Thumbs Up!
It’s two days after I wrote the previous blog entry, moments before drugging Spare Parts in preparation for her vet visit.
Here’s Spare Parts herself, cuddling with baby Ariel while also glaring at me.
Ariel has benefited from Spare Parts’s bonus motherhood. Spare Parts got high on motherhood hormones and has been ADORABLE with all “her” non-biological kittens. She even lets me pat her, sometimes. Carefully. But if I get too close or move too fast she’ll slap me hard enough to draw blood.
Once, she slapped me with sheathed claws. By her standards, that’s practically an embrace.
At the vet with Spare Parts, things went… badly. Long story short, I went to hospital with a selection of very nasty cat bites.
The make-her-sleepy drugs didn’t work well enough, and the vet + nurse + I were all stymied by her strength, speed, smarts, and teeth. Fortunately I was the only one injured.
Next time, I’ll get stronger drugs! And I’ll go to a vet more equipped for this type of cat. Oral drugs + a towel + vet gauntlets are NOT enough for this lady. And next time, I’ll stay out of the way.
I’m not giving up on Spare Parts although I don’t know how I’ll deal with keeping her for six weeks after the kittens are weaned. They need to be separated from her at that stage, or she’ll teach them to hate humans too. I have a plan, but certain key details are shaky.
I was terrified to be awake during surgery, but didn’t have time for a general anaesthetic because Ariel is still having supplemental feeds every 3-4 hours. Feeding kittens is quite specialised so even if I found someone willing to wake up multiple times every night, any volunteers also need to have specific training and as much experience as possible. They also need to stimulate his bottom to help him go to the toilet (or he’ll die).
My friend had met the cats so she stepped up to feed and toilet Ariel, but she was only able to safely give him half a feed. I definitely made the right choice to take the more painful surgery so I could be home sooner.
Ariel’s had several solid feeds now and lots of cuddles, so he’s feeling full and happy again.
During the surgery they injected anaesthetic directly into the nerves of my hand. I’ve been through that before so I knew how awful it would be. This time, they also needed to remove two of my fingernails. I was ecstatic when the surgery was over.
Now I just have to do all the things I was doing before except without the use of my dominant thumb, ring finger, or little finger. I’ve already broken a filling opening a muesli bar with my teeth. At Woolworths yesterday I used an auto-checkout and the machine freaked out because it thought my thumb was an object I hadn’t paid for.
Spare Parts still trusts me with her kittens, which is honestly very sweet. She might hate humans (and most cats) but she’s an excellent mother. I was pretty annoyed at her biting me after all we’ve been through, but she’s a sweetheart in her own way. And of course she has a right to defend herself from three giant scary monsters.
Her kittens will grow up trusting humans, and will love being house cats for their entire long and comfortable lives.
I love fostering cats, even on days like this, but it’s quite expensive (especially when I have to cancel work to go to hospital, or when a kitten like Ariel needs extra care).
If you can help, please donate to my GoFundMe.
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