Shmi vs. The Staples

Shmi is an intelligent cat - she knows there are these little cold metallic pieces 'stapling' her suture site together. Her intelligence, however, doesn't go so far as to know that they are good for her and supposed to stay in! So the battle begins - with Shmi the clear crowd favorite. Her foster dad, Keith, came home from work one day at lunch to find her attached to some of the bedding inside her crate. One of the staples was half out and had hooked the blanket it below her - quite the pitiful site. So off she goes to the vet! When she arrived, it was clear that this staple was not the first victim - she had already removed two others! (Score: Shmi 2, Staples 0)

Luckily for her, the suture site was still healing nicely, with no visible infection (although she is on antibiotics just to be safe!). So Dr. Kirch removed the loose staple and another one that was loosening up (rack up two more points for Shmi). The foster parent assured us that neither he nor Victoria had ever seen her trying to groom them or remove them. So we waited, and we waited, and then TA-DA - we caught Shmi in action! She gave us a defiant look as she grabbed one side of a stable and tugged away at it. Sneaky, sneaky little girl!

With no other alternative, we decided that she would have to wear - insert drum roll - the dreaded blue flower, otherwise known as the soft e-collar. Cats do tend to like them much better than the harder, clear, plastic variety - but all in all, they would probably prefer to sleep with a screaming 2-yr old child than wear either. *sigh* I believe that makes the staples the winner!