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I am Sandra - faithful steward. listener. shepherd. dream believer. hard worker. collects brass bells, boots. Jesus follower. contented. star gazer. homemaker. farmer. prayer warrior. country woman. reader. traveler. writer. homebody. living life large.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Dr. Anne and Tippy

This post is about Dr. Anne and Tippy. Dr. Anne owns Crab Orchard Vet and is also a neighbor; she's Daddy John's sister and we all live in the same valley called Ward's Cove. This post has graphic photos of Dr. Anne spaying Tippy. I believe in spaying and neutering; it prevents a lot of illness, horrible deaths and cats, especially females, live longer, healthier lives. 
Kittens gain about one pound a month the first year of their life so when Tippy reached one four pound four ounces, that let me know she was old and strong enough to be spayed. About the graphic photos...if you're squeamish, it's best to leave now.
In the above photo, Tippy has received the beginning meds to cause drowsiness, then Ashley and Stephen insert a breathing tube down Tippy's throat.


She's placed on a clean towel, under which is a heating pad, and her legs are stretched out and tied. This prevents sudden movement which could result in something not so good happening. Note to self: never, ever have another operation!



A clean, sterilized paper drape is placed over Tippy and a hole cut over the uterus with sterilized tool at the ready.





Ashley, Daddy's John's wife, squeezes Tippy's bladder to drain it, after which the abdomen area will be cleaned and sterilized.
This is my favorite photo...the darkness surrounding Dr. Anne's hands, the first cut, the tools...it all makes for a fabulous photo...to my eye anyway. Here, Dr. Anne makes the first cut so she's then able to get to the fatty tissue. It surprised me to learn even a lean animal, human or otherwise, can have a lot of fatty tissue. Dr. Anne has to cut away the fatty tissue and then fish around don't you love my technical, medical term? for the uterus. Come to think of it, perhaps that's my situation...I'm lean and trim but all this fatty tissue hides my leaness and trimness. Ya think? HA! 


Dr. Anne has found the uterus and, prior to cutting and stitching, she's clamped it off to stem the flow of blood.


The point at the V is the uterus and the tubes on either side are where the kittens would grow. I was amazed at the small size!






Dr. Anne finishes suturing the wound, from the inside out, and the very last thing done before Tippy is removed from the table is 
Ashley, giving a squirt of superglue to close the wound and cover the sutures. We all know how animals like to pick at a wound and stitches, especially, are itchy when healing is taking place. Tippy can lick all she wants and the sutures won't be compromised. Dr. Anne uses dissolving suture material and in 120 days, that material will be no more. Amazing!
Tippy woke up on her own, on schedule and today, a week later, if you didn't know she'd been spayed, you'd be surprised. She's active, although I'm trying to keep her from rough housing too much, eating and drinking well and enjoying life. Tippy will enjoy life more, be happier and healthier because she won't be having litter after litter after litter of kittens every year.

Spaying reduces some types of cancer and there's no need for a cat to have a heat nor a littler of kittens ahem! prior to spaying. In fact, it's best if they don't. Yes, spaying is expensive, it costs about $100 to spay a feline, but it's part of the cost of having pets. There are some programs, such as Friends of Animals, that operate nationally, that provide financial assistance. Some vets will spay as young as eight weeks or two pounds of age but, thankfully, Dr. Anne waits until four pounds and four months of age. Generally, cats can have their first litter at around six months of age but some can be earlier.
Spaying and neutering is part of being a responsible pet owner. If people knew how many tax dollars went toward putting down animals, they would be shocked! Even when Dave and I would take barn cats to the shelter, we'd always hand them a donation of both food and money; it's the least we could do. We hated having someone else deal with our problems and with barn cats, it's always a problem of over-population. You might be surprised to know how feral cats are able to suss out where the food is located; that's how all of my barn cats came to live at the farm! At one time, I had only spayed or neutered barn cats, now I've got too many cats and am trying to catch them so I can take them to the county animal shelter. It's a sad fact of life but the good news is, Tippy was caught, brought to good health, spayed and will now live a longer, healthier, happier life.

Blessings ~ Dr. Anne ~ Ashley ~ Stephen ~ Tippy ~ Friends of Animals ~ 

24 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:46 PM EDT

    It is time for us to take Blue in to be spayed. Next week our 3 older cats have their yearly check-ups. It's always a loud and wild trip driving cats!!!
    Hope Tippy is doing well.

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  2. Fast recovery wishes to Tippy. We weren't going to spay our dog because she wasn't ever going to have a husband but, after a couple years we couldn't take her being in heat anymore and in she went. We are all much happier now.

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  3. Tippy will never miss kittens. The shelters are full of cats and dogs that need homes. We often have cats "dumped" out at our barn. We take them to the vet to have them "fixed" and they have a forever home. It is about $200 here for a female. Ouch!

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  4. Great message and photos Sandra.

    We had all of our outdoor cats fixed last year. No worries about surprise kitties anymore. :)

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  5. Well I loved this post something I have had done to many barn cats but have never seen it done before.
    Tippy is a lucky Kitty. B

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  6. Excellent post Sandra! Informative with advocacy and wisdom.

    A couple of the neighbors have outdoor cats and they have been busy searching out all the little critters that seem to have multiplied with our hot, dry summer!

    The ground moles have been above ground more than under this year. Snickers loves to "spot" them and then "freeze in place."

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  7. Best wishes to Tippy! Hey I have never seen anything like this before - I thought it was extremely interesting. Thank you for sharing.

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  8. Excellent public service announcement, Sanda (but I think you got Tippy's weight wrong in the first paragraph).

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  9. I used to work for a vet and always enjoyed watching the surgeries. They were interesting. Tippy is cute!

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  10. I love your little public service announcement, and your photos aren't the least bit gorey. Spaying and neutering are the price of admission at Casa Hartwood. There are only benefits to doing it. Pets and owners are LOTS happier.

    Here's a little story. Years ago when we found Amy in my sister's hay barn, we waited till she was 4 months old to get her spayed. We didn't want to wait any longer, because the howling of a cat in heat can keep the whole house awake, and we wanted to make sure she was spayed before her first heat. Little did we know, Amy being our first and only deaf cat, that apparently deaf cats tend to howl anyway ... and Amy sang her songs at the top of her lungs, usually in the echo-filled hallway or hall bathroom, till the end of her days. Thinking back on it now, I miss Amy's howling.

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  11. all I can say - is YEP - part of having pets - and they do a LOT better than we humans do with it - they don't miss what they don't have - smart that way!!!-

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  12. I have scrolled quickly down to tell you that I am here, that I think you're amazing, but that I will be passing on the graphic animal stuff- oh my!

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  13. Spaying and neutering are really important...we've had our dogs done at 6 months. The first dog we had many years ago, wasn't spayed and later got breast cancer...we didn't realize how often that happens with dogs.

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  14. Count me in the squeamish bunch! But I do believe in spaying and neutering. Thank you for educating others about this very important message!

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  15. Whoa!! Now that was educational!! What an interesting post Sandy. :)

    Blessings to you!
    Camille

    P.S. I also wanted to especially thank you for your sweet and encouraging comment at my place today...you blessed me. :)

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  16. I am very surprised at the size of the organs - almost looks too small. :)
    In my experience a spayed or neutered kitty is better behaved as well.
    When my son went away to college he took in a stray cat from a friend. The college vet spayed her for free.

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  17. Hello Sandra:
    We are really sorry, but we could not go any further. But we do so agree about the need for cats to be neutered, not least because it is a way of preventing young, unwanted kittens.

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  18. Healing hugs to the dear kitty ~ yes do think spaying is best unless you are going to be a breeder ~ (A Creative Harbor)

    thanks for coming by and commenting

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  19. Oh, I hope Tippy is all recovered and feeling okay.

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  20. I SPED down to the bottom, missing most of your message because I am squeamish. Obviously it isn't a genetic problem, as both of my kids entered the medical profession. Spaying and neutering are essential to the responsible pet owner. All of our pets are sterile. I'm still bothered by cats belonging to neighbors that let them run loose. When I can catch one, I call the pound. Sorry, but I don't want a litter of kittens in my garage, poop in my gardens, fleas and sickness near my pets, and I despise hearing the cries of little rabbits and birds as I see them in the mouths of my neighbors roaming cats. My big complaint is the county's taxation on responsible pet owners. When we get our dogs vacinated for rabies we receive an extra bill from the county for a little tag. Expensive all around. Neighbors who are not spaying, neutering, or giving shots get off free though their animals (and the neighbors) are the ones who pay the price. I'm happy to pay for the good care of my pets and have a great vet, but I don't want to watch. :)Good post Sandra....
    Hugs, Debbie

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  21. This was a a great post, Sandra... I have never actually seen this done before so it was really informative!
    Glad to hear Tippy made such a quick recovery.

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  22. Sandra, this was great ~ through all my many female furbabies have been spayed, I would never have thought the organs were so tiny! Very informative, not at all squeam-inducing! :)
    Best,
    Anne

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  23. I have to say that this is one surgery I've never seen before. I'm glad it went well and that Tippy is just fine.

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  24. Mildred, Tippy is fine as wine and playing like crazy with Lily. Youth! What more needs saying? -smile-

    The Family, trust me, your dog is happier as well!

    Kelly...OUCH, that's a LOT of $$$.

    Nancy, no surprises until a stray finds a home there -smile-. At one time, all mine were spayed/neutered as well...then, someone moved in down the road and left, leaving her 50 FIFTY cats behind! GRRRRRRRR!

    Buttons, yep, Tippy is one of the fortunate ones...as is Lily -smile-.

    Chatty - thanks for staying the whole way!

    Michelle - yep, you're right and it's fixed now, thanks!

    Lisa, yes, Tippy is cute and playful.

    Heartwood, Amy sounds like a dear although at high volume - smile-.

    LindaSue- it's costly to have pets but I don't spend $$ on junk -grin.

    Mags - that's okay; Tippy is doing well, happy and healthy!

    Linda - I'm not in the breeding business so that's why the spaying and neutering.

    Gail, that's okay but Tippy is doing well, making Lily's life happy as well.

    Camille, glad you enjoyed seeing and hearing about Tippy; she's doing well and looks to be healed.

    Carletta, I was surprised at how small her ovaries were and the tubes.

    Jane and Lance - no problem, just know Tippy is doing well and is happy...surgery successful!

    Art - Tippy is doing well; eating her supper as I write.

    Pom - yes, Tippy is just fine!

    Debbie, no apology necessary; Tipps is doing well and now I'm waiting for Lily to get old enough to be spayed.

    Paula, it was interesting; glad Dr. Anne let me watch and photograph.

    Anne, all the dogs and a lot of the cats are spayed...never enough money is there?

    Leigh, all is well, now waiting for Lily to get old enough to be spayed.


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