Post-Op Spice

The veterinary surgeon couldn’t say enough about how well-behaved and wonderful our cat Spice is and we beamed like proud parents. 

He came through his surgery and the extraction of four molars just fine. We got a call around noon on Wednesday to let us know he was doing well and at 4 pm we picked him up.  He was disoriented and just off for the rest of that evening. He didn’t want attention. He paced and roamed and didn’t make a sound. Normally he’s very talkative. But he had been through a heck of an ordeal including general anesthetic and several medications not to mention cutting and sewing his gums. Keep in mind, this is one cat who doesn’t normally do drugs.  He’s no Rob Ford. *rimshot*

On Thursday morning he came around for attention but still didn’t make a sound beyond a purr the level of an outboard motor.  He had eaten all of his food through the night and was eager for more. It was also the first day of 7 when we’ll administer twice-daily antibiotics.  It’s pediatric (human) medication flavoured like banana which kids love but cats, not so much. Still, he took it like a little four-legged man.

The worst of it is over but things aren’t back to normal yet. In addition to the antibiotics, he gets pain medication for a few days. You know how it feels to get a tooth pulled?  Well imagine that times four in a little kitty mouth. The vet said that often times when cats heal from this kind of operation they turn into kittens again because they’re so delighted at being pain-free. That would be very cool. His meow has returned but it’s a raspy little cry. We figure he meowed himself out when he was overnight at the vet’s, poor guy. He protects the shaved patch on his arm where the IV went in. It must all be so confusing.

One funny aside from the vet’s office after all of the discussion on air and in person about spending so much on a cat’s health: as we checked out the receptionist said, “they told you how much it could cost, right?”  We said yes.  And she replied, “That will be $968 please!”  Well that was out of range! It turned out that they accidentally charged us for 16 cases of medication, not 16 doses!  A few clicks of the keyboard and our heart rates settled back down to normal. Ultimately we would have paid it but we knew we weren’t supposed to!