poor kitty
I now have a completely unsexed cat.
He's been home for 24 hours now, and the main thing we've had to adjust to is the ridiculous surgical haircut they gave him. Unfortunately, his coat may not grow out for 4 months or more. Fortunately, he won't be barenekkid from approximately the solar plexus down, in the worst of the winter.
But damn. I almost wish they'd shaved all of him, so at least he would look vaguely Sphynxlike, instead of like a critter with a really bad bowl cut. I hope as it grows out he'll look more and more even, not less.
As for the unsexing, it's even odder than I thought, because somehow my brain didn't quite take in the fact that he really wouldn't have anything left - not even the scrotal sac. At this point, his DNA is all he has that's male. Part of me feels sad for him, and part of me thinks - hey, now he will never be caught in a prostitution ring scandal. He won't catch any STDs. He no longer even has pheromones to offend other male cats. He's just ... a little lovemuffin cuddlebug of a completely neuter critter.
Like I said, it's very odd.
I just hope it solves all his peeing problems, without causing any kitty-psych problems, and he goes on to have a long healthy happy life as a kitty eunuch.
And yes, he is still going to be referred to as a he, simply because he's already got the personality as well as the DNA. And besides, "it" is so defelinizing.
His vet is slightly more of a worrywart than even I am, which I suppose in the circumstances is a good thing, so he went back this afternoon to have his bladder palpated just as a precaution, and everything was pronounced "great". Because I believe in promoting self-esteem in cats - which of course are well known as having notoriously fragile egos - I think it was good for him to hear he's great, even if it's only his bladder. He goes back again on Sunday for checkup, and then weekly until things are deemed healed up. God only knows when he'll be able to go outside again though - to me he seems so vulnerable without that half-inch-thick coat of fur. The scarring on his back from his bad ol' feral tomcat days is rather disturbing to contemplate, in the absence of the fur that was protecting him then. So I expect he'll be going pretty stir crazy for a couple of weeks until he gets used to not being allowed out at all.
As for me, I've had a bad head cold since approximately Sunday night, my ears are tormenting me with congestion, and all I really want is a day when I'm not running to the vet's office and back. Or to Syracuse and back. If it ain't one, it's the other, and if it's not the other it's both. Feh.
He's been home for 24 hours now, and the main thing we've had to adjust to is the ridiculous surgical haircut they gave him. Unfortunately, his coat may not grow out for 4 months or more. Fortunately, he won't be barenekkid from approximately the solar plexus down, in the worst of the winter.
But damn. I almost wish they'd shaved all of him, so at least he would look vaguely Sphynxlike, instead of like a critter with a really bad bowl cut. I hope as it grows out he'll look more and more even, not less.
As for the unsexing, it's even odder than I thought, because somehow my brain didn't quite take in the fact that he really wouldn't have anything left - not even the scrotal sac. At this point, his DNA is all he has that's male. Part of me feels sad for him, and part of me thinks - hey, now he will never be caught in a prostitution ring scandal. He won't catch any STDs. He no longer even has pheromones to offend other male cats. He's just ... a little lovemuffin cuddlebug of a completely neuter critter.
Like I said, it's very odd.
I just hope it solves all his peeing problems, without causing any kitty-psych problems, and he goes on to have a long healthy happy life as a kitty eunuch.
And yes, he is still going to be referred to as a he, simply because he's already got the personality as well as the DNA. And besides, "it" is so defelinizing.
His vet is slightly more of a worrywart than even I am, which I suppose in the circumstances is a good thing, so he went back this afternoon to have his bladder palpated just as a precaution, and everything was pronounced "great". Because I believe in promoting self-esteem in cats - which of course are well known as having notoriously fragile egos - I think it was good for him to hear he's great, even if it's only his bladder. He goes back again on Sunday for checkup, and then weekly until things are deemed healed up. God only knows when he'll be able to go outside again though - to me he seems so vulnerable without that half-inch-thick coat of fur. The scarring on his back from his bad ol' feral tomcat days is rather disturbing to contemplate, in the absence of the fur that was protecting him then. So I expect he'll be going pretty stir crazy for a couple of weeks until he gets used to not being allowed out at all.
As for me, I've had a bad head cold since approximately Sunday night, my ears are tormenting me with congestion, and all I really want is a day when I'm not running to the vet's office and back. Or to Syracuse and back. If it ain't one, it's the other, and if it's not the other it's both. Feh.