Today was the day that I have been waiting for / dreading / excited about since the day the kittens came into my life. It was the day they were ready to be spay/neutered. Today was daunting for a variety of reasons...
1) WEIGHT: Remember how little they were? Remember how behind they were? It felt like they would never, ever reach the 2lb mark - which is what they need to be before they can undergo surgery. The fact that they made it to that weight (truth: Tabitha is still 1.8lb, but that's close enough in my book for right now!) is staggering to me.
2) SURGERY: Okay - this is melodramatic of me - but I always have this fear whenever ANY of my pets have been spay/neutered. You hear horror stories of pets dying during it. It's not common, not at all, but you know me... I'm a little neurotic...
3) Feline Leukemia / HIV: This was the big one for me. You see, cats/kittens with either of these two FATAL diseases don't have a lot of options. It is not uncommon for these cats to be euthanized. From what I know (and I'm no expert!) it is passed from nose to nose contact so could easily be spread from a non-vaccinated mother to her kittens. Grand Rapids is lucky enough to have a sanctuary for these cats - and they can, in fact, live in a home with other animals as long as the other cats' vaccinations are kept current. Regardless of the options - I knew that if they were positive that it would be a whole other ball game. To come this far, with every kitten living through extroadinary circumstances I would have been nothing short of devastated if they had had a fatal disease. When I walked into the vet today to pick them up and saw a sticky note on their paperwork with NEGATIVE highlighted I almost cried. Honest!
The kittens have just done so well today. Here they are all crated up and ready for the ride to the vet this morning...
Tabitha
Magnus and Spock (hard to see I know!)
NapoleonI picked them up this afternoon and other than being a little groggy, they were in good spirits. Now they are back in the kitten closet, and you know the first thing they did when they got home?...
Yup! They stuffed their faces! And you know what - after all they have been through today, and in their little lives so far - they deserve it!
So now we can move forward. I am so thrilled that they are all healthy and ready for adoption. I feel like I have 100% succeeded in giving these kittens the chance at live they deserve.
so josh and i are seriously considering adopting a new kitty, but i'm nervous! arie is pretty dominant and used to being the center of attention and i don't want her or the new kitty to clash. any suggestions from the kitten mama?? is it worth the risk? (josh isn't nearly as worried about it)
ReplyDeleteFirst of all - I wish that you were HERE so that you could take one of mine! :(
ReplyDeleteSecondly - I am NO expert, BUT - I think that for the most part, cats learn to get along. When you introduce them they are going to hiss, possibly spit, not want to be around each other, etc. etc. but that doesn't mean a thing in the long run - they could end up as best friends!
There's no way to tell really if they're going to be best friends or just co-exist, but it's not likely that they just won't get along at all. I had my cat Oliver from a kitten, then introduced Beyonce about a year later. They are both the same age, and they did not get along at first - but now they work together to conspire against Bella! :)
Arie is still pretty young, so it's not like she's old and set in her ways. My gut tells me that a boy cat might be better than a girl - then she doesn't feel like she needs to compete as much. That's just my gut. Chances are Arie will love having a little brother or sister!
Again, I am NOT the expert. BUT - there are LOTS of cat people who read this blog... speak up people - what is your take?