Clive had his surgery on February 8, 2011. He recovered very quickly and has taken over the house! You can read his progress reports below, and you can also look for Clive's Story on Facebook where you will find more recent updates and photos of Clive!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Little update on Clive...

He went for his follow up barium test last week (they have him eat food with barium mixed in and then take an xray to see how his esophagus looks and if the food goes down). The test showed that his esophagus is still dilated but not as much as before and there is no more obstruction. The surgeon said that it is possible that his esophagus will still get a little less dilated since it can take a few months after surgery for it to shrink but it is likely that he will always have a bigger esophagus than a normal cat would have. She feels it is unlikely that this will cause future problems but it is possible. There is really no way to say 100%. He is eating lots of canned food now and has not thrown up at all since the surgery. He is getting bigger and putting on weight. She said to just try dry food and see how he does. He ate a little bit the other day (because he snuck in a stole it from Buddy) and he did gag after wards but did not actually throw up. I will try mixing just a little at a time in some canned food and see if that helps but the doctor said it is quite possible that he will just never be able to eat dry food but will pretty much be normal other than that. I have noticed that his purr has a slightly odd sound to it, almost like a wheezing which I think might be related to his condition but not sure. I am now starting to look in to options for finding him a permanent home but seeing as he still has a health issue, even though now it is pretty minor, I may not have much luck. The fact that he may develop problems later in life, although unlikely, may scare people off. Even getting totally healthy cats adopted can be hard so we will see....I plan to get him vaccinated later this week since he is now all done with all the surgical stuff.