Things you need to know when you spay (or neuter) your cat

It’s been quite stressful in our home these past couple of days.  The day I have been dreading for months has finally come…and gone.  I’m happy to report we’ve come out on the other side unscathed, but it was a close call.

Aylen is now nine months old!  Where did the time go?  I made her an appointment to get spayed a couple of weeks ago, and yesterday was the day.  She cuddled with me in my arms and next to my face all night long, and I cherish those special moments.  It’s almost as if she knew I needed comforting somehow.  In case you have to plan for such a surgery in the future, here’s a quick list of things I’d recommend for the morning of the surgery date:

1.  A bottle of Relief Tone by Energetix (a homeopathic that helps speed recovery from surgery and detoxing the anesthesia out of your kitty)
2.  A cat carrier
3.  A bottle of Bach’s Flower Rescue Remedy
4.  A strong cup of coffee (you can choose to spike it if you’d like 😆)
5.  A cold washcloth
6.  A good eye cream that fights puffiness
7.  Someone else (besides you) to drive your precious cat to the vet’s office

Confession:  Items 1-3 are for the cat; items 3-7 are for you.  Yes, I had to use the Rescue Remedy on me–I was a mess. 

Bach’s Flower Rescue Remedy

Thank God I talked my husband into dropping her off because I know now after being in charge of this task for all our previous kitties it is NOT something I can go through anymore.  It’s quite embarrassing to be the cat mom in the lobby who has a tear-stained face and is sobbing uncontrollably.

The morning started off pretty well all things considered, until the staff at the clinic asked my husband if Aylen had been vaccinated for rabies yet.  After arguing with them that she

On the way out the door

was not going to be vaccinated for this and them replying that “it’s the law,” it was agreed that the doctor would give me call later.  Plus, they didn’t know how to answer him when his final rebuttal was “our other cat died from getting vaccines.”  Yes, poor Snowbear, we are still reliving his nightmare.

My phone call with the doctor about an hour and a half later didn’t go much better, but I stuck to my guns.  And I cried.  Through tears I explained my stance on why we just couldn’t risk her life; Aylen lives indoors and doesn’t come in contact with other animals and is not a risk of contracting rabies to begin with.  Then I explained that Snowbear had died from vaccinosis.  The doctor did agree that the risk to Aylen was very low indeed but they are bound to fulfill a requirement by law.  This is where things became very interesting.

Did you know that the law doesn’t care if your pet is old, frail, sickly or have a compromised immune system?  They expect you to keep giving a rabies vaccine at best every three years…even though pets acquire immunity after the first vaccine.  Think about it:  do you get re-vaccinated every year?  Of course not!  And your life span is decades longer than an animal’s.  Just keep this in mind:  the traditional veterinary medical model is based upon generating revenues, and many veterinary practices rely on annual re-vaccinations for a large part of its revenues.   Did you know you can have the vet do a titer test which determines the level of immunity an animal has?  If your pet no longer has immunity then you could have an actual reason to re-vaccinate.

I quit drinking the Kool-Aid years ago when I got smart and started questioning the whole agenda behind the vaccines.  Thankfully I have had a good relationship over the years with this particular vet’s office, and they have respected my beliefs and not pushed vaccinations.  When the doctor finally realized I was not going to back down she informed me that I could opt out if I signed a document acknowledging that if Aylen were to bite someone she would have to be quarantined at a clinic.  I simply told her I wasn’t worried about that happening, and I’d be more than happy to sign the form.  This fight was over, and I won.  And Aylen won.

I picked her up later in the afternoon, and she was quite perky and anxious to get out of there.  When we finally got home she was hungry and very happy to be back with her family.  The instructions on her discharge papers clearly stated “no running or jumping.”  Yeah, right.  She clearly didn’t plan on following any of those, and despite our efforts to keep her off tables and counter tops, we found her snuggled up with Gunner in the laundry basket on the counter in the laundry room later that evening.  She’s recovering nicely!

All tuckered out after a long day

Aylen snuggles with Gunner in the laundry room

Kitty “bikini shave”

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