All Inked Up!

About a week ago, Chunk started to get sick and stopped gaining weight. Soon after, it was time for the other 5 cats to have their surgeries but he was too sick. So while everyone else was getting spayed and neutered, Chunk stayed on a heated blanket, getting IV fluids. The shelter is full so all of the cats came back home to us after their surgeries for the first time. (All of our other litter's stayed at the shelter for adoption after we dropped them off to be sterilized.) They would then spend the next few days with us until we dropped them off at an adoption event. This frees up space and allows them to keep more animals at the shelter. They sent Chunk home in a smaller carrier so the other cats wouldn't trample over him. He was pretty weak by this point. The rest of the cats were still groggy from sedation so we put them to bed in their 'room' and set Chunk up with a heating pad and the special can of food the vet sent home for him.

We had to hand feed Chunk and, bless his heart, he just couldn't get comfortable. After the rest of them had a good nap, we needed to do a quick change in bedding, feed them wet cat food, check their incisions after Venti and King got a little too rowdy and re-situate the 'foster room' to accommodate a sick Chunk. We put the heating pad in the smaller carrier that they'd sent home, covered it with clean towels and put the top back on it. I later declared this their 'sauna'. Chunk was more content being back in the room with his family. The kittens snuggled together in the sauna and Nala was able to stretch out and get some rest to recover by herself in the bigger bed.

They had to have antibiotics every day and when I picked them up to medicate them I noticed their tattoos. All of our cats have been very dark in color or very fluffy, making their tattoo hard to see so this was new for me.

Here's the low down on kitty ink: The shelter tattoo's a small, green mark on the animal's abdomen on or near the surgery site while it is still sedated. Why? If there is any question down the road if this animal has been sterilized, this tattoo indicates that they were indeed spayed or neutered. Also, they don't always tattoo the boys after they are neutered. Sometimes they do but it's not SOP. If this practice concerns you in any way please note that even PETA supports tattooing animals for medical and identification purposes.

Poor, sick Chunk in the "sauna"...