Today was a jittery day for me.
No matter how many times I have taken animals for neutering, for every single one, I will be on edge until it’s done and they have awoken from the anaesthesia. Then, there’s the monitoring until the wound completely heals for at least a week, which is a much less jittery process. Much less, but still slightly jittery.
I had wanted to get Kai and Akira done first and Indra next month until after her third vaccination but the vet assured me all three could be done together, and Indra can have her third vaccination right after the spaying too (however, I have chosen to get the vaccination a week after this just to play it safe).
So, yesterday, I had already started to change their eating time so that I can get them fasted for 8 hours prior to the surgery this morning, scheduled to start at 11am. I always ensure they eat enough the day before because I know that after surgery, they won’t feel like eating.
For the past few days, the three Blondies had been eating a lot. Now, they love to snack on Primal Freeze Dried in between their two main meals.
Before this, I had wanted to feed them three times a day, but they weren’t interested much in eating. They only wanted to play.
Recently, they discovered how tasty Primal was, so it’s been two main meals and Primal in between.
I fed them at 1.30am this morning so that they fasting could begin at 2am.
We sent them to the vet’s at 9.45am this morning and came back to wait. The waiting is the worst ordeal, isn’t it? I had labelled all the carriers but at the back of my mind, I knew I had forgotten something but couldn’t for the life of me remember what it was.
At 2.08pm, the vet texted to say all three have been done and there were no complications. Phew! I could breathe now.
However, Indra’s surgical wound is bigger than Kai and Akira’s as her uterus is unusually longer. Kai’s is the smallest. Strange, as Kai is the eldest and Indra the youngest. Just as well I have go take Indra back for her 3rd vaccination next week. We can get her surgical site checked again. When the vet texted, Indra and Akira were already awake and Kai wasn’t yet.
As I was waiting to collect them, then it certainly dawned on me what I had forgotten to remind the vet.
Arrrgghhhh!!
I forgot to remind the vet to ear-notch the Blondies. This is not my regular vet, but it IS my regular clinic. So I hoped the vet would have ear-notched them. I quickly called the clinic and said if it was still possible to ear-notch to please do it, but if they are already awake and it’s not possible, then it’s okay.
I thought maybe they could still do Kai’s since she’s just done.
By the time I reached the clinic, I found out that the Blondies were all awake and not ear-notched. Well, it was entirely my bad, my fault. I forgot to remind the vet. The vet did say that she thought about it but since I had told her I would mostly likely keep the Blondies indoors, she did not see the need to do it.
Well, it’s okay. It was my fault. Now I’d just have to make sure the Blondies don’t escape. Chances are, they won’t.
The same thing happened with Tabs 13 years ago too. I had forgotten to remind my (then) regular vet and he forgot to ear-notch Tabs.
I did ask the vet if the ear-notch could still be done with local anaesthesia, but she said no, it can only be done when under general anaesthesia. So, that’s that. It’s okay, I shouldn’t beat myself up. Updates: The vet says the ear notching can be done after a month, so I will get it done then. It is important to have the ear notch.
An update on 2nd Aug 2023 – the Blondies have been ear-notched: https://animalcare.my/2023/08/02/the-blondies-are-ear-notched/
Anyway, the vet said among the three, Akira was the most timid. Hmm….I thought she’d be the most aggressive but no, she was very quiet and obedient. Guess who was the most garang of them all?
Kai.
Yes, Kai put up a fight and screamed when they were handling her.
Indra was okay. But she could most probably be coming into heat as her uterus was the longest. Akira and Kai’s were normal.
All three were clearly still very angry and showed me their butts. Cats do that when they are angry – they show you their butts.
So we took them home in the car and everyone was completely silent. On the trip there this morning, there was a meow-chestra in the car.
We reached home and on hand to greet his daughters was Gerald!
They are all fine, Gerald. Don’t worry.
Kai and Indra were no longer angry and came out of their respective carriers while Akira was still butt-showing.
Akira finally decided not to be angry with me.
Indra was HUNGRY!!
I did not expect them to be hungry so fast because usually they will not eat after the surgery, but Indra was definitely hungry.
I had prepared a whole plate of rehydrated Primal Freeze-Dried. Indra sapu habis.
Then Kai came and both sapu habis another plate.
Akira wasn’t interested…at first.
And then she was!
All three ate voraciously. I’ve never seen them eat so much, really.
I kept replenishing until I had to stop because I was worried they would eat too much!! But in between, I think the painkiller could be wearing out and Indra didn’t look so good, so I gave her 0.15ml of transdermal Tramadol (as per advised by the vet) and she was okay again. I also gave all three 0.5ml of Vetri DMG.
I let them rest for awhile and they were licking the empty plate. My goodness. So I gave them Cubgrub and they sapu habis again!
I have a feeling they are going to eat all night!!
Phew…spaying done. My jitters are gone now.
I really, really hope this is the last time I have to go through any animal’s surgery!