to wrap it around your legs. I feel horrible because she was supposed to come into our home to have a better life. But she still purrs when we pet her, and chirps, and I know she will recover. I just wish she didn't have to.

 Love
H