Spay Day or Was It?
My account of the day:
Lily after surgery
Tuesday, 3-30-2021, Lily scheduled to be spayed. The anguish a cat parent feels exists when you have to take your unsuspected little one in for the procedure.
“Why am I not getting breakfast?”
“Why is Lucy eating and not me?”
You see their questions in the expressions and muttered meows. Heartbroken, you know it has to be done.
Then the worries. Under anesthesia. What if things don’t go well? Try to block those negative thoughts.
Hey, it happens every day across the world. Why should a healthy cat have problems?
Do my outmost to talk the fears out of my brain. Not the first cat I had spayed. A few weren’t as healthy.
But the parent jitters remain.
Surgery is Risky
When I look at this cat, she is mature and independent. Today I realize they are just little kids with 4 feet and a fur coat.
They depend on us for survival. Today, a pang of guilt putting her through something scary. Can’t be there to hold her paw as sedated or when she awakes.
You can’t explain to them why this has to happen. And they will be a happier, healthier pet for the alteration. Sure, you can tell them, but they won’t understand.
Then you wonder. Are they mad at you? Dropping them at a place with strange smells. Can they sense from other pets that this won’t be fun?
Nothing eases the mind until the call saying everything went fine and eta for home. This slow maneuver of hands across the clock’s face taunts me. The day drags.
I eat lunch, she can’t.
Keep reminding myself it has to be done. The thoughts bring little comfort as I try to keep busy. Busy only enough to drop everything in a flash and get her ASAP.
Can’t wait until she is back home to cuddle and tell her I’m sorry. Hope she will forgive me or better yet, don’t blame me for the terrible day.
Lucy cries and follows me from room to room, doesn’t help with the guilt trip. I give her a few hugs. Her turn shall soon come. Then it will be Lily’s turn to be soothed. And me again suffering the guilt.
Still watching the clock. Time is not moving fast enough. When times are fun, we want to savor the enjoyment as long as possible. When things are bleak, better if it hurried faster.
The phone rings…
Wow!
Shocked…
It’s bad enough going through surgery.
Now they are saying… she was already spayed.
They manipulated her bladder to be sure they weren’t missing her reproductive organs.
Why did this happen?
I notified the breeder as soon as I got the news. Breeder was angry. She had placed Lily unaltered in another home. They returned her months later with a bogus health claim.
I have known this breeder for years. She has gorgeous healthy cats and cares for everyone she places. When the lady returned Lily, she never mentioned she had her spayed.
It doesn’t matter what transpired, but to put an animal through unnecessary surgery again is downright cruel. What a horrible thing. The patient can’t inform anyone; “Hey, I had that surgery months ago!”
Ironic thought, 4 days before surgery I had this overwhelming feeling she acted more like an altered cat. No way to have predicted the truth. She arrived here in December. I know cats don’t always go into heat during colder months.
It makes me sad and sick. When they perform surgery, always a risk of death. To put her through unnecessary surgery is just not fair.
To throw blame serves no purpose. She needs to heal.
Thrilled to see her up moving around the next day. Animals bounce back faster than people. She was playing with cat toys. Wants more hugs; happy to grant her wishes.
Lucy hissed at her and an occasional growl. But no swatting, and I don’t expect that from her. The first day she had hospital smells. The surgical collar is not helping with calming Lucy. She will soon go through it. And yes, I confirmed she is not spayed.
Three days later they played. Curled together in the cat bed, I placed on top of a soft blanket on the living room floor. May help to eliminate Lily from jumping during recovery. They love the new napping accommodations. Morning sun drenches it with warmth. Heaven for any sun-loving cat.
This isn’t over, Lily has a swollen hard section around the incision. The major concerns of this swelling were; an infection or a hernia.
We took her to the vet Monday morning (4-5-2021). They gave her an ultra-sound and found no infection or hernia. Next was an x-ray to reaffirm there wasn’t any underlying problem.
Diagnosis: a reaction to the internal incision.
Swelling around incision after Lily’s surgery.
Sent us home with 3 tablets of Onsior, one per day. This is an anti-inflammatory. Warm compresses twice a day.
And the hardest instruction, keep her calm. Means no running around chasing Lucy. Will be the biggest challenge. It takes 2 to tango, so as long as I can grab one of them when the chase begins and stick that cat in the bedroom, I should be fine.
We know they get wild after evening “cookie time”. Put one of them away should chill the volatile rampage after the 8 PM snack.
Keeping the collar on Lily until the swelling subsides will be longer than a normal recovery from spaying. The incision was larger because they couldn’t locate the uterus. Increased the opening to be sure.
Not only did she have surgery that wasn’t needed, it was more invasive. Hope she recovers with no more incidents that take her back to the vet.
The hot compress tried once. She was so stressed I didn’t see the benefit.
Lily figured out how to pop off the collar with constant precision. One morning I found the gauze tie laying on the floor… but the collar was still on her. Interesting. I tried a new tie. Off in seconds. With no tie, it stayed on her.
For a few days when they ran, I placed Lily in the bedroom. Swelling smaller, and the pills finished. Hard to keep them calm. We let them run. Been enough time after 10 days to not affect her healing. Off came the collar as she was now batting her ears against it and causing little lumps.
She just might be our problem kid… the one that ends up at the doctor’s office, every few months for whatever trouble they find.
Related article: Lucy Gets Spayed
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My account of the day:
Lily after surgery
Tuesday, 3-30-2021, Lily scheduled to be spayed. The anguish a cat parent feels exists when you have to take your unsuspected little one in for the procedure.
“Why am I not getting breakfast?”
“Why is Lucy eating and not me?”
You see their questions in the expressions and muttered meows. Heartbroken, you know it has to be done.
Then the worries. Under anesthesia. What if things don’t go well? Try to block those negative thoughts.
Hey, it happens every day across the world. Why should a healthy cat have problems?
Do my outmost to talk the fears out of my brain. Not the first cat I had spayed. A few weren’t as healthy.
But the parent jitters remain.
Surgery is Risky
When I look at this cat, she is mature and independent. Today I realize they are just little kids with 4 feet and a fur coat.
They depend on us for survival. Today, a pang of guilt putting her through something scary. Can’t be there to hold her paw as sedated or when she awakes.
You can’t explain to them why this has to happen. And they will be a happier, healthier pet for the alteration. Sure, you can tell them, but they won’t understand.
Then you wonder. Are they mad at you? Dropping them at a place with strange smells. Can they sense from other pets that this won’t be fun?
Nothing eases the mind until the call saying everything went fine and eta for home. This slow maneuver of hands across the clock’s face taunts me. The day drags.
I eat lunch, she can’t.
Keep reminding myself it has to be done. The thoughts bring little comfort as I try to keep busy. Busy only enough to drop everything in a flash and get her ASAP.
Can’t wait until she is back home to cuddle and tell her I’m sorry. Hope she will forgive me or better yet, don’t blame me for the terrible day.
Lucy cries and follows me from room to room, doesn’t help with the guilt trip. I give her a few hugs. Her turn shall soon come. Then it will be Lily’s turn to be soothed. And me again suffering the guilt.
Still watching the clock. Time is not moving fast enough. When times are fun, we want to savor the enjoyment as long as possible. When things are bleak, better if it hurried faster.
The phone rings…
Wow!
Shocked…
It’s bad enough going through surgery.
Now they are saying… she was already spayed.
They manipulated her bladder to be sure they weren’t missing her reproductive organs.
Why did this happen?
I notified the breeder as soon as I got the news. Breeder was angry. She had placed Lily unaltered in another home. They returned her months later with a bogus health claim.
I have known this breeder for years. She has gorgeous healthy cats and cares for everyone she places. When the lady returned Lily, she never mentioned she had her spayed.
It doesn’t matter what transpired, but to put an animal through unnecessary surgery again is downright cruel. What a horrible thing. The patient can’t inform anyone; “Hey, I had that surgery months ago!”
Ironic thought, 4 days before surgery I had this overwhelming feeling she acted more like an altered cat. No way to have predicted the truth. She arrived here in December. I know cats don’t always go into heat during colder months.
It makes me sad and sick. When they perform surgery, always a risk of death. To put her through unnecessary surgery is just not fair.
To throw blame serves no purpose. She needs to heal.
Thrilled to see her up moving around the next day. Animals bounce back faster than people. She was playing with cat toys. Wants more hugs; happy to grant her wishes.
Lucy hissed at her and an occasional growl. But no swatting, and I don’t expect that from her. The first day she had hospital smells. The surgical collar is not helping with calming Lucy. She will soon go through it. And yes, I confirmed she is not spayed.
Three days later they played. Curled together in the cat bed, I placed on top of a soft blanket on the living room floor. May help to eliminate Lily from jumping during recovery. They love the new napping accommodations. Morning sun drenches it with warmth. Heaven for any sun-loving cat.
This isn’t over, Lily has a swollen hard section around the incision. The major concerns of this swelling were; an infection or a hernia.
We took her to the vet Monday morning (4-5-2021). They gave her an ultra-sound and found no infection or hernia. Next was an x-ray to reaffirm there wasn’t any underlying problem.
Diagnosis: a reaction to the internal incision.
Swelling around incision after Lily’s surgery.
Sent us home with 3 tablets of Onsior, one per day. This is an anti-inflammatory. Warm compresses twice a day.
And the hardest instruction, keep her calm. Means no running around chasing Lucy. Will be the biggest challenge. It takes 2 to tango, so as long as I can grab one of them when the chase begins and stick that cat in the bedroom, I should be fine.
We know they get wild after evening “cookie time”. Put one of them away should chill the volatile rampage after the 8 PM snack.
Keeping the collar on Lily until the swelling subsides will be longer than a normal recovery from spaying. The incision was larger because they couldn’t locate the uterus. Increased the opening to be sure.
Not only did she have surgery that wasn’t needed, it was more invasive. Hope she recovers with no more incidents that take her back to the vet.
The hot compress tried once. She was so stressed I didn’t see the benefit.
Lily figured out how to pop off the collar with constant precision. One morning I found the gauze tie laying on the floor… but the collar was still on her. Interesting. I tried a new tie. Off in seconds. With no tie, it stayed on her.
For a few days when they ran, I placed Lily in the bedroom. Swelling smaller, and the pills finished. Hard to keep them calm. We let them run. Been enough time after 10 days to not affect her healing. Off came the collar as she was now batting her ears against it and causing little lumps.
She just might be our problem kid… the one that ends up at the doctor’s office, every few months for whatever trouble they find.
Related article: Lucy Gets Spayed
Be sure to Get a free copy of Cats vs Us by signing up to our newsletter.
29 pages of information. Email address is all we require.
Leave a Reply
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Spay Day or Was It?