Someone from their office eventually called and told me that the wound was worse than they originally thought [mp3 of message left on answering machine]. Later they also said that the unseen fight Esmé had was probably with a small dog or a racoon and not a cat. The skin around the opening had seperated from some of the flesh and it wasn't just a case of a little skin missing.
After he was there for just a few days I went to check up on him and found that he had three small rubber tubes (which served as wound drains) sticking out of new flesh holes. Not too surprising, Esmé was a totally different cat. He was calm, probably partially due to drugs and from being confined in a small cage. He had the victorian cat collar on. He was partially shaved. Oh, and of course he also had a large hole on his side.
The days went on. The main problem the vets were having was that the skin around the "hole" was dying and not sticking to the flesh, which meant that they had to cut away more of the skin. This was a fairly large and reputable animal hospital, so I don't think they were just cutting away skin to increase the bill.
While Esmé was there I talked to them about the charges and their prices. I knew that there was a daily boarding fee. I knew that he was going to have to stay there for at least a few weeks. I knew that it was going to be costly.
The vets would always take time to explain what was going on, how the skin and flesh of a cat work and why the skin around the wound was dying and how they were treating it. (During one phone conversation with the vet people, the vet helper used the phrase "cottage cheese pus.") As soon as the skin stablized, he would be free to go home. Unfortunately, they had to keep cutting away dead skin so before long the area of his hole was larger than a fist.
Esmé ended up being there for over 30 days. He was released on 1/8/96. I tried not to be too shocked at the total invoice amount: $1140.58 [page 1, page 2]. The invoice gives a glimpse of what he went through - anesthesia, drains, enemas, bandages, etc.
After the vet gave me instructions on how to take care of the cat, Esmé and his massive hole headed home.
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