Have you guessed it yet? Yeah… another kitty move…YAY!! Banging my head against a wall at this point sounded like more fun! Anyhow.. the sun room is pretty, but it is not temperature controlled. There is no heat unless I plug in my electric heater, and during the day it is still getting pretty warm in there, even with the windows opened and the fan on. For feral Huck, no biggie, but for our pre-surgical patient unacceptable. Our downstairs is pretty much open planned. Our couch separates the kitchen from the living area. Right smack dab in the heart of the house… here comes Prince Huckleberry!
Tadahhh!
He freaked a little at first, but then he got more curious. So THIS was what was on the other side of the door!
The doctor told me to try the medication on him once prior to bringing him in for surgery. I knew nothing about Gabapentin except for a couple of people that had back surgery and used it for nerve damage. I knew nothing about amputations, amputees, or the procedure. I had assisted with only one amputation in my life, and it was the tail of a cat that had gotten it closed in a door.. OUCH! This was going to be nothing like that, and I was really nervous. Everybody looks to me for the animal answers. I didn’t have any for this. We were venturing into uncharted waters …. Hi there Dr. Google!
I searched and searched to find out what I could so that we could be prepared. That is how I found the Tripawds family. Thanks to this wonderful gal I met named Holly, I mixed the nasty tasting gaba in some tuna juice. I withheld food to get Huck good and hungry, then I gave him his tuna juice. Just like the doctor had told me, he was out cold in 30 minutes! I had my chance to get a little closer to him. As he woke up I just sat with him and talked to him. What a mood changer!
He finally let me touch him! I cannot tell you how good that felt, I thought my heart was going to explode 🙂 Little by little from that point on Huckleberry started to come over for love and affection. When I would change his food bowls out he scampered right over and gave me head butts. I could not pick him up or try to move him yet, he would just go into panic mode but I looked at it as a HUGE success!
The morning of Huckleberry’s surgery
I tried this link above for the first time, I hope it works. The morning of Huckleberry’s surgery I was a mess. He was cool as a cucumber. The video above shows the beginning of my boy coming out of his shell. So I had this down, we did a trial run with this new medication with great success and I had a way to give it to him that seemed fool proof, lol. Forgetaboutit!! After fasting all night, i could NOT get him to take the medicine. He totally refused it. I had spoken with the doctor earlier in the week and she gave me the ok to give it to him with a small amount of food. I added a little fishy food to it and he ate some but not all. I added a little more food and he finally decided he was hungry enough to eat it. This all took place in about a half an hour’s time. Once he finished eating I set the timer for thirty minutes. In thirty minutes he was still as wide awake as he could be. I waited another fifteen, still nothing. It was time for him to be at the hospital and he was alive, alert, and very attentive. I went in and made an attempt at transferring him into the carrier. He wasn’t having any of it. He flew out of my hands as soon as I touched him. I think even the furniture could feel the tension I was unsuccessfully trying to hide. I walked away for a few minutes to try and calm down. The clock was ticking and I was wound for sound. I finally decided that I needed to just DO this. I grabbed a beach towel, opened the carrier, threw the towel over him, wrapped him like a burrito, and all but tossed him into the carrier. He never knew what hit him. I really think my furbabies from over the bridge guided that one, I have no other explanation.
A couple of hours later I got the call. Huckleberry did well and would be ready to pick up in a few hours.
