Post for Thursday - January 5, 2023
Once again I barely slept last night fearing I would oversleep and not get the quintuplets to the vet in time for their surgery. It was cold this morning but I bundled up so I could put the cats inside their pet crates before they fully woke up and wanted to eat as they had to be "en ayunas" which means "fasting" in Spanish. After doing that, I placed them in the car as their cries brought around the other cats to see what was going on.
I had to feed the others before I left and fight off the darn chickens from Walter's former owner that have been making my life a living hell as they try to eat their food if I am not there to run them off. Will write about that in a separate post.
In the front seat, I placed Sam and one of the gingers, I want to say, Darla?
Yeap, it was Darla. The gingers look a lot alike.
This is Mikey who got the older and bigger crate. I wanted to place Sam and him together but was afraid that if I opened the crate he would try to run away...so he got to ride solo.
I have bought two more pet crates since my last post with dual openings at the top and the traditional front door. Anyone who has had to struggle with a pet will agree that a top latch is much easier to maneuver when it comes to placing them inside.
This is Karen which I ended up naming by mistake because I confused her with Mikey who is the troublemaker of the bunch.
Crossing into México took seven minutes and I had no problem finding a parking spot in front of Clinica Veterinaria Chavarria. It took me longer to get the four crates down than it took for them to call me.
They have three veterinarians but the main vet (the owner of the clinic) is the one that usually performs most of the surgeries. The other two examine the animals, weigh them, and if they have not had their shots they make sure to administer them before surgery. Two of the cats had not been there before since I was not able to catch them back in September 2022 and needed their shots and to be dewormed.
The two cats were also given formal names. One of the ginger cats turned out to be a male and since he eats so much I named him Mikey and the three-color darker one is a female now answering to the name of Monica.
On the past two occasions that I took cats to be fixed they were ready by noon but today they had a full operating room and they asked me to come for them after five o'clock. I needed to run several errands so I decided to stay in Ciudad Acuña rather than make two border crossing trips.
Even though it was cold this morning it did not take long for it to warm up and I had to ditch the jacket. Finished my errands by 2:30 p.m. so I drove to Gutierrez (a grocery store) that has canvas coverings in the parking lot to keep your vehicle out of the sun's rays. I still had to crack the windows to let air in which made me visible to all the people that peddle their wares so decided to drive back to Clinica Veterinaria Chavarria to try to get a good parking space before the other pet owners arrived.
I went in at 4:00 p.m. just in case they were ready and they were. Dr. Chavarria was talking to his wife (she is the Clinic Administrator) they had the five envelopes with the cats medical records and I guess they were discussing them. I do not know if you recall but when I took three of the quintuplets one of the veterinarians dewormed them at no charge. He told me that he would do the same for the two that were dewormed today.
If that was not enough the other veterinarian (Dr. Chavarria's son-in-law) waived the fee for the two cats that had not been vaccinated. If things could not get any better Dr. Chavarria charged me the rates in effect for last year rather than the new ones that just went into effect as of January 2023. I could not believe my good luck and I thanked them profusely.
Spays are now $2,500.00 and Neuters are $2,300.00 Mexican Pesos. He only charged me $2,300.00 for the females and $2,000.00 for the males. That came to $10,900.00 Mexican pesos since I did not have enough Mexican Currency, I paid in US dollars as I did not want to use a credit card either. The Vet Clinic gives you a better exchange rate if you pay in dollars...which is $19.00 pesos to one USD...$573.68 which he rounded off to $573.00 USD.
However, not all was good news. I had observed that Karen had been sad lately and keeping to herself. She would come and rub herself against my leg when she would see me and wanted to be held which I obliged. Dr. Chavarria said when he made the incision in her tummy all her insides were yellow. I asked what that indicated and he said "she has hepatitis" which is why her eyes are dark yellow almost honey-colored. The only thing I could ask was "is she going to die?". He said he did not know but I should keep an eye on her and make sure she ate and drank water.
He told me to keep all the quintuplets inside tonight to give them time to heal and make sure they ate as soon as we got home. I kept them where they usually sleep in the mudroom/junkroom but I kicked out Suzie and Bianca (the kittens) so they would not bother them.
Unfortunately, I ran out of space in Google Photos and have to purchase a larger subscription. When I do I will upload pictures.
I have not purchased more space...I ended up emailing them to myself which for me takes a long time :-(
Thank you for visiting Walter's World.
Cat Video
I love watching Penny the talking cat and if mine could talk I think they would agree with her. This is not a long video...it is a Short.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YtECS8kBpus
Sounds like you had a good trip to Mexico...
ReplyDeleteAbout the chickens, I suspect you're a softee when it comes to farm animals but do you know anyone who knows how to put a chicken in the pot? Just saying...
You are right I had a very good trip to México!
DeleteRegarding the chickens from hell...I do not know anyone who knows how to do that. My grandmother knew how but she has been gone for a long time. My mother would help pull the feathers out but I think it left her traumatized. Her two older sisters were the ones in charge of helping grandma in the kitchen since they were a large family.
Eating the offending chickens is the only thing I can think of.... You could catch them, cage them and collect the eggs? After a bit they will think of your cage as home and you'll be having a lot of eggs to eat/sell/ use as chicken feed (cooked).
DeleteTheir chicken coop is inside the horse corral which butts up to mom's property and he can see her house from there. I do not like chickens they are dirty and nasty creatures from what I have had the opportunity to observe not to mention how much their food costs. He probably barely feeds them which is why they are after the cats' food.
DeleteWe usually consume a carton of a dozen eggs every three months...remember I do not know how to cook. I would be afraid those nasty hens would peck me. The cats do not like them either.
Ok, I understand... The neighbor is free ranging his chickens and you don't need them!.
ReplyDeleteI like chickens but I don't trust them, they will eat anything!
A meaner cat is the only thing I can think of :-)
Good luck!
Exactly, he is free ranging his chickens but on mom's and the other neighbor's property... grrrr!!!
DeleteI am tired of reprimanding the bigger cats and telling them to scratch their eyes out but they are genuinely afraid of them as am I.