Last night my cat Buddy couldn't eat. He sniffed the food, took a bite and then dropped the bite immediately. I knew he needed to get his teeth cleaned because his gums were infected, but had been putting it off. I called right then and made an appointment for him for today.
Teeth cleaning for cats is considered surgery since they have to be sedated. I took him into the office this morning thinking I would just drop him off and go to work. I got to the vet's office at about 7:40 and didn't get out of there until nearly 8:00! (I was a few minutes late for work. Oops.) I actually had to sign paperwork stating that I was permitting them to sedate my cat and that I understood that sometimes animals don't wake up from sedation... um, yikes! I signed the paperwork since they assured me that it is simply a formality and that it "rarely" happens. Again, yikes... rarely? They told me he'd be through surgery and that they'd call around lunchtime to let me know how he was doing. So, with an extra scratch on the head, I handed him off to the vet tech. By the time I got to work I had a headache and my neck hurt from the stress of having my "just a cat" having surgery.
I waited impatiently until 1:00 to call. They, they said around lunchtime... to me that is between 11:00 and 1:00. I thought I showed great restraint in waiting. He wasn't awake yet, but the surgery was done. There were no extractions, thank goodness and he was doing fine. Big sigh of relief. They said he'd be ready at 4:00. :::Whew:::
The whole thing made me think... it might be a good thing I don't have kids. If "just a cat" stresses me to that point. Not only that, but I feel so guilty about not getting him in earlier. I knew he needed a teeth cleaning. I knew he wasn't eating as much as normal and was losing weight. Yet, I let him get to the point that he couldn't even eat! What kind of cat guardian/person am I? A thoroughly guilt-ridden one who now has a cat with sparkly clean choppers!!
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