7/7/08

Blissed out on fentanyl

I'm talking about Penny.

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She always likes to knead her basket [bed], but this pose she's in cracks me up.

She had major abdominal surgery last night to remove a foreign body. Presumably, she's experiencing some pain and discomfort, as you or I would be after undergoing that kind of surgery. It was good the vet sent her home on painkillers. I'll show you her surgical scar later on. In the meantime, here's her fentanyl patch.

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Fentanyl is an opioid analgesic 80 times more potent than morphine. An "opioid" is anything that acts on the body as morpine does, but not necessarily an "opiate". An "opiate" is anything derived from morphine. Chemically speaking, fentanyl is radically different than morphine. (Opium is the latex from the opium poppy, which includes morphine plus other stuff.) You can look it all up on Wikipedia if you're interested.

Fentanyl, btw, is what the Russians used to neutralize the Chechen terrorists who kidnapped an opera-house full of people in 2002. (Note that that BBC article says fentanyl is "opium-based". That is quite false.)

7 comments:

CiNdEe's GaRdEn said...

Oh poor kitty. I hope she feels better soon. Guess she probably doesn't feel to bad with the patch on...(-:

Christopher C. NC said...

Poor Miss Penny. She still looks quite the fashion plate on her sick bed.

One can only dream she might put two and two together and know what caused this tragic setback and refrain from such activities in the future.

Frances, said...

Welcome home Miss Penny. She does look blissfully calm. Does she not try and chew the patch off? Or is she too zoned? Miss Patty's reaction is normal to the smell of the vet. I dislike that doctor smell too. So glad all ended well.

lisa said...

Did Patty actually hiss at Penny when she came home? Bentley hissed at Gizmo the other day when he'd returned from an outdoor escape. I thought Bentley was just jealous, but I saw Giz making friendly with the neighbor's cat-I bet it was foreign cat smell that pissed Bentley off. Penny looks as though she realizes that lying very still is much less painful. (Heh, or her mind is moving too fast for her body to catch up.)

chuck b. said...

Patty hissed and growled and assumed a low, scowling posture. It breaks our hearts to see her so alienated from Penny because they were so intimate and tender before this.

Hopefully, this will resolve itself as the days go by and Penny regains her strength and former scent.

Tira said...

Glad to know she's on her way to recovery.

lisa said...

I'm sure their relationship will go back to normal, Giz and Bentley were back to their old selves the next day.