Last month I took Georgie Girl to be spayed.
Georgie Girl came through the surgery fine. As one of the “people she hangs with”, I didn’t do as well.
Orphans of the Storm gave me a post-operative paper which advised keeping female housecats “quiet” for ten days–no playing, running, climbing or jumping. Those of you who’ve already read “Georgie Girl Reports” probably have an idea how well this went over–not!
Within two hours of coming home, Georgie Girl stuck her paw through the holes in the carrier’s door, ready to–PLAY! I left her out, and to keep her mind off the stitches in her tummy, swung a toy in front of her. She pounced on it, and kicked it so hard I thought for sure her stitches would come out.
My anxiety ramped up, with thoughts swirling around such as, “What if she opens the incision site? Oh dear, she wants to eat–shall I feed her or not? Will she get sick if she eats, due to the anesthesia?”
I called my friend Sue, who’s had far more experience with cats than I have, and poured my worries on her. Sue said that as to the effects of the surgery, and the cat’s appetite, it depends on the cat. Some cats just lay around for a couple days, other cats aren’t fazed at all (Georgie Girl) ; some cats don’t eat much; other cats eat as though they haven’t eaten in three days (Georgie Girl was among the latter). Sue said that as long as Georgie Girl wasn’t vomiting or choking when she ate, she was OK. Sue was most reassuring.
Sometime later I called to give Sue a progress report on Georgie Girl. Sue’s husband answered, and when I told Fred that parents sometimes say their kids give them gray hairs–well, my cat gives me gray hairs! Fred laughed and said, “Well, she’s your kid!”
I want to give a shout-out to organizations such as Orphans of the Storm. They provide low-cost spaying or neutering operations. They don’t make money on them; they do it to help people afford the cost, and to keep the number of unwanted kittens or puppies down. Without groups like this, it would have been much harder for me to afford getting Georgie Girl spayed.
P. Booher
You must be logged in to post a comment.