Danger's Surgery....and some cute videos!

Last Friday I brought Danger into the vet for her spay surgery, since all of her bloodwork came back normal:)  The vet did a little exam while I was there on Friday morning, and she *did* hear a slight heart murmur.  Very mild, and she's been healthy at home.  I double checked that the drugs they'd be using are heart-safe, and they were.  You see, there are certain pre-anesthetic and induction drugs that are harder on heart function, and though they are safe to use on healthy animals, it can be more risky to use them on patients with preexisting issues.  Since we don't know the cause of Danger's murmur, it's best to use the heart safe drugs, and the vet obviously agreed.  They also monitor vitals during the surgery so I felt secure in letting them go ahead with the procedure:)  If the murmur is still present in a few months, it will be worth doing an ultrasound to determine the cause.  A lot of the time, cats can develop small murmurs as kittens that resolve themselves as they become adults.  Here's hoping that's what her murmur is!

I was having coffee with a friend in that area, so I told them I'd be around if anything happened.  They called around 11:30am to say that she had her surgery, did very well and was recovering nicely!  I was to pick her up later that evening, around 6pm.  I had also arranged to bring Fluffy in for her nail trim and clip a couple of matts...so the next challenge was to get Fluffy into a cat carrier.  The last time I did this, she was still quite feral and I literally had to set a trap for her, using treats as the bait.  Now, seeing as I can pet her and she'll even sit in my lap, I was going to try just picking her up and putting her in the carrier.  (This is when you laugh at me). 

I was also developing a migraine, which didn't help me in efficiency or speed when trying to negotiate getting her into the carrier.  Well, it took two tries.  The first time, I started brushing her and gave her a treat, then picked her up and *almost* got her all of the way into the carrier, but she freaked out and ran away.  She hid under the futon in the cat room, and at that point I figured I was done.  "Under the Futon" is her safe place.  It's where she stayed all the time when I first got her, where she had her babies, and where she now hides whenever anyone comes over.  But after a few minutes of shaking the treat bag and showing her the brush, I convinced her to come out:)  This time, it was a tiny struggle, but I managed to get her into the carrier and close the door behind her.  Success!  She meowed and scratched at the door, but I kept telling her I wasn't going to leave her there, that she was going for a quick visit and coming right back home:)

She was perfect for the technician, letting her trim nails and shave the few matts away from the areas on her lower belly and chest that she wouldn't let me brush out.  I was very happy that they were able to do it, and I feel better knowing her nails aren't too long or ingrown.

We picked up Danger, who was still groggy from her meds but doing well.  Since there were now two cats and two carriers, Dan met me at the vet clinic and we just took a cab home:)  Danger settled in pretty well, though both Fluffy and Yin hissed at her a bit for the first day.  Stitches didn't seem to care much either way...he's pretty easy going and I'm sure he was just happy it wasn't HIM who had to go the vet!  They had given Danger an injection of a pain medication called Metacam, which lasts about 24hrs, and she still was feeling the affects of the other drugs the next day.  She's been eating, drinking and doing all the normal things since:)  The last couple days she's been more active as well, playing with the other cats like usual.  She has a couple of sutures, and we're going to the vet tomorrow for a quick recheck appointment and suture removal.

Danger playing with Stitches on the weekend :)

So I discovered that it's pretty hard to snap a quick picture of Fluffy, since she's so fast and on alert all the time...leftover skills from living in the wilds of Toronto for a year.  But there's video!  She hasn't learned to run away from that one, yet.  So today while we were all chilling out in the attic, I managed to take a couple of videos of the cats:)  For some reason blogger wouldn't upload my videos, so I put them on You Tube.  You can view them by clicking the links below!

http://youtu.be/MvbY72xPkfQ

  http://youtu.be/p-Toww5Ch-M


They aren't on the "Public" view list, so you can only view them by clicking those links.  If you want to share the videos, feel free to share my blog or copy the links :)

I'll update again this weekend once Danger's sutures are removed!

The working world and back again

Apologies for not updating sooner.  Today is my *first* weekday off to myself since the new year began!  During the whole month of Jan, and the first week of Feb, I was working as a wardrobe assistant for an indie film.  It was an interesting experience, and a good introduction to the world of making movies.  But the hours were very long and I missed being home with the cats, for sure.

However, the job did ensure I would be able to get the kittens spayed very soon!  In fact, I'm taking Danger in to the vet tomorrow for her pre-anesthetic bloodwork.  If that all checks out, she'll get spayed on Friday.  For the bloodwork, they check liver and kidney functions, proteins, glucose levels...all the main factors, which is great.  It also gives a base line of her "normals" so that if she has any issues in the future, they can look back at those numbers.  It's really important to get these blood tests done before undergoing any anesthesia, for animals and of course for us humans, too!  I know a lot of clinics have it listed as an "elective", and give the owners the choice...and I also know it costs extra money that we don't always have.  But what if your pet had underlying kidney or liver issues (the organs which metabolize anesthetic drugs)?  It could seriously compromise their ability to recover, or even survive the procedure.  I know from my experience working as a vet tech, this HAS happened to pets before.  So, I'll do everything in my power to make sure all the bases are covered and my kitties are safe to undergo anesthesia :)

Now that my "safety" rant is complete, I'm delighted to say that Fluffy has gotten even braver:)  She'll now come right up onto my lap to get cuddles!  She won't really lay down on my lap, but she'll sit on me and stay there a while.  She also really loves to be brushed, but I can't brush her belly yet...and of course that's where I've felt a couple little matts.  I'm going to take her into the vet on Friday when I pick up Danger, to get her nails trimmed (another thing she won't let me do) and get those matts cut out.  She's fine at the vet, being one of those cats who just freezes...not one who lashes out.  I have many scars from those types of cats, for sure:p

Speaking of my time as a vet tech, I'm really excited about the possibility of going overseas to volunteer for an animal rescue who truly needs more skilled help!  I've actually even just started an Indiegogo fundraising campaign, offering some of my photography as perks for people who donate.  Check it out here:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/329086

If you can help, it would be amazing!  Even just sharing with your family and friends...the more people who know about it, the more potential donations:) 

In the meantime, I'm of course looking for more work to save up money as well! But I'd love to be able to go soon, before I become invested in another full-time job.  

Here's some recent kitty pics!!

Fluffy sitting on my lap!  Stitches is on Dan's lap:)

Sitting very silly-like while cleaning her tail.  So cute!

I changed phones recently, and am now using an older version of the iPhone.  Transfering pictures with it kinda sucks:/  But I'll try and get some more up very soon!

Ohhhhh....I also just found out about this helpful Webinar "Helping Cats in your Community" by AlleyCat Allies:
http://www.alleycat.org/Webinar

Looks like it will be very informative!!