I kept the kittens in the house until they could be spayed. There are lots of wild cats here on the Big Island, no more kittens are needed, at all. As they didn’t know what outside was yet, it wasn’t really an issue. I got the kittens on January 13, 2023 and their appointment to be fixed at the pet clinic was for February 19th. Not too long, but enough time to get to know each other and learn some good habits.
I had been a stepmother in my early years and one of my concerns was that something might happen to them, they would get hurt and I wouldn’t know what to do. Now looking back I see most people really don’t know what to do but they face it and get through it. Now I was facing my three little babies going to get fixed. Would they be OK? How would I handle three little babies recovering from surgery. Would I be OK? Do to a health condition that is activated by stress, I could tell my body was responding to my energies of nervousness. The body listens, and responds.
I had one cat carrier and it was big enough for these three little ones, but it was recommended by a friend with experience in such things, that each kitten needed to be in their own carrier. Going would be fine, but afterwards it could be a bad scene. Her two would not tolerate being in the carrier together afterwards, and they had to let one of their kittens loose in the car for the ride home. Well, that wasn’t going to happen to me. Auntie and Uncle in the big house had two cat carriers I could borrow. I brought them all into the living room so the kids could get used to them.
I had named the kittens Traci, Marmalade and Sweetie Pie. Sweetie Pie is Miss Personality. From day one, she is the one that goes up to greet people when they come to visit. She doesn’t mind being picked up and is just such a sweet kitten that the name was perfect for her. The night before their surgery, I was instructed no food after midnight, so I picked up their food bowl and set it on the counter when I went to bed.
The next morning I woke up at 5 am with a kitten on top of me peeing!!! What the heck? After I jumped up out of bed, my intuition kicked in and I knew it was because she was upset that her food bowl wasn’t where it belonged. I understood, and there was no punishment involved. However, there was a name change. Being peed on is not acceptable nor sweet. Sweetie Pie became Ginger that day. So they are now Traci, Ginger and Marmalade. Ginger is still a sweetie pie, just with a different name.
Taking the kittens to get fixed at the Spay and Neuter clinic, we drop our kittens off and then come back to get them later in the day. When I came back to pick up my babies, they told me that if any of the kittens have trouble waking up from the anesthesia, to warm them up. I put the cat carriers in the car and headed for home. When I got there and opened up their carriers there was one, Ginger that was still sleeping.
I ran up and let the neighbors know that we were back and what the vet had said about if they had trouble waking up. They were on my heels as I came back into the house and Uncle stepped right into the manly role and picked her up, lifted his shirt and placed Ginger there next to his body. He sat with my sweet baby cuddled under his shirt. I felt empty-handed even though I still had two to keep an eye on and help. Traci and Marmalade were awake and not feeling good. Ginger woke back up within a short time. For me it was a scary learning experience.
Looking back on it now I can chuckle but that day was challenging! The kittens could not stand even the sight of each other. I had never heard them hiss and all three were having hissy fits if they saw another kitten. Now I understand where that phrase comes from “hissy fits”. Glad we all survived!! I wore a long dress that day so if they were in the living room and caught site of each other I could stand between them and they couldn’t see the other one. When they were napping on the bed, I had to position pillows so they could not see each other or they would start hissing. At first, it was alarming for me, then it because a game and I found humor in the situation. Poor babies.
The next day they were their usual selves. I was instructed to keep them calm for the first few days. Good luck with that, as they felt better and better they started back in on the chase games. I kept them inside for about a week to heal from their incisions and then opened their cat door. In Hawaii at the pet clinic, because we have so many wild cats on island, they “dock” one ear so it is easily identified as being fixed.
