Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Meowing in a Higher Pitch Ollie lost his balls today.

He came home from the vets with an insanely long wound travelling the length of his stomach, no balls and a cone around his neck. Normally a castration operation for your average tomcat is straightforward and leaves only a slight wound at the testicular area. But Ollie only had one ball, because the other was yet to drop (there was a brief period of time where I believed he had two balls; one covered in white fur, the other in black, which I thought kind of cool, but it turned out that he just had one super big testicle) and so the surgeon had to go searching in several places for the other. Luckily, after a good long search in his abdomen, then under some skin and then some other place, they found it and all was well.

But it's so sad to see him walk around the house, bumping into walls and table legs and not being able to get into small spaces. I had to take the lid and door off of his kitty litter tray because when he tried to get through the door flap the cone around his neck stopped him short. I felt so bad exposing his private toilet. He doesn't like to pee in front of people! He's a private pee-er! It's such a loss of dignity.

When he came home he wouldn't eat or drink and I eventually realised it was because he couldn't eat or drink! The cone got in the way. I had to feed him from my hand.

And maybe the saddest part was when I went to pick him up at the vet's my poor wee guy had peed himself out of fear. His little back legs were soaking wet.

And! And they shaved his tummy furrrrrrr. Oh the tummy fur that I love so much is gone! Gone! Gone...

When you buy a pet, you don't really think about the heartache it will bring. You forget that you will be paying for operations to cut off his gonads, that you will be the one holding him still while the vet sticks a big ass needle in the scruff of his neck. You forget that he will look at you with his big, innocent eyes while the rabies shot seeps into his veins, him silently pleading with you to make the pain go away. Deep down I know it's all for his own good - after all, if they hadn't found that lost ball he'd likely get cancer - but it's difficult to see him walking into things and trying to lick his paws but licking the cone instead. It's just wrong. There isn't a punchline to this post at all I'm afraid.

That is all.

posted by &copy Princesse Ecossaise Tags; Crazy Cat Lady

Jane said...

Aww poor Ollie :(

Cats make me sneeze, but I love them all the same.

1 April 2008 at 10:50 Ghosty said...

Poor Ollie! *pets the poor kitty* ... you know, I really do adore cats, and I couldn't see myself being any different with my feline (if I had one) than you are with yours. Cheer up, he'll heal soon and be climbing the curtains before you know it :D

1 April 2008 at 12:58 Princesse Ecossaise said...

Lastnight he was back to his hyper self it was crazy! He was chasing fluff etc so I think it's safe to say the op isn't going to change his personality! I kind of had an image of him being a more docile, sleepy cat afterwards. He's a wee bit quieter today, but that's to be expected.

1 April 2008 at 13:42 JB said...

When I got my Boo fixed, it was also a heartache to see her suffer with that big cone on her head. She hated it so much she'd mew all the time, but I knew if I took it off, she'd lick her stitches clean off.

Only other pet lovers understand the love and attachment you feel towards a simple animal. But damn, we love our animals and we don't care what others think.

1 April 2008 at 15:02 Despina said...

Oh poor wee thing! Give him a cuddle from me. I felt the same way when Suzy was in pain, it's really upsetting. Glad he's feeling a bit better :)

1 April 2008 at 16:19 T.D. Newton said...

You don't need a punchline when your post contains the word "gonads" on purpose.

Poor wee guy. I remember when I had my cat spayed (many, many years ago when I actually had ahem 4 of them). It was sad for a little bit but it is for the best.

The dogs we're getting next weekend are already fixed (thank heavens) and should be current on all their shots. That's the best thing about getting non-younguns.

1 April 2008 at 16:29 Micah D. Newton said...

indeed! can't wait to get the lil punkins!

i've only ever experienced one of my pets being fixed (the rest came to our family pre-taken-care-of) and damn that was some funny shit! i felt bad for the little booger, but watching him wander about, crashing into things, was rather entertaining.

don't worry. we weren't cruel to the poor thing. and we did pity him and coddle him.

doesn't make the crashing about any less funny or sad. :o)

also, my windows media player has absolutely ZERO volume regulation so i just blasted myself out of my cube on accident. hot.

1 April 2008 at 17:16 Leah said...

Poor little muffin! I hope he recovers soon. Oh, and Happy Birthday to you!!

2 April 2008 at 11:48 JB awww it's definitely very difficult to watch a wee animal suffer like that, especially when it's your own loyal, faithful pet. It's true that only other animal lovers and pet owners can understand. Before I owned Ollie I would never have known how much it could break my heart to see a little kitty in distress.

Despina cuddle given and he bit my cheek in response. That's a good thing, a type of lovebite lol.

TD LOL! I love the word gonads. It's one of those words that I like to use when I'm deadly serius to break the tension, and it always works! You had FOUR cats?! Were you living alone with them? How come you didn't turn into a crazy cat man?!

You guys HAVE to share pics of the dogs when you get them!

Micah, mademoiselle! laughing at your pets with cones on their necks! Well I never! Actually I admit I did laugh when I first put it on Ollie, because he walked in such an odd manner, lifting his paws really high as if he was wading through some kind of swamp. It is sad but they really shouldn't make the cone collar look so ridiculous!!

Leah Thank you! Actually I wanted to ask you about how to get a cat in a plane and into France easily. I'm scared!

2 April 2008 at 15:33 PE-I ended up taking my little muffin right in the cabin with me(not all airlines do this, gotta check with them before you buy your ticket and also find out the weight and carrier requirements) because I couldn't bare putting her in the hold for hours and hours. I also came from the states and had a connection, though. But, anyways, it cost about 125 USD per way, so I'd assume it'd be less for you, but again, you'd have to check.

You'll have certain documents you have to have for entering France from the UK and then the airline might require additional info. I had to have a valid rabies vaccination cert, a general cert. of health and then an EU form I found online. Your best bet is to call the airlines to make the reservation for the cabin or hold and they'll tell you what they require and maybe even what France requires.

All this being said, NO ONE looked at ANY of my docs. But, better safe than sorry, right? Good luck!!

Ps-I did have to take her out of her carrier and carry her through the metal detector. I had not thought of this before, so I just thought I'd warn you because I nearly had myself an airport chase scene because kitty was so terrified.

Also, I miraculously had no accidents, but I also was very careful not to feed the kitty right before the flight and tried to make sure she went to the bathroom. I took paper towels in a plastic bag and put them in the carrier just in case. I also took a plastic bag with a bit of food and a plastic travel water bowl(tupperware would work too!) and bought a bottle of water just in case she was really hungry/thirsty. But, she was just so freaked out that she didn't want to drink or eat.

I think that's all I can think of, but don't hesitate if you have any other questions!

3 April 2008 at 12:40 Ångele said...

Ohhh :( Poor lil baby. I love animals and my heart always aches when I see them in pain. But it's for your kitty's own good, right? And soon the cone will be removed and he'll slowly recover..hopefully.

When I was a kid my dog had prostate cancer and he was suffering a lot. The vet told us it was better to put him to sleep. I didn't want to because I was so small and didn't understand why they wanted to kill my doggy. I was too little to understand my dog's suffering. But I loved him to bits... I cried like a baby for a whole week after he died :(

4 April 2008 at 07:30 Leah thanks so much for the info I really, really appreciate all that as I've been totally stressing out about taking home on the plane! Luckily the flight will only be an hour and a half but I'm the type that stresses out easily :-p

I'm slightly worried about taking him out of his carrier when going through security, that could end up as a massive chase through the terminal building! Wondering if I should buy a harness and put it on him before I gor through then take it off afterward...

Thanks again hon!!!

8 April 2008 at 21:10
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