Yes it happened. I don't even know where to begin. They did not call on Friday to confirm so I drove from Manhattan to Secaucus NJ at 8:00 AM on Saturday and they were waiting for her. Lucky them. They started her bloodwork right away just so I would know if they would be proceeding or not. It took three hours for me to know if they were going to proceed. Her white blood cells are back to normal. I received a call at 3:30 and right off the bat the vet told me she didn't come out of the anesthesia well and they are worried about her EKG.
When I arrived the vet started the conversation by telling me that Bella's head had remained tilted and she was walking very wobbly. This was a reaction from the anesthesia. I just assumed it would wear off in a few days. She made it sound permanent.
Then she showed me the EKG paperwork. The vet was extremely worried about this. The lines were very erratic on the paperwork. She said they were supposed to be a little wiggly, that's all. They were very, very concerned about the test. She said it could be a couple of different things. She actually said there could be something wrong with her left ventrecal, suggesting surgery. They are going to check her electrolytes (?) first. They already had the blood drawn from earlier in the day. I will get the results on Wednesday. They will also do another EKG in two weeks (yeah, another trip to the vet) to compare the two. I won't be charged for this EKG, but I will be charged $40 for the next one.
As for the tilted head and wobbly walking, by the time I got her home, her head was almost straight, but she could not walk well at all. She was practically crawling. But I am taking into consideration the fact that she had NO RECOVERY TIME. The last cat I had spayed stayed overnight to recover and I picked her up the next morning. And that was The Humane Society which only charged me something like $50.00... She decided to hang out in the kitchen and pee on the mop instead of going to her box. We cleaned up after her and made a bed for her in my room, and of course she refused to use it. She hid out under my bed, where she hid the bread and an assortment of other things I have found under there, including my bathrobe belt and so on.
Later on that evening we gave her half her normal food, as directed, and she was famished. She ate it all with in seconds and drank a little of her Whiskas milk. I was relieved to see that. She went back under the bed, but somehow she managed to get up on my bed to sleep with me for a while during the night.
On Sunday we gave her the pain killer (three doses - one each day) and some antibiotics (ten days). She was also prescribed a vitamin for her liver (30 days!). How they expect us to give her this giant yellow pill, I don't know. So far, it has not happened. But you know what? It's the least of my worries. I spoke to a loved one that knows a lot about cats and he says it sounds like she might not be drinking enough water, and I think he is right. So I stood over her to force her water with a dropper, and sure enough, she wouldn't drink it from her bowl, my finger, or anything. I used a syringe and finally she drank some. From now on I'm going to force her to drink water and stop the milk cold turkey because she was drinking both in the past. When I first got her she wasn't drinking anyt liquids at all so I would dilute the milk to trick her. In no time she was drinking water by itself. I don't know how she has regressed.
I am so happy I am off today to stay home with her and watch her progress. I already gave her the meds, but she refused water today - point blank. She is walking almost normal. Some one suggested the vet might have given her too much anesthesia and they are just too scared to admit it - trying to cover their butts. Of course that didn't cross my mind because I am such a sucker. I just hope she gets better soon. She has to go back next Saturday for a neurological check up (yeah, another vet visit). That's at least two more visits for them to find things to charge me money for. I'm undecided whether to go to either of them.
And Boha? He has been the best big brother a cat could ever want. He has watched over her and licked her ears and sniffed her and layed next to her. It's been so sweet to watch. He is always so concerned when she is sick. They are such real feelings.
