Last week (thursday to be precise) I took Cleo (my calico kitten) over my friends house. See, she's 8 months old, and she's gone through her first heat, and honestly, ugh! I mean, my other two cats (Shadoe, and Kitt who passed away last year) are female, and Shadoe wasn't spayed until she was 6 years old (and had a pyometra), and Kitt was never spayed, but they were kooky when they went into heat. They also had NO desire to go outside whatsoever. Cleo on the other hand, well, I have a harness and leash for her, and have to take her for walks (otherwise she'll try to escape whenever the door opens). And she was yowling. And she was LOUD. I mean, I took Pepper (doggie) for a walk across the street, and we could hear Cleo yowling.
We have had a great veterinarian for years, but unfortunately, they won't spay until the animal has an initial exam, stool sample and testing, vaccinations, Feline Leukemia and FAIDS testing, MINIMALLY. That's almost 400 dollars worth of tests/exams, before we even get to the 250 bucks for spaying. I couldn't afford that, but there's a great place called "Island Rescue" near where my friend lives, and it's where he took his cat to be spayed. Also, they vaccinate them, and give them a rabies shot when you bring them in for spaying. The cost of all this? 50 bucks! Truly a life saver. They encourage people to bring in strays/ferals as well (which is why it's so cheap, they're all about prevention, not profit). On top of that, the staff were extremely friendly and helpful.
So Cleo hated the cat carrier, and ripped up my hands trying to get out (I have 9 scars just on my left hand alone). But we stayed overnight at my friend's house, his cat wasn't happy. She was hissing and swiping at everyone. Early the next morning (you have to bring them in between 9am and 10am), we were there with Cleo in the carrier a few minutes to 9, and got in right away. What a brat she is. She totally freaks out in the car, even when covered, yet with a dog barking less than a foot away, she's sitting right at the front of the carrier watching it. Even when the vet took her in the back, she was at the front looking at the vet. So my friend and I just hung out, watched a Godzilla movie, went to a couple of stores, until 2:30pm, when it was time to pick Cleo up.
They said I couldn't let her out of the carrier until at least 7pm (this is friday night), and warned that the anesthesia often made cats cranky, and potentially agressive (since it's a disassociative anesthesia, they're not really certain of what's going on). Of course, I'm also supposed to keep her indoors for about 10 days, and limit her activity. The anesthetic is supposed to wear off in 24 hours as well.
Well, we went pretty far out on the island, to the Montauk lighthouse (about an hour and 15 minutes, approx. 65 miles east, one way, so 2.5 hours total trip), and didn't get back until almost 9pm. So, keeping Cleo isolated in my friends room (we weren't going to risk the trauma of the hour long trip home right after her already stressful day of surgery, so we stayed over friday night too), I opened the carrier, and offered her some water and a little food. She drank a little, didn't really eat much, but wouldn't you know it? The resilient little brat started exploring the room again! She walked a little drunkenly, but she seemed to be otherwise fully aware, and not cranky at all! I still put her back in the carrier for the night (didn't want her stumbling around in the dark), and she wanted to get out about 6:45am saturday morning (she had to use the litterbox), and she was reserved, but walking fine. I commented that she was supposed to be groggy for at least another 7 hours.
After that, she went back into the carrier, we slept a bit longer, then brought her home. Again, she complained :) She then slept most of the rest of saturday and sunday (I figured since we were in a strang/new place, for her at least, that she forced herself to stay awake a bit more, but once we got home she slept off the anesthesia).
Well, here it is now, early tuesday morning, and she's already done a couple of things she shouldn't, despite me trying to keep tabs on her. She tried to jump to the kitchen counter (eek!), and she's climbed partway up the wooden clothes dryer rack and gotten to the window. I still try to keep her from doing the really big things (like climbing up to the top bunk, or doing her "spider cat" impression), and I check her incision daily. She's such a strong willed little trooper, and yes, I do worry about her (at this point in my life, I figure she's probably the closest I'm going to get to actually having kids of my own).
The bonus? (aside from no more yowling and attracting male cats)
They trimmed (or capped) her claws :) She loves to tread on my arms (the milk treading habit they do to encourage the flow of milk from their mother during weening, after weening though it becomes a sign of closeness/affection in a way). But since she climbs a lot, she has long, strong claws, and unlike Shadoe who would tread with her claws fully retracted, Cleo just relaxes the muscles, so her claws are out. Often times I wind up with cuts, scratches, sore spots and even hives on my arms from this (and with her being so stubborn, I can't seem to discourage this habit). However, when she did carefully jump up on the bed this morning, and knead my arm, it was not only bearable, but actually pleasant! No "pin pricking", no sharp poking, or catching the skin. (When we got to my friends house thursday night, she still has some shreds of my skin under her claws. Ouch).
Yeah, I know, long winded post, but I'm just letting you all know how my weekend went and why I wasn't around.
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