My cat had an operation today

[BerylStreep]

She has been off colour for a couple of days. No sign of her getting better, so I took her to the vets this morning. She was whipped in and operated on, as she had a blockage in her intestines. The vets have said they will need to monitor her for the next couple of days, as there can be complications from this type of surgery.

Poor wee thing. I know it is silly, but I just hate to think of her lying in the vets, in pain, and not understanding what is going on.

[BerylStreep]

Here's a gratuitous photo of her in a dress.

[thecatneuterer]

Oh dear. I hope she has a speedy recovery. Well done for spotting it and acting promptly. You probably saved her life.

She hadn't eaten the dress in protest had she?

[BerylStreep]

No!

Photo was taken a while ago.

It was one of those silicone sucker things you can stick to the side of a wine glass so you can tell which glass is which at parties. Someone (thinking it was this cat) vomited one up about a month ago. I was amazed, because it is probably almost a year since we last used them. She must have eaten two - one was vomited up, and the other has gone further and got stuck.

I just hope she is going to be ok.

also wondering if the family who have been trying to lure her away over the last 6 months will be up to paying half the fees

[BettyCatKitten]

What a lovely colour. There's no way any of my cats would tolerate any kind of clothing
I really hope she gets well soon

[cozietoesie]

All the best to her and you all.

Have you seen any signs of her eating things that she shouldn't?

[Fluffycloudland77]

I'm glad she's ok. I don't think we ought to discount the dress theory, clearly a protest.

Purples not her colour.

[BerylStreep]

Just got a voicemail from the vet to say she seems to be doing well, but that they think she will be in all weekend.

Glad she is doing well, although a little worried about mounting bills.

[PumpkinsMummy]

Glad she's doing better. Any chance she could have got the suckers at the neighbours? Especially if you haven't used them for so long. In which case you can present them with the whole bill .

If you are worried about the bills though, chat to the vet as some do a payment plan for larger amounts, I think ours do this for over £500 so you can pay it off bit by bit.

[BerylStreep]

PumpkinsMummy I like your thinking, but having spoken to the neighbours I am pretty sure they are not the suckers on your wineglass type of people, whereas we most definitely are. The vet kept it in a little bag, and I definitely recognised it as one of ours.

In terms of bills, we will just have to suck it up. I think we are at about £710 so far. I have no idea how that compares with other vets.

We have been having regular updates from the vet, and I visited her yesterday. She is doing well, and in very good spirits, although only ate anything for the first time tonight. The vet has warned that she will need close monitoring for a week after the surgery before she is free of the risk of complications.

I have posted before about these neighbours who were trying to lure her away. She completely changed last summer - became distant with us, and started staying out overnight, sometimes for days at a time, and when she did come back, she would be smelling of perfume! We put a collar on her, with a name & address tag; and when that made minimal difference, we put a locate tracking device on her collar, which has made a bit of difference, but not much.

I had to go knocking on their door on Thursday to get her, so I could bring her to the vet on Friday morning. When they answered, I asked if they would mind checking their garden for her, as she was very ill, and they said she was in the house. I went in, and there she was, sitting in their living room, looking absolutely awful. There was no way they couldn't have noticed that she was so ill, yet they were keeping her in their house.

They started trying to justify why they had her in their house (oh, she loves coming in, she's very charming, she doesn't seem to like her sister (actually her grown up kitten, but anyway), we saw on TV that cats are solitary creatures and don't like living with other cats, yada yada ). Basically, they are reaping all the benefits of owning a pedigree cat without any of the responsibility or bills.

I think I will drop a note to them stating that she will require very close monitoring after her (expensive) major abdominal surgery, and please would they ensure they don't feed her or allow her into the house, especially not overnight.

We will hopefully get her back home tomorrow evening. The poor thing has a scar the entire length of her tummy. The vet had a feel around, and they are pretty sure there are no other sucker things in there.

[thecatneuterer]

Surely you'll need to make sure she doesn't go out at all until she's totally recovered, so she won't be able to visit the neighbours.

[BerylStreep]

Yes, I doubt she will be out at all in the next few weeks. This will be hard, as she is very strong willed. I was thinking for after she is able to go out.

[cozietoesie]

Sorry - I didn't see that the vet had found a sucker in her.

Just a word of warning in that regard - to be transmitted to the catnappers neighbours as well perhaps. Rubber bands. If she has a taste for chewing rubbery textures, she might well go for them - and even if you don't use them yourselves, posties often have rubber bands around mail and discard them carelessly. I've had to remove several from the cats in previous years. (I got The Look for it but Hey Ho.)

[BerylStreep]

Bugger.

I brought her home. The vet's last words to me was don't, under any circumstances, let her outside.

I had her locked in the kitchen, she was bright enough as she got out of her cat box. As I went to leave the kitchen, her daughter got in, hissed at her, then attacked her, and before I could get the door into the kitchen closed, both cats ran out into the hall, and out the open front door. The kitten had another couple of goes at her outside. I have got her back in, and she is now hiding under my bed. I have my bedroom and ensuite set up as a confined area, with a bed, litter tray and food, but I am just so annoyed with myself for not being more careful.

[thecatneuterer]

Well she's back in now and wasn't out for long by the sounds of it, so no harm done.

[BerylStreep]

She's still hiding under the bed, but has eaten a little bit. I'm off out to see if I can get a feliway diffuser at Pets at Home.

The other one is sitting triumphantly on the kitchen table, as I type.

[BerylStreep]

I forgot to add that I contacted the lady I got her from and let her know what had happened. She told be that my cat's brother had had an identical operation after eating a dried flower arrangement, so stupid obviously runs in the family.

[BettyCatKitten]

The other cat may have attacked her as she smells of the vets and this can freak other cats out. They can smell something's happened. It's good your keeping them apart.
When my youngest came home after being spayed I put her in a dog crate for periods of time so the other cats could sniff her and also to stop her running about like a lunatic

[BerylStreep]

Just an update to say we are back from the vets, and he is very pleased with her progress. Cat and teenage kitten are still being kept apart, and we have to keep cat in for another week before she gets her stitches out.

[BerylStreep]

Update: A month on, and my cat is doing really well. We watched her playing on the trampoline the other day, and she is back to her old, kittenish self. She even has her purr back.

Both cats are getting on well with each other again, which is a relief.

The bill in the end was £688

[cozietoesie]

(Although a companionable Ouch is merited. Are you contemplating insurance now?)

[BerylStreep]

Cozie I suppose I should, shouldn't I?

Am pissed off today, as the neighbour who had been trying to entice her away had her in their house last night, despite me writing to them and asking them not to allow her in their house or to feed her.

[Wolfiefan]

Tell them she needs special food too.
Our old girl had a similar op and did really well after it.