Poor Baby

Poor Mr. Socks had another ingrown claw. The same claw grew into his paw back in March and we had it clipped back at the time, for $170. Yesterday I took him to a real vet (not the one at the Pet Store) and they clipped it back again. For $170. Socks, you're killing me! The main problem is that the claw grows back around, piercing his pad in two places as it grows in and comes back through. He had to be sedated and then get antibiotics, so that is the expensive part. Nail clipping is only $5. I know, you're wondering why we don't just take him to trim his nails each week. I don't know why.

At the end of June, Socks will be returning to the vet to have that one claw removed. Hopefully that takes care of the problem. Unfortunately, the vet said that when older cats (he's 9) start having problems with their claws it usually means there is something wrong on the inside of them. Like their thyroid or cancer. On top of the claw, she tried to remove a "cyst" from his lip. It turned out to not be a cyst, but could either be a tumor or some dental problem. It sounds like a tumor would be the best thing for it to be, so it could just be snipped off.

While we were at the vet, Mr. Socks established himself as legendary simply by being as big as he is. Yesterday he weighed 17.9 pounds, and not an ounce of fat on him. The vet commented on the size of his paws, that she'd never seen such large paws on a cat. He has massive paws. We like to say he's part tiger. Our big, baby tiger.