It’s the last Friday of the month, so time to meet up with Coco and Deborah for the ultimate coffee date! As usual, I’m drinking my beloved Earl Grey tea. Here’s what I would tell you over coffee…
At the end of this month, Sylvie will be six months old! Here she is the day we got her…
… and here she is now.
(I realized I don’t have many pictures where she isn’t sleeping, or wrestling with Foxy!)
It’s time to make the appointment to get her… spayed. Ugh, it’s going to be awful! I’m actually dreading it more than my colonoscopy, and that’s saying a lot. She’ll have stitches, which means she’ll be prohibited from running and jumping (two of her favorite hobbies). She’ll have to wear a cone, and be separated from Foxy for several days (so that he can’t lick her stitches.) It’s going to be TERRIBLE!
Muffin and Foxy were already spayed/neutered by the time we got them, so it’s been a very long time since I’ve had to get a cat fixed. The thought of it is putting a damper on my month, but- we’ll get through it. Somehow or other everyone manages this, and we will too.
Moving on… I’m looking forward to some good reading this month! Here’s my latest stack from the library:
I’m really enjoying my Agatha Christie rereads! At first I was concerned about my memory, because most of these plots don’t seem familiar to me at all. Then I thought about when I first read them- I was in high school and college. Soooo… lots of years have passed. No wonder it feels like I’m reading them for the first time.
The last thing I’d share over coffee is, I finished the Caroline Girvan Iron Series on Sunday! I felt very triumphant for about five minutes, and then I remembered… oh crap, I still have to lift weights. It’s not like I’m done with strength training forever! This week I’m revisiting some of the Iron Series workouts that I liked (i.e. found to be effective but not horribly tedious) while I decide what I’m going to do next.
That’s it for me!
Have you ever had to get a cat spayed? – Tell me reassuring stories!
What are you reading this month?
Top photo by Jocelynne Flor on Unsplash
32 Responses
we spayed Cookie as she was from street. I don’t recall her being too traumatized. Bubble came already with the surgery done.
After my first and her last book (Elizabeth Strout) I am reading her previous books. What a talent writer, I like how slow she builds up the characters.
I laughed at your realization of still have to do strength! haha… hope you find something you like.
I haven’t read any Elizabeth Strout! But I want to- one of these days. So many books, so little time.
We had our fuzzy girl spayed- it was about 18 weeks. She did fine. We kept her in the bedroom for a few days, which was our kitten domain and made sure there wasn’t anything too tempting for her to climb/jump. I don’t recall any problems with stitches.
I read a few short ebooks, a thriller type which should have been labeled YA, and the latest Charles Todd (good plot- could have been 50 pages shorter). Now I have Villian ( sequel to Hench) and Riders of the Purple Sage to start.
Have fun this weekend!
Okay, good to know. I kind of wish we had done the surgery earlier, but the vet wanted to wait till she’s six months.
I’ve heard of Villain and Hench but haven’t read them. Lots of people love those books!
Congrats on finishing the iron strength series! I like that you are going to revisit some favorites.
I was surprised at what a quick read James was for me. I’m usually a slow reader, but it had me hooked.
I can’t even remember what books I read a few weeks ago without checking my Kindle app.
Yes, everyone seems to have loved James, and it really isn’t that long. I’m looking forward to it.
Congrats on completing that Caroline Girvan Iron Series – it sounded tough. I love that you plan to keep the workouts that you enjoyed in your rotation.
Well, we had a cat spayed in 1985 and I don’t remember it being a huge issue so maybe it wasn’t. But like you said about rereading those Agatha Christie books, lots of years have passed so who knows…
Ha ha, maybe it WAS terrible and you’ve blocked it out of your mind! Either way- everyone survived.
They grow up so fast! I know very well the stress of having a cat spayed. We had Elsa done in the end of March. I worried so much about how she would accept the cone, since she’s such an active cat, but she was absolutely fine with it. The hardest part was the first day when she was getting used to how to move and behave with the cone, and particularly eating with it. We used a small coffee saucer for her food because she had such problems reaching the food (since the cone was in the way) and there was a lot of mess with food but she was fine. The last 2 or so days she got very itchy and uncomfortable around the neck, other than that it wasn’t a problem. Since she can’t groom herself with it (Elsa tried, although it meant she licked the inside of the cone instead) you may want to help her with a cat hairbrush or similar.
I probably should be ashamed but I almost never read books nowadays. I tend to want to create and work on something instead, like photo editing or graphics or writing. I should read more because it’s good for my language skills and I do have plenty of unread books! Perhaps I should get myself used to it again.
Okay, that’s great advice. Cats don’t like it if they can’t groom themselves- I’ll make sure to brush her. I remember when Charlotte had to wear a cone once and she HATED it so much! She kept managing to turn it inside out so it was basically useless.
Have not seen an Agatha Christie book in person in a long time! I’m reading Yesteryear it’s very intriguing. Great job finishing the Caroline Girvan series that’s gotta feel good!
I LOVED Yesteryear! I’ll be curious to hear what you think of it.
We got Zelda spayed as soon as they would do it. She was SO SWEET and adorable after her spay and the vets and techs were all talking about what a sweetheart she was. But the cat next to her in recovery? Was hissing and swatting and was clearly VERY USPET. Sometimes I wonder if that cat is the opposite of Zelda in everything. Now that cat is sweet and cuddly and eats like a champ and Zelda is sassy and talkative and has to be coaxed into eating anything? Or maybe that cat just stayed mad. Who knows?
I don’t remember recovery being hard for Z, actually, but we didn’t have another cat. She mostly slept and wanted to be on my lap. Who am I to say no to that?
As much as I love Sylvie, I wouldn’t describe her as “sweet”. She’s already sassy, and I could picture her being the hissing swatting cat. But… we will see. In the end she’ll be fine.
Yay, the CG Series is officially done! I love your revelation… yes, strength training still continues, LOL!
Sigh, like Sisyphus and that rock!
We had Oscar spayed but it was so long ago that I don’t have much of a memory of it. I don’t recall that she wore a cone but surely she must have? This was over 10 years ago, though!
I hope you enjoy Blind Assassin. It’s extra enjoyable if you can text/message Nicole while reading it! That really added to the experience for me. I recommend letting the “book in a book” set up sort of “wash over you.” It did not make much sense to me but I just kept reading and eventually figured out what was going on.
I’m reading a book called “Her One Regret” right now. It’s about a woman that goes missing in a grocery store parking lot while her child is in the shopping cart. But she had previously told her best friend that she regretted becoming a mother – so did she get taken or did she run away? It’s sort of like “The Push” in that it examines the unspoken hard parts about being a mom. I really liked the author’s first book, the 9 Lives of Rose Nopalitano. It’s too soon to say if this one will work. But the book I am MOST excited to read is Whistler by Ann Patchett! She’s my absolute favorite author. I am *almost* tempted to buy the book. But I will be patient and wait for the ebook to be available.
Ooh- Her One Regret sounds intriguing. I’ll be interested in your review! And, i’ll take your advice about Blind Assassin. I know what you mean about not exactly understanding a plot entirely, but just letting it wash over you. i can do that!
Thank goodness all of my pets were spayed before I got them so I haven’t had to go through a pet recovery from surgery. Doggo is so active that I can’t imagine keeping her on low activity for any amount of time. A colonoscopy is easier in comparison because it’s all you. I know you asked for reassuring stories, and all I’ve got is “this too shall pass”.
99.9% of my pictures of Doggo are of her sleeping or causing mischief, so your “sleeping or wrestling” comment about Sylvie’s photos sounds accurate. Happy half birthday Sylvie!!!
Yes, that’s true- this too shall pass. And, a colonoscopy is pretty much just one uncomfortable day, and like you said it’s just me. Give me all the misery, but don’t let my babies suffer!
Congrats on completing the Iron series!
You’ve got a great reading lineup. Would you believe that I don’t think I’ve ever read an Agatha Christie mystery? Seen some of the movies but have note read her books. I just started The Anatomy of an Alibi and have a long TBR list I’m hoping to get through this summer.
Thank you Michelle! I was very glad to finish it because some of the workouts are… not fun.
I would say Agatha Christie’s are not for everyone. I’m not sure what I would think if I were reading them now for the first time… they made a HUGE impression on me when I was in my teens though.
Do they have blow up donut cones for cats? We bought one for Mulder (when we got him, he had been neutered the day prior) and it was SO much better than the stiff plastic cones. When I was a kid, we had a cat and when we had her spayed she knocked out the screen, jumped out the window, and climbed up onto the roof. I think the sedation made her a bit loopy. The house had little pebbles on the roof, and we were scared that they would get into her incision, but she was fine. You’ll get through this.
You have some good reading ahead of you!
Good grief! That is not the kind of “reassuring” story I was looking for! But… the bottom line was your cat was eventually fine. I don’t know about blow up donut cones, but I’ll look into it.
I’ve just had dogs neutered and that was no fun. I can’t even imagine a cat! Sending you good thoughts and wishes for success!
Mansfield Park and The Blind Assassin are both excellent reads. I really love both Jane Austen and Margaret Atwood!
i love Jane Austen too! I read all her books a long time ago. I’m sure I’ll enjoy a Mansfield Park reread.
Aww, Sylvie is so cute!! I just adopted a kitten a couple weeks back and he’s abouttt 11 weeks now. He is a super rambunctious chaos potato so I’m also definitely not looking forward to how I’m going to manage him when he has to go get neutered, haha. ._. My vet friend told me about surgery recovery suits that you can get though that come in fun patterns and have anecdotally been pretty effective for keeping them from trying to go for their sutures while also not interfering with their mobility!
ooh look at your baby girl! they grow up so fast!! still call my babies “the kittens” but they are 3 years old now LOL. But yes all of them are fixed. I have 4 boys and a girl and girls are definitely tougher to deal with than boys since they actually have to open them up. She’ll be fine though. Just a few days recovery and she’ll be back doing all the things she loves.
It’s been along time since I’ve had kittens but I think I was more dramatized than they were.
Relieved that all 3 of the ones I have now, were fixed when I got them.
I feel you on the spaying as I need to get Monty’s neuter scheduled this week. Ugh. Poor little critters. Sylvie is so pretty!
I haven’t had to get a cat spayed. My mom had to get Chip and Lucy fixed, and it did NOT seem fun. Just trying to keep them away from the stitches is HARD.
I read The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Now I’m trying to remember what it was about, lol
It’s been a bit since we’ve gotten our cats spayed, but I don’t remember it being too big of a deal. As with everything, I feel like cats in general are just less high maintenance than other animals! I hope it goes well!