Dancer's Tooth Extraction

Hi, my name is Dancer and I had a tooth extracted, today!  I didn't like it, at all!

First of all, in order to be ready for something called anesthesia, the vet told my mummy not to give me anything to eat or drink after midnight, last night!  So, Mummy gave me some tuna just before midnight, which was very nice and I really enjoyed all that yummy tuna.  But, then, she took away my bowl of dry food and locked up all the bags of dry food, too, so I couldn't scratch at and tear any of the bags to help myself to any of it!  I didn't appreciate that, at all, because I am used to having my bowl of dry food accessible for me to snack on whenever I want it! 

I had to be at the vet's place between 7:00 a.m. and 7:30 a.m.  Mummy said she and Little Bless would have to wake up early in order to do that and so, they tried to go to bed early.  But, both Mummy and Little Bless were worried about me and neither of them could fall asleep!  Mummy didn't fall asleep until past 3:00 a.m. and, even then, she kept waking up.   Little Bless was up until 4:30 a.m., and slept right through her alarms!  I wish Mummy had slept through her alarms, too, but she woke up at 6:15 a.m.

Usually, when Mummy wakes up, she gives me a treat of some tuna, but today, she didn't do that!  I was so unhappy!  I meowed and meowed at her, but she said, she's sorry, but she couldn't give me tuna this morning!

And then, they put me back in that prison called a carrier and I didn't like it, either!  I knew at once, when they put me in it, that it meant a car ride and I don't like car rides.  Seems to me that every single time we've gone somewhere in the car, it has been to the vet's where I get poked and jabbed and have things done to me that I don't like by people whom I don't know!  I don't like strangers!

So, early in the morning, around 6:50 a.m., Mummy drove us to the vet's!  I meowed all the way, even though Little Bless sat in the back seat with me and petted me and told me that I was a big, brave kitty, that I had nothing to worry about, that I was OK, and I was a good kitty.  Ha!  That's what she said yesterday, too, and look where it got me!

Then, once at the vet's, they left me with a stranger and went away!  No!  I meowed, "Mummy, don't go!  Little Bless stay with me!  Don't let them take Dancer away!"  But, they said they will come back later for me and they went away!  They abandoned me!  At least, that's how I felt.  I was taken to the back room, where they pricked me to take blood and put a drip line into my paw, and put me to sleep.  Then, while I was asleep, they took x-rays of my teeth, pulled out the tooth that had been bothering me a bit, sewed my gum close, cleaned the rest of my teeth, and gave me medicines.

In the meantime, Mummy and Little Bless had gone home and slept a little.

Later, around 11:30 a.m., the vet called Mummy to say that the extraction was done, that all my other teeth were healthy, and I was recovering.  The vet told Mummy to come for me any time after 3:00 p.m.

In the afternoon, Mummy and Little Bless did some errands - they went to the post office they said, to mail a package to Little Bless's friend in a place called Hawaii, and then, they went to the bank, to the pharmacy to pick up Mummy's medicines, and to the grocery store to buy some cans of soft food for me!  They also bought some bananas for themselves, but, that's OK, too.  Then, they looked around a new clothing store, but they didn't buy anything.

After that, they came to the vet's to pick me up!  Oh, I was so happy to see them, even though I was feeling a bit sleepy.  I wasn't happy that they had left me there, but, at least they came back for me!  When you are a cat and your family leaves you with strangers in a strange place, everything is scary and you don't understand why they leave you and if you'll ever see them again!

Mummy paid the bill (it came to $945.10, which she said was a very big amount; she said she could have bought a lot of cans of tuna for that amount!) and they gave her some syringes of pain medicines to give me and a sheet of instructions.  I didn't pay much attention to what they told her, but apparently, she couldn't give me anything to eat until 8:00 p.m. and I was to be given one of the syringes of the nasty pain medicine at the same time, tonight, and every 12 hours after that, until all six syringes were given!  The vet wants to see me in two weeks' time and Mummy made the appointment right then and there because, she said she didn't want to procrastinate!  She said that not procrastinating is one of her New Year's resolutions!  I wish she would procrastinate about something like taking me back for another visit to the vet's, again, so soon!  Little Bless won't be here to help her take me and I am going to meow and meow in the car all the way to the vet's and back, then!

I complained all the way home, too, because I didn't like the fact that they had taken me to the vet's and had left me there, and all the things that had been done to me, etc.  I wanted them to know that I was not a happy kitty!

I felt better, once I came home, and Little Bless removed the pressure bandage that they had put on my paw (where they had put in the tube to give me fluids, etc.)  But I was not happy that I wasn't given anything to eat or drink until 8:00 p.m., and, even then, they gave me only one quarter of the can of soft food!  I am a big, 16 lb. kitty cat, and one quarter of a 5 oz. can of food is not enough!  I pawed my empty bowl and meowed and meowed until Mummy felt sorry for me and told Little Bless to give me another quarter of the can.  I ate all that and still feel hungry.  I have been lying next to my empty bowl and moving it around, all evening, to see if Mummy will give me a little more food!  She said she'll give me a little more, around midnight, if I didn't throw up.  I haven't thrown up and it is now 11:15 p.m., so that's close enough to midnight, isn't it?  I think I need to move this empty dish a little more to let her know that Dancer kitty is a hungry kitty!

Poor Mummy didn't feel too well, this afternoon, she said.  She said she felt nauseated.  I think it was because she was worried about me!  Because she felt much better after she brought me home and saw that I was doing well.  She drank a little lemon-lime soda and took a nap on the sofa, and felt better.

Mummy's gardener friend M came over to do the garden and he told me that he was sorry I had to go to the vet's.  I usually hide when M comes over, but, today, I went to the sliding glass door to show him what a brave kitty I was.   Later, Mummy and M planted some winter vegetable seeds in the garden - Mummy said they were old seeds and didn't know if they would germinate, but, if they do, there will be lettuce, spinach, peas, beets, and radishes!  I like lettuce and spinach, so I hope they grow!

Much later in the evening, Mummy did something called "wiggles" which were a type of side to side crunches!  Little Bless had done 100 of them, but Mummy could do only 80 and I heard her say that even then, some of them weren't done properly, because she couldn't lift her shoulders up enough.  But, I wasn't very interested in what she was doing because I was waiting by my empty food dish.

Little Bless went out in the evening with some of her friends to have boba Thai ice tea.  Mummy's friend R called and chatted with Mummy and Mummy told her all about me getting my tooth extracted.

Mummy said that, today, she's grateful for:
- Vet care for me
- My procedure went off well
- I am recovering nicely
- She was able to pay the vet's bill
- She's feeling better

This was Mummy's Friday To Do List:
- Drop Dancer off at the vet's - DONE
- Buy soft cat food - DONE
- Go to the bank - DONE
- Go to the post office - DONE
- Pick up Dancer - DONE
- Have friend M make a planting bed for winter vegetables - DONE
- Alter the dress and skirt for daughter.

She didn't do any sewing today.  She says she'll do it tomorrow, instead!  Um, excuse me, but isn't that procrastinating?  How come she can procrastinate on that but not on scheduling my next vet appointment?  Isn't that a bit unfair?

Here's Mummy's Saturday To Do List:
- Fuss over Dancer
- Give Dancer LOTS of food to eat
- Alter the dress and skirt
- Give Dancer MORE food to eat

"I'm waiting for more food, Mummy"