Messed up day today! I visited my parents after work to pick up something, and my brother and Mom were standing in the kitchen talking as he held the cat (this cat is normally very antisocial, so seeing the cat, much less holding it, is generally a miracle). Well, he's a long haired cat..and his entire belly was matted (again, they don't see him, so it's hard to brush him).
My brother continues to hold the cat, so mom decides she's going to cut out the matted clumps.
You can see where this is going, right?
Mom ended up cutting the cat's skin... her hand moved, and I was able to see what she was doing, and I started yelling at her to stop because she was cutting him! She was like 'No I'm not!' and I was screeching that she was and to stop. So, I grab the cat, and my brother, who is an RN, was like 'let me see!' so I hold him, and he gets around him and both he and my mom SCREAM when they see it, which causes the cat to go tearing across the house.
Mom calls the vet (who's a friend of the family), and she's in Florida on vacation, so she tells her to call the emergency vet. My poor mom is hysterical because she can't believe that she did that, and the poor cat never moved the whole time.
So, they take off to the emergency vet, and I find out later that the emergency vet told them it happens all the time. The cat had a 4 inch gash and had to get 15 staples. To make matters worse, they think the cat is also very sick - I guess he can no longer see out of one eye, and his thyroid is really big. He's about 17 or 18, and the other cat they had passed away last year from a thyroid issue, too at the age of 19. They said the reason she cut his skin, despite cutting really close to the actual matted parts, was because he had lost so much weight, which was hard to see with his really puffy fur, and he had extra skin hanging there. It must have happened fast, because he just had his checkup in December and there were no indications that he was sick.
My mom started crying the minute she saw what she did until I talked to her on the phone a little while ago. She's so upset and beside herself because she'd rather slit her own wrists than hurt an animal. Some people here know that my mom and I don't always see eye to eye, but I'm not kidding when I say she'd throw down her own life if it would save an animal, especially one of my dogs, her dog, or her cat. That's just the way she is. I'm so glad that I was standing there to be able to finally see what she was doing - who knows how much more she would have cut without me there to stop her! It just makes me sick, partly for the poor cat, and partly for my mom.
Anyway, it's stressful. The cat is okay now. The cut wasn't THAT deep, thank goodness, and he's sedated and sleeping comfortably, and they gave my mom pain meds for when he wakes up.
Was a fun night, even though I'm super tired now, an hour and a half of sleep lol
