It’s amazing how quickly an adopted animal becomes part of the family.
Bubo’s about 18 weeks old now, and I’ve had her for 14 of those. Today was Bubo’s spay day. It’s brought up a variety of emotions.
I hadn’t really been dreading the appointment, but after I dropped Bubo off I started crying. I thought I was going to start in the office! It’s been about 6 mos since I took Willow in to be put down, so I still don’t have the most positive associations with vet offices. And there are risks with any surgery. There’s that chance that she could be over-anesthetized or that she could react badly the the anesthesia. In an animal that’s only 5-ish pounds, that can be a death sentence.
So I was a bit scared dropping her off. As I cried and drove home, I chanted to myself that she would be Ok. I stopped crying about 1/4 way into the drive.
I cried, because Bubo has really become a part of my little family in these few months. I really can’t imagine her absence in my life. She’s so dynamic, and she’s definitely got a strong personality. She nearly always wants to play. Sometimes that comes in not-so-cute forms of attacking my legs or gnawing on my hands. But other times she wants to sit and cuddle with me while I watch movies on the laptop. And she’s taken to sleeping with me the past few nights. Not within touching distance, but she’s there. Rusty joins us for at least part of the night.
It’s really hard seeing Bubo reeling from the anesthesia. I don’t remember having to see that when Rusty was spayed. They must have kept her longer after. When she’s awake, Bubo’s really fighting the cone. She seems to hate it. She’s also hungry, and it’s hard to turn her away from food. She hasn’t eaten since 10 p.m. last night, so I’m sure she’s famished. A few more hours until she can eat a bit… And, I can’t wait to give her the pain meds! But the vet gave it to me in liquid form, so I just have to squirt it on her gums. Not as bad as a pill…
Bubo will probably have a vacation in the bathroom to keep her from jumping up on too many things these first few days. She’s already wanting to be up, and she can’t even walk let alone jump!
But I’m glad she’s come through this milestone Ok, though I’ll feel better when the anesthesia’s worn off a bit.