Short version:

Oscar needs to get an abscess (sp?) removed/cleaned, so she will be
staying overnight at the emergency clinic.  I am freaking out a bit,
but also extremely tired (and about freaking well finished with
stressful events in my life, thank you very much!).

Long version:

As some of you may have read, I brought Oscar to her vet's this
morning.  The vet and I put her in an E collar, and I got liquid
antibiotics to give Oscar twice a day.  The vet said, if the E collar
didn't work out, we could try a baby sock taped to the leg, but we
really wanted the E collar to work because it allows the paw plenty of
air flow and kept her from licking *any* of her paws.

I got home planning to somehow find a way to give Oscar her meds, but
when I came home she was in silent hiding, and she hadn't touched
*any* of the treats all over the house, let alone her food.  Finally I
found her hiding in the back of the elevated dirt area in the
basement.  I carried her out -- she was purring and trying to rub her
face on me, but she couldn't because of the collar -- and brought her
upstairs.  As soon as I set her down, she started backing up and did
so until she hit a wall, then got "stuck" there.

As I called DH and his aunt (a medical professional, human variety) for
advice, I heard some loud noises.  Oscar went missing again.  I think I
once again had the chance to intimately explore the basement.  We have
shops close by, so I was able to get tiny baby socks and some vet wrap
(the stuff that sticks to itself but not other stuff).

Came home and searched for Oscar everywhere.  Not in the basement, not
in the bedroom.  Finally found her under the futon in the guest room.
I guess she backed under it, then couldn't get out because of the
stupid collar.  I felt like such a traitor as she purred and slobbered
in thanks for being rescued.  Straight into the bathroom, where I had
stashed the new stuff and the medicine.

I couldn't get the medicine into her mouth with the collar on, so in a
gesture of trust, I removed the collar.  She put up a minor commotion
over the medicine, but I actually think most of the dropperfull got
into her mouth.

Next step, baby sock.  She was so hungry that I managed to slip the
sock onto her paw a few times as she ate, but she would freak out when
I started trying to put the tape on, and the sock instantly came off.
I asked my neighbor to help, but that just seemed to make everything
worse.  I had a hisspitting, bucking, clawing, biting fiasco on my
hands.  Every attempt, though, the second I put her down, she purred
and rubbed on me and told me how much she needed my comfort.  I felt
evil.  I wished I were a smoker so I could have a smoke to take the
edge off.

Decided to go to an emergency clinic to ask for help bandaging the paw
and maybe a sedative.  The closest one also had the shortest
anticipated wait, so there we went.  Unlike our regular vet, no humans
go back with the patients.  They refer to pets as "kids" and owners as
"parents", a touch I appreciated.  Also had coffee, tea, and snacks.
I went with the camomile tea, hoping it would calm me down.

I fully anticipated some kind of help getting the paw wrapped and
getting out of there, so I kind of went into shock when the vet tech,
Katie, came out to let me know that there was an abscess (however
that's spelled) and Oscar would need to get surgery to have it
drained.  I waved away any discussion of price, just wanted to
understand the risks.  I elected to get her blood checked first to
make sure she doesn't have any conditions that would keep her from
waking up after the anesthesia.

So.  Oscar is there now.  It's midnight.  There was another surgery
case there, so the estimate is that she will be done around 4am.
Because of the delay, they'll keep her till the morning with no
hospitalization charge.  They won't call me unless something goes
wrong, so in theory I can sleep (hah).

They let me say good night to her, and also let me drive home for an
ancient (like, from when she was 6 months old) catnip pillow and a
sock for licking.  I wasn't able to give them to her myself because
another surgery was being prepped when I got back.  I'm hoping she'll
be tempted to lick the sock instead of her paw.

I'm strongly considering keeping Oscar there for a few days.  They
mentioned needing to give her two other medicines (in addition to the
antibiotic?  Not sure).  I figure that she will stay cleaner, have
people to watch her better (tomorrow's a holiday, but I have to work the
rest of the week), and won't be able to get into trouble.  Not to
mention that maybe they will cause her less trauma than I would, trying
to handle the paw or feed her the meds.  And presumably she won't
require the e collar.  That would be about $120 a day.  With the
kitty-morphine they gave her (B-something, can't remember the name), she
was calm enough to even luv up on the vet techs.