So yesterday after a really long morning taking care of the baby (she fell asleep in a weird position and woke up crying, then threw up her breakfast), I had to change Wampi's vet visit from 11am to 3pm. There was just no way I could take care of Avalon and get him ready to go to the vet by 11am. So I didn't sleep but managed to get it all done. I put together the temporary cat carrying crate that the vet gave me (for some reason mine got locked up in their basement and the secretary didn't have the key, weird) and getting him all ready to go. He was not happy. Last time he went to the vet to get the cast changed, he mewed the whole way and shook so violently I felt so bad for him. He didn't meow as much this time, but he was shaking.

Once at the vet's office, Wampi waited patiently but I could tell he was scared. Last time they changed the cast, they didn't use any kind of sedative. My heart almost broke hearing his kitty screams. This time, I emphatically said they had to give him some kind of pain killer, a sedative, something. It just seemed horribly inhumane to subject him to that much pain, especially if there was an alternative.

Wampi sitting quietly waiting his turn at the vets office.

Hmmm.... Maybe he's contemplating his escape options?

So the vet finally called us (my neighbor April came with me since Rich was at work ... thank you April!) and we went into the back. They don't usually let people in during the cast change but they agreed to let me stay while they took off the outer cast (the green part) and let me photograph the process.

The silver table he is on is actually a scale too. Wampi weighs 10.4lbs ... actually a little bit less than he weighed 2 weeks ago. I was surprised, because he seems to be eating a lot more. Before the accident, he weighed 14.8lbs.

Wampi didn't cry or fuss at all during this part of the procedure. They cut off the cloth outer bandage and gave it to me. Now I have 2 of them, although he has had his cast changed 3 times since the surgery. The first cast change was 1 week post-surgery & was before I started signing the names of donors on it. Also, he had a hard time aiming in the cat box so it was quite soiled and I didn't keep that one.

So once this part of the cast was off, we returned to the waiting room but not before I stressed that if he seemed to be in any pain they needed to stop and give him a sedative. I was hoping that he wouldn't be in the same kind of pain because getting a sedative meant he would have to spend the night.

After about 5 minutes in the waiting room, we heard a cat yowl. *shudder* We both looked at each other. A few minutes later the vet came out and said they couldn't continue the procedure until he had the sedative. =( I was sad, but told myself at least he wouldn't be in a lot of pain during the procedure.

As I signed the consent forms, I couldn't help but wonder if there was any chance he would be getting his cast off in 2 weeks when they redo the x-rays. I honestly don't think he'll get it off then ... but we'll see.

So I signed the consent form authorizing the sedative ... $45 for the sedative and $60 for the cast change. Ugh. NYC is so expensive for everything. But at least they offered to keep him overnight for free since they have to watch him as he wakes up from the sedation.

Some people have asked me about the vet bills and I have decided to itemize everything and scan the bills in. I'll try to have all that up within the next week.

That's all for now! I'm really behind in the emails ... there were soooooo many when I woke up just a little while ago. I think at least 50 all in less than 24 hours! And a bunch more donations too but I don't have all that tallied up. I gotta few hours to catch up ... will post everything as fast as I can. And if you made it all the way down here, well, wow. Thanks loyal Wampi fan and reader. =D