Ender at the animal hospital, post surgery

Well, I hope I didn’t jinx poor Ender by introducing him and his sister Valentine on this here blog in my last post.

A week ago today, Ender started vomiting early in the day, and then kept it up throughout. By evening, he was still yakking up little bits of clear stomach acid. He also was soooo not himself – lethargic and kind of glassy eyed, too tired/lazy/sick to move from the floor to his favorite spot on the back of the couch (I knew something was up then, even without the yakking!) so off to the all night vet we went.

After an xray and a sonogram, the vet confirmed that it looked like he had swallowed a long string. As it traveled through the intestines, the end goes slower (or gets STUCK and won’t go at ALL) than the front, and the intestines will actually start to bunch up. If it doesn’t pass through, or get removed, the string (or in Ender’s case, a ribbon) will start to saw at the intestinal walls and cause internal bleeding and the intestinal fluids to spill out into the body.

So, Ender Pants (as I affectionately call him) had to have surgery. It turns out the ribbon was about two feet long. One end had managed to get to his bowel, while the other end was only just past his stomach.

It’s a very tough decision when the vet comes to you with that estimated bill, with ALL THOSE NUMBERS… but after thinking about the way he licks my face with his sand paper tongue and explodes into purring the instant he jumps in my lap… well, the tough decision wasn’t tough at all.

He came home Monday evening, and has been doing pretty well. His activity needs to be restricted (no running, jumping, rough housing) and he’s been behaving gingerly enough to not worry too much about him, but as we head into this next week, I may need to watch him more carefully — he’s feeling much better, and will probably be more active.

Ender’s sister Valentine REALLY missed him. While he was gone, she was seemed to keep looking around for him, coming up to me and meowing, looking forlorn, etc. And when he came home, she didn’t leave his side! It was really too sweet.

We’re so happy to have our Ender Pants back with us. Sand paper tongue licks never felt so soft!

I am running a Valentine’s Day sale over at rainestudios.com — I have some really awesome new heart pieces that are perfect for Valentine’s day — but also, it’s to help offset the cost of Ender’s surgery. Coupon code to use? “2FTRIBBON” (If you don’t laugh, you cry!)

– Amy