A spaying spree

Tiger has improved. We went back to the vet on the fourth day of his being unwell as she told us there was no point in waiting any longer if he wasn't eating or drinking and losing weight every day. She diagnosed an irritated liver, gave him an antibiotic shot and I think another shot containing I don't know what (I was too overwhelmed to register that), and pumped a good half a cup of Ludlow's (?) solution under the skin of his upper back, until he looked like a camel with water leaking from his hump. This was supposed to hydrate him and replenish electrolytes. He was so scared, and probably weak, he wouldn't even think of fighting. However, the procedure helped - as if she'd watered a wilting plant - he was back on his feet the same evening and continued to improve. Today, a week later, he's practically back to his old self, with the exception that I haven't seen him pee in the corners behind furniture. He purrs and loudly vocalizes, displays attitudes and generally participates in the other cats' activities, including eating, begging for food, playing and sleeping together. Hooray. You should have seen him right after he'd been neutered when the other cats wouldn't sleep with him because he smelled of the vet! They were only staring at him and smelling him from some distance. He was so miserable.

This afternoon I lured him to sample some boiled egg yolk next to where I was eating boiled egg sandwiches. When he was tasting the yolk, I sprayed the back of his head with anti-roundworm medication from a tiny syringe the vet gave me! Boy he jumped! He had been clever at breakfast when he saw the syringe in my hand, and I only managed to catch the remaining three then. But then they went to sleep some, then they woke up, stretched, sniffed around... Lured by the yolk lying innocently on the floor next to my chair, he forgot! I caught him completely off guard and the application was successful.

Now I have four cats all dewormed at the same time. This is supposed to prevent them from spreading roundworm to each other. My previous apllications have not been entirely successful because only two cats would eat the medicine willingly. The other two - Tiger and his little sister - only ate it the very first time I served it, mixed with wet cat food. Then they must have felt a bit off and remembered it because they'd never touch the medicine-contaminated food again. The little queen would even scratch the floor next to the bowl to show that the disgusting contents of the bowl should be buried like feces! Tiger would just smell the food, shake his fur off with disgust, and walk away. This resulted in two cats being fully dewormed and two remaining roundworm carriers. The vet was worried that the worms were making them weak and prone to suffer complications from the surgical procedures I wanted her to perform.

I have two appointments scheduled in May to neuter the remaining queens - one on the 13th and the other on the 25th. I've already arranged to have those days off at work. While I'm very happy that Tiger is both neutered and back on his feet, I'm now very worried about how well both queens will take their surgeries. The first attempt on last Tuesday was unsuccessful - the queen mother of the three almost passed away on the table when given an anaesthetic shot. The vet immediately gave her an antidote shot to wake her up and resuscitated her. She said if she'd left the room for a couple of minutes as she sometimes does, waiting for the anesthetic to work, she'd come back to a dead cat - the queen was not breathing and her gums were turning blue. I picked her up the same evening and there were no further complications but obviously I will be so worried when we try to neuter her again. The vet is also freaking because the cats are family and therefore may have similar health problems - now she doesn't know what to expect when she puts any of them on the operating table.

Well, isn't this fun. One done, three more to go. No need to say, I hope everything turns out just fine.