The short version: Juno is spayed and all is well!
9.00am this morning
I’ve been nervous for the past few days ever since I set the appointment for Juno’s spaying last week.
The appointment is today. This afternoon.
I know the spaying has to be done, the benefits far outweighs the risks of the surgery. And for female kittens, it ought to be done before the kitten turns one year old if we want to prevent mammary gland cancer later on. And of course there’s always the prevention of pregnancy, which is why we neuter street animals and pets (just in case they escape).
But Juno has had three major illness since the time I rescued her. She had a collapsed lung, then the mycoplasma infection and the third was the coccidia infection, which was the most severe resulting in hospitalisation. And every now and then, she would have loose stools too. The latest was a few days ago when she had earlier on joined the ginger Blondies on a “hunt” and possibly eaten a fly (yes, makan lalat). After two days, she had loose stools, but I managed to stop that in its tracks by quickly giving her Pro-Fibre and probiotics. It stopped by that very same afternoon, so it could have been just a very minor eaten-a-fly issue. Her stools have been well-formed since then.
Juno is about 2.5kg now. Her growth has been a bit slow compared with the Monsters and the Blondies. We don’t know how old she is, but the best guess is 6.5 to 7 months. So, it really is time to get her spayed. Remember the TCM vet told me to wait until the first heat is over, until 7 months.
So, the appointment was made for this afternoon and I’m so nervous even as I write this.
Last night, I made sure she had enough food, whenever she wanted. Fasting would start at 6.30am this morning.
This morning’s breakfast at 5.30am. I always offer wet food first, but sometimes she only wants kibble. I planned to let her eat until 6.30am.
Normally, her routine is a small breakfast at 5.30am, then play with the Blondies in Bunny’s Place, and after playing, some kibble. Then, she’s done for the morning. Juno isn’t a foodie and if you don’t offer her food, she also won’t ask for it. She isn’t too interested in eating. This happened after her coccidia infection where I had to stop all raw food and switch her over to cooked food and kibble. Now, she won’t eat raw food anymore, on her own accord.
So, I fed Juno her breakfast today, as per always, with kibble at 6.30am and that’s that.
I’ve been thinking of how to confine Juno post-op so I think I will use the upstairs adjoining bedrooms again (where Juno grew up in and so did the Blondies earlier on) and I will probably put Riley there to accompany her. I’ll check in on her too. And maybe I’ll put Akira there as well as she is not tomboys like the two ginger Blondies (those two might as well have been born as boys, they are so, so energetic and exuberant!). Akira doesn’t bully Juno too.
I’ve already checked with the vet if Juno’s blood test done in November 2024 will suffice as a reference for her health. The blood test was all normal at that time. The vet advised to do another blood test before the procedure today. So we will do it. It pays to be careful.
It’s 9.20am now and I won’t be publishing this until after the procedure this evening. I’m so nervous. No matter how many times you’ve had it done, it doesn’t get any easier. This is going under general anaesthesia. There are always risks involved. It is said that surgeons will try their best never to go under the knife even though they operate on their patients daily. Why?
I didn’t go out all morning so that I could stay with Juno.
Going to bring along this e-collar for Juno later. Tried it on her and she instantly took it off!
1.50pm this afternoon
Juno and I made our way to the vet’s. The appointment would be at 2.30pm.
2.45pm, at the vet’s
I specially requested for the senior vet to do Juno’s spaying today. She checked Juno, listened to her heart and lungs, and all was well. Blood was taken and we waited for the blood test results.
The results were all good. What a relief! All normal, all good, so the spaying can proceed.
3.00pm
The procedure would take an hour and we would need at least another 30 minutes for Juno to wake up from the GA before we could go home. I had to kill time and calm my nerves, so I went for a quick lunch. Then I walked around the shops and bought some groceries. By the time I returned to the clinic, it was almost 4.00pm but the surgery was still going on.
I know complications can arise unexpectedly at several points in the procedure, ie. when the GA is administered, during the procedure and waking up from the GA. I remember 19 years ago when Cow Mau went for the third surgery to suture a big hole at his lower flank, he could not wake up from the anaesthesia and had to be given the antidote. Bunny also took a longer time than usual to wake up from GA in his older age. Ginger vomited during the dental procedure (even though fasted) and the surgery had to be terminated immediately.
So yes, when you have done and gone through so many procedures, you know complications can happen and it will make you more anxious and worried.
Anything can happen. That is why I’m always very nervous when anyone goes under GA. I waited with bated breath and kept looking in the direction of the door. The surgery was done upstairs.
I think it was around 4.15pm that finally the vet assistant brought Juno down. Juno was already waking up! He said everything went well and Juno is fine. Phew!! The vet also sent a whatsapp message to let me know that all went well with Juno’s surgery.
Juno!! She’s just waking up and not really conscious yet.
The vet assistant said I could rub her neck to stimulate her to wake up faster. He also took Juno’s temperature and it was 36.2 degrees, a little cold, so he got the hair dryer and warmed her up. I’m lucky we had one of the best vet assistants in the clinic. He’s a very, very kind young man who is not only good at what he does, but he genuinely loves animals.
I have stopped counting how many neutering procedures I have gone through, but for every single one, I will always be at the clinic to stay with them during the waking up. And I know they will be disorientated for quite a while. The vet assistant cautioned me that during this waking up, sometimes the animal isn’t fully aware yet and may bite the owner. This didn’t happen with Juno, though. She immediately recognised me.
The vet assistant said it normally takes 20 minutes for them to be fully awakened, but some animals can take longer too. He pointed to a big dog who had pyometra surgery done this morning and the dog was still sleeping. She’s awake, but still wants to sleep.
I requested the vet to notch Juno’s left ear instead of the usual right. This is because Riley has a right ear-notch and I foresee that if Juno grows up to be as big as Riley, I would have some trouble identifying who’s who! So perhaps the notch on a different ear can help me with this issue…or not, since I have a left-right problem, anyway!
Juno took less than 20 minutes to be fully awake. The vet assistants kept checking on her to make sure she’s waking up and soon, another vet came in and he said Juno could already go home. Yay!
So I put Juno into the carrier, paid the bill and we started the journey home. Traffic wasn’t too bad, but naughty Juno kept wriggling out of the e-collar and I had to stop the car six times to fix back her e-collar.
Finally, we reached home! The soft cushiony e-collar was a no-go. Juno was too smart and she could easily get out of it, so luckily I still have a small plastic e-collar. This one worked much better and she could not get out of it.
Yes, this plastic e-collar works. Sorry Juno, you’ll have to be on this one.
The vet said that once Juno could walk in a straight line, I can already offer water and food; water is to be offered first to ensure there is no choking, then only food.
We decided to cage her since she was already so active once we arrived home, trying to run around, play on the cat tree and go upstairs! No, Juno, you need to rest. So, off you go into the cage. Sorry!
Once Juno could walk in a straight line, which was really fast too, I offered water and food.
She was really hungry!
So, all is well. Phew…I hope I will never have to go through another surgery with any cat again, it’s just so worrying.
Get well soon, Juno!!
P.S. The vet said when she did the surgery, there were early signs of coming into heat. Juno’s ovaries were slightly enlarged but this posed no problems in the surgery. Also, in a cat household where they are no intact males, some females will not come into heat easily. Ovulation in female cats is triggered by the presence of intact males or by the mating act, but can also be a hormonal process. Cats are different from dogs.
Estrous cycles in cats: https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/estrus-cycles-in-cats
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