We took Raffy back to the apartment and let him out so he could pee and poop in the garden. He was very hungry and he ate like he had never seen food before! His diet became a big focus for us. He was very underweight and malnourished so we needed to make him as healthy and strong ahead of this surgery as possible in just a few days. We went that night and got some Whiskas hard kitten food and some soft kitten food as well as packets of adult food. Kitten food is usually higher in nutrients and things to help a young cat thrive so it was our best chance at giving him some strength in a very short time. He was given packets of soft food every 4 hours through the day and all the hard food he could eat in between. We thought that we would hear from Dr. Val on Friday about when the surgery would be. When we didn’t hear, I sent her an email. I knew that she was likely waiting to hear from the clinic in Cancun but the email made me feel like I was actually doing something useful rather than just waiting. She answered me quickly, telling me she was waiting for the surgeon to get back to her. It was Friday night and we knew we would have to wait at least until Monday before we heard anything.
Monday arrived and I resisted the urge to email Dr. Val again. Rick asked if maybe we should call and see if there was any news. We both knew we just needed to be patient. Meanwhile, Raffy decided to go wandering after breakfast and he did not come back until late afternoon. It was the first time in over 2 weeks he had not hung out with us all day and we were worried that something had happened to him. He finally reappeared around 4:30, covered in lint and cobwebs. Wherever he had been had not been very clean, but he didn’t care. He was very hungry as well, having missed at least 2 meals. We fed him and then he went and cured up on the bed and went to sleep. That night at 7:15 Dr.Val texted us. She said the only opening they had for the surgery in Cancun was the next day at noon. We took it without hesitation, even though it was the one day that we said we were not available. We expected to have more notice, but I think the short notice was actually better. No time to think about it, just enough time to work out how to get him there and to prepare him for the trip. We closed him in the bedroom right away and tried to sneak in an extra meal. He was not allowed to eat or drink after midnight so we left food for him down until around 11:00 pm.
Raffy usually snuggled with me when I first went to bed. I read each night and sometimes I would play a game. He was fascinated with the movement and colors and would just lay there and stare at the screen. That night I whispered to him as he watched. I told him he needed to be strong and fight and to never give up, no matter how weak he felt or how much pain he had. I told him he was loved and he had a new, long life ahead of him where he would never be hungry again and where he would be able to run and play as much as he wanted. I knew this was very risky surgery. The vet was very clear on that when she told us he needed it. The odds were only 50/50 that he would survive it and that was a best case scenario. I spent much of that night wondering if we were doing the right thing. In the end, I knew he deserved a chance at a good life.
The next morning I was concerned that he had not been able to poop or pee for 12 hours already and it would probably be at least another 12 hours. I rigged up a litter box using anything I could find and added some dirt from the garden where he normally did his business. He understood right away what it was for and did his business immediately. At least we knew he would be a little bit more comfortable. At 10:15 we loaded him up and left for our friend Jerry’s shop. We had messaged him the night before about the appointment time in Cancun and that we would meet him at 10:30. We got to his shop only to find he was not there. I messaged him right away, but when we hadn’t heard within 5 minutes we headed for the taxi stand. Negotiating a 30 minute trip’s price can be tricky, especially at the last minute. We talked to a driver on the weekend who quoted us 1200 pesos each way. This was expensive but we had no choice. We couldn’t find his contact information, though, so we had to try to get the best price from the taxi’s waiting for passengers. Lucky for us the day was slow and the drivers needed the business. The first taxi we came to was driven by Carlos. He quoted us $1000 pesos return trip and would wait for us in Cancun. What a deal! We gave him the address and off we went. He found the clinic easily and told us to take our time. We assured him we just had to drop Raffy off and we would be right back. Just another instance where we were wrong.
This Vet clinic was large and very busy. There were lots of people in the waiting room, some filling in paperwork and others waiting to see a vet. We explained who we were and why we were there. The girl at the counter nodded and then smiled and disappeared into the back. Another lady came out and spoke to us in English. They acted like they had no idea what we were talking about and there was not any appointment for Raffy. I explained everything to her, gave her the card for our vet who had referred us. She sat us in a little alcove and said she would be back, that she had to confirm everything with the local clinic. She came back a few minutes later and told us we could not both be in the office due to Covid restrictions. Rick left to tell the Taxi driver that we would be longer than expected and I stayed with Raffy. He came back in about 10 minutes and I left. We rotated in and out for what seemed like a long time. Finally the girl came back and said everything was worked out and she would be taking Raffy to the back now. She said the vet would call after the surgery to let us know how things went. She did tell me it would be later in the evening, after all surgeries were done. Just like that he was gone.
Time moved very slowly that day. We had a very subdued dinner to celebrate my birthday and checked the phone frequently in case the vet texted me instead of phoning. The call finally came around 8:30 that night. Raffy had come through the surgery and was resting comfortably. I asked about next steps - if we came to get him in the morning or what was next. She spoke very cautiously and said there was a problem with his lungs and they would have to watch him carefully over night. She said I should call at 10:0 am to find out how he did over night. I spent another night again wondering if we had done the right thing.
As soon as the clock rolled to 10:00 am we were on the phone with the vet to get the report on Raffy. They told us he did well overnight, was eating and in good spirits! It is difficult to describe how relieved I was to hear this news! They told us he would have to stay another night so they could monitor him. They had to do a follow up ultrasound to ensure there was no fluid build up in his chest and told us we could call again at 5:00 pm for another update. Our 5:00 pm update was similar to the morning one: He was eating and in good spirits. They told us we would probably be able to pick him up tomorrow morning so advised us to call at 10:00 am to confirm that. We booked our taxi (Carlos again) and prepared for Raffy’s return. We needed to get more kitten food and set up a litter box for him. The vet advised us that he would need to be kept quiet so that he does rip his internal stitches. With just over a week until we left for home, this meant that Raffy would never again be able to walk in the garden or go to any of the places he had, up until now, called home. I found that sad, but knew it meant a completely new beginning for this little guy.
The next morning we called at 10:00 am to get the “Raffy report” and get our instructions for bringing him home. We spoke to the vet first and were advised that we would need to bring him to our local vet tomorrow for a follow-up ultrasound. They said that they would inform Dr. Val of this requirement. I immediately sent a text to her requesting an appointment, knowing that the busy clinics could take all day for their communication to happen. We were again advised that he would have to be kept quiet to prevent his internal stitches from tearing. We advised the vet that we would be arriving between 11:30 - 12:00 to pick him up. The vet said fine and transferred us to the reception desk to make an appointment. Reception told us we could come at 1:00 pm and we asked for an earlier time because we had a taxi booked for 11:00. They agreed to set our time for 11:30. We didn’t know if we would get there in only 30 minutes, but we accepted it. Carlos was early and traffic was light so we made it with 10 minutes to spare. As it happens we waited about 30 minutes before he was brought out to us. We were given pain meds as well as an antibiotic for the next few days and we were warned again to keep him quiet for the next week or so. Then we had to put a cone on him to stop him from licking his incision. He was less than impressed.
We expected that Raffy would be a little sleepy and not want to move around much. We could not have been more wrong! He ran around, jumping from bed to bed and running from one of us to the other. He was still bleeding from his neuter and seeing the bits of blood was a little alarming. No matter what we did we could not calm him down and keep him quiet as advised. We decided to put him back in his carrier for a little while to contain him. An hour later we took him out. He was a little calmer but still more active that we would have liked. We took turns laying down with him and that helped.
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