Update on neighbors' cat (long)

We took the neighbors' cat to the vet today. She was easy to cage (she's a trusting soul) but really thought we were doing her wrong once that door was shut behind her. Good thing the vet's office is near our house. When we got there, we told them about the sores on her neck, that she needed routine shots also and deworming (just in case.) We also asked the vet to make sure she was a girl (we're not experts ) and check if she had been spayed. He said that she was a girl and hadn't been spayed. Then he felt her tummy and said she was probably pregnant. DH and I said: OMG! We made an on-the-spot decision to have her spayed. And felt terrible and guilty about it, though we believed it was the right thing to do. We asked them to board her for the weekend and give her pain medication as needed.

I am sick with a sore throat and cough, so I went to bed soon after arriving home. DH met with a friend. About two hours later, DH found a message from the vet on our answering machine that said "Oops...I've made a mistake. Call me." DH said all sorts of things were running through his mind, like maybe they'd given her the wrong anesthesia.

As it turned out, the vet said he had just made a small cut on her when he saw that she had already been spayed! I know this story sounds implausible, but I promise you, I am not making it up. We are still picking her up Monday, as planned, so she will be MIA for the weekend. I bet at some point the neighbors' are going to start wondering if something has happened to their cat. (Whichever neighbors they are.) They will probably really wonder when she returns home with a shaved belly.

This whole experience has bad, especially for poor Hattie. We were just trying to help; we wanted to get those sores on her neck treated. Then things snowballed and went wrong. Thank goodness she is okay. What is that old saying about good intentions?

Thank you. Seeing things through different eyes makes me feel a little better. I'm not sure why the vet thought she was pregnant. He handled her stomach (to my untrained eyes) pretty roughly. She has a bit of a belly, too.

Thanks! We would bring her inside in a New York minute if Speck and Daisy weren't so adverse to the idea. I'm really surprised at Speck. He's sweet and has tolerated Daisy since the day she came. (And she's mean...I hate to say it because she's my baby...but it's the truth.) The last time Hattie came in our house (because she wants to come in and tries often) Speck tried to fight her and Daisy attacked Speck. Daisy had a rough life prior to joining our family and can't stand any noise or confusion. She lashes out at whoever happens to be near when something upsets her. Poor Hattie was behind the blinds trying to escape through a shut glass door. DH vows Hattie will someday be our cat...though he still calls her Blackie.

The vet didn't say anything about the sores, though he did make a face when he felt them. We gave the vet tech a laundry list of things we wanted done to her, and she had it all written down on the router form. The pregnancy scare kind of shifted the focus of the visit, especially with me starting to panic right there in the exam room. (I was already trying to think of how I could find homes for the kittens...the only people I would trust are on here far away or relatives already at their limit of cats.) For such a calm nurse, I'm a very anxious animal person.

Thank you.

Hattie is now home (at our home) and sleeping in a flower pot on the back porch. We went a bought some flannel blankets for her last night in preparation for her coming home. I haven't gone out to see her yet, but DH says her neck is much better. I figure they gave her a steroid shot of some sort. DH also says her stomach is very shaved. I am about to go visit with her.

You know, when I went out to see her, she had some type of topical cream on her neck. Glad we don't have to put anything on her, because I don't want her to hate us. She seems exhausted, but purring and friendly as ever. I think she wants to be our cat. Maybe we can have joint custody....