Well, I just returned from the Emergency Pet Hospital.

After a day and a half of feeling fine and being far too active Versace was feeling the effects of her spaying this morning. She didn’t want to get out of bed, and when she did she was moving slow. I noticed right away that she was shivering. I figured she was cold so I popped on the heat and went about my morning routine. I started by putting down cat food. Coco of course came running. Versace did not. Odd, but I had figured she was finally feeling all the jumping around she had been doing. I felt bad so made her food a special treat by mixing in some cottage cheese (loves it, and good for her coat… they say). I even brought it up to her. She didn’t want it. She wasn’t even interested. Worried, I went and got the other treats she really *REALLY* likes. She sniffed at it a bit but only ate it after I tore it up small. Scared, but still thinking she was hurting I gave her the pain medication. She slept for a bit, but was clearly feeling and looking worse when she woke up. That’s when we went to the Emergency Room.

I hadn’t been there since Chanel died, and panic really hit when I dove into the driveway. By the time I walked in the door I was feeling waves of emotion combined with my worry over Versace. They took her to the back right away. I had to fill out forms. Then I was sent to the waiting area. After what felt like forever a young man came out with my Portable Pet Home that we use as a carrier. It was empty. I think my heart stopped, but he quickly explained that Versace was with the doctor, and someone would take me back shortly. They really shouldn’t come out with empty pet carriers. It’s just cruel. After another eternity I was finally led to the exam room. No it wasn’t exam room 3, luckily. Still, as soon as I got inside it was all too much. It looked the same. Smelled the same. In my mind I could see Richard bent over the exam table with Chanel. I lost it. I cried. I cried for Richard’s loss, for Chanel, and out of fear for my new little Versace. I hadn’t pulled it together by the time the doctor came in. I think I startled her. She had to think I was crazy. So I explained my last visit to that particular hospital. Which got me teary again. She assured me that Versace was fine, and not going to die. Once I had relaxed a bit she explained what she thought was going on and we talked about how it happened.

She thinks my cat is in extreme pain from the surgery, and her activity since. She doesn’t think Versacec was shivering from cold, but fear and pain. After talking we established that I was administering the medicine incorrectly and she wasn’t getting enough. It wore off. Once in so much pain she stopped eating and drinking, and got dehydrated too. I feel awful about that, but I am relieved that my kitten is okay. If the doctor was right my baby should be feeling better and continue healing just fine. She thought that the incision looked clean and good. Nothing was torn open, the swelling there was normal. All of that looked fine. They helped administer the medicine correctly and we went home.

Since then Versace looks better, still sleepy and not moving, but responsive. She also ate a kibble. Yay!

tagged: cat versace kitten emergency surgery spay

daniel · early afternoon · 2 comments · ping it

*Read no further if you are sick of Cat Blogging*

So as it turns out, my kitten has an amazing threshold for pain. Or she’s insane. Or both. I went to pick her up at the vet at 4. She had been out of surgery for about 4 hours from what I was told, and she was just waking up from the drugs. Groggy. And all dolled up in one of those e-collars. Poor thing. The tech told me she had chosen a soft collar for comfort. Comfort. In an e-collar? Right. So I pay my 3 billion dollars and off we go. She was in her Portable Pet Home in the seat next to me. As soon as I got the car out into traffic she started thrashing about and screaming in there. By thrashing, I do mean just that. Throwing herself about in there like an insane cat. I am lucky I didn’t get into an accident on the way to the house with all that going on.

After what seemed like an eternity we finally get home. I let her out of the carrier, expecting her to settle down a bit. She was clearly still drugged after all, and was quite wobbly on her feet. She didn’t care. She was all over the living room. Circling. Then she went down the stairs. Then she came up. Then down. Then up. Stairs are to be avoided! The instructions upon discharge made that very clear! She was not “settling down” so I tried the recommended “isolating her in one room” method. I even brought up her box! She could be in there, avoid stairs, and recover in peace. She didn’t want no peace. She was up and down on the bed, circling around, NOT holding still. I was panicking at this point. She’s just stitched and glued shut from the operation. All this activity and she’s gonna pop her seam!

So I call the vet. They say to put her in her carrier to limit her movement, and that at 7 when we give her the pain medicine it’ll make her sleepy. Okaaay. So I pop her back into the Portable Pet Home.

That’s when she really went wild. She thrashed and rolled and body slammed herself in that thing. It was like one of those cartoon cat fights in there! She also worked her way out of her e-collar. (I really don’t think those work for cats…) after about a half an hour we decided that was no good either. We let her out, put the collar back on her and just let her be. She still jumped, and climbed, and took off the damn collar again, but was at least calm. That had to be better for her recovery than the confinement. So we just watched her close, ready to take her to the Emergency Clinic if she tore her incision. She didn’t.

Now it’s 10AM the next day. We are all up and about. She lasted the night without tearing or picking. I think I might survive this.

tagged: cat versace kitten emergency surgery vet recovery

daniel · at some point · say it · ping it

I just heard back from the vet. Versace’s surgery went fine. I can pick her up at four. *phew* I am relieved. I am sure I had no reason to worry, but I was. I had looked up what a “spaying” entailed the other day and it freaked me out. They pretty much remove all her stuff. The whole “area” gets deleted. Ew. On boys it’s a lot less invasive I think. I didn’t look, but one assumes. Anyhoo. She’s fine. No more “Heat”, and with any luck no more big vet bills for a while. I swear, all this has literally cost me more than the actual cat!

Okay. Enough about that. Back to my dinner preparations. I am making salad, and since I hate doing it, I do the whole head of lettuce. We get a few days out of it that way. One less thing to make each day.. Ta!

tagged: versace surgery vet spay

daniel · lunch time · say it · ping it

Erm. Yeah. They say one shouldn’t blog about one’s cats. I have broken that rule numerous times. In fact I am about to right now. You see, the cat (yes Chanel again) had to go to the doctor. It was almost another emergency room visit. He had a little bump that would bleed sometimes on his paw. We had it looked at a few months ago. It turned out to be like a vein coming through the skin or something. We were given some medicine to shrink it. Well that didn’t work out and yesterday his paw started bleeding and pretty much wouldn’t stop. Yup, just like you are thinking. Little red paw prints all over the house. Plus we were a bit concerned that he may eventually run out of blood! Kidding… It stopped and started kinda. It wasn’t like a constant fount of blood.

Anyway, so when one cat goes to the doctor the other goes. Richard packed them up early this morning and off they went. Chanel ended up having surgery! Poor guy! So now he is very grouchy from having been ‘put under’. Plus while he was out they cleaned his teeth. So while the 2 cats remember each other, Chanel is not feeling social. Thus the title. Hiss!

Oh, and he has to wear one of those lamp shade thingies. Humiliating.

tagged: richard sick cats pets chanel surgery lampshade collar

daniel · early evening · 3 comments · ping it