Snip and Tuck

Nero turned 7 months a couple of days ago and today he went for his much debated snip and tuck aka neutering operation. While we had decided earlier on that we would go in for the operation (based on the glowing pictures painted by the vet and well wishers - neutering=healthier dog happier dog happier family etc. etc.), when the recommended 6 months arrived, immense emotional debates raged through us. The vet assured us it was a short procedure, less than an hour. We bring him in, and in less than an hour he is castrated (ouch!!) under general anaesthesia and could even walk back home, maybe a little tipsy. It was best for the dog and around 6 months was the best time to do it. Financially, it wasnt too much of a stretch either, just a one time Rs 2500, considering we spend at least Rs 1000/month on him on bones, toys and stuff anyway.

Practically, it was all cut and dried (pun unintended). Emotionally, we were wrecks! The tearing emotional struggle! The responsibility for making such a big decision with such final consequences that would stay with us for the rest of all our lives! We knew that we had made the decision, but God, it was so difficult to actually act on it! We second guessed and third guessed our decision, looked up wiki and google, spoke to people, read articles. The internet even had entire surgeries online, in full pictorial detail. Umm...too much information!!
Almost all third party sources were 'for' the operation. But the biggest 'for' for us as it turned out, was as the hubby put it..since he isn't going to get any, why torture him with the urge! The biggest 'against' of course was our baby would no longer be intact. It was an operation for heaven's sake, not a natural progression as nature intended it. We had faith in the vet that the operation would be quick, largely painless and safe. But it was so final. Did we really want to erase a whole aspect of our baby? Was it fair to him? Would it really benefit him in the long run? And what about having pups? Even if we thought we didnt want his pups, would we always feel this way? What if we wanted to change our mind? After all dogs, sadly, have notoriously short lifespans with respect to humans. Would we not like to keep the association of the genes alive? But then again, he's not a pure breed, so breeding him would just be wishful thinking anyway. Wouldnt it?

In the midst of all these doubts, self recriminations, raging internal debates and an underlying current of the sadness of finality, we met the vet to fix a date. The first date was fixed for 12th dec. However, a new snag appeared. Pets have an Elizabethan Collar, a funnel like device tied around their necks, to prevent them from licking and reopening their wounds in case of operations and other deeps cuts or wounds. This collar was not available in Nero's size anywhere! We spoke with our usual Pet shop owner but he not only declined having any, he went so far as to tell us that it had not been available for the last 6 months and there was only 1 distributor in these parts who imported it. We asked him to check with him but to no avail. Only a smaller size was available, but it wouldn't cover his snout and thus prevent him from licking and messing up the dressing, the stitches and possibly his recovery.

Surely we could not have an operation without the collar. Knowing our baby, he would surely do exactly what he's not supposed to. How could we go ahead? Maybe he was destined not to be neutered!

We got back to the vet with the sad news. The vet said he would try something and bring him in at 12:30pm on Sunday and lets see. The path of destiny just did a u-turn.
So at 12:30pm on a winter Sunday morning we landed up at the vet place. He didnt have a collar either but said he would tell us how to convert a plastic dustbin into a collar (as people used to do for ages and ages before this new fangled collar arrived) and we would go ahead. The moment had arrived and I wasnt sure how we reached there so fast!

Things started to fall into place far to quickly. Nero was injected a preanaesthetic, and we were sent off for a 10 min walk. In a lapse of communication, we had not realised he was not supposed to eat before the operation and he had had his breakfast at 8am in the morning. However, post that he had been for 2 walks, had evacuated both his bowel (once) and his bladder (a few times) so we hoped it would all be ok. Back after 10 mins, he was on the table and a bit of hair snipped off his right forelimb elbow. And then the anaesthetic got injected in. Before we knew it, our baby was relaxing in our arms. I was holding his face, his dear little face...his pupils had dilated to almost the full size of his eyes. His breath was calming down and his pupils were so large I didnt know if he could focus on my face. I could barely focus on his through a misty veil of tears that just materialised from nowhere as I looked into my baby's eyes. He was ready for the operation and we were supposed to come back in 30-45 minutes. Frankly, I was in a bit of a daze, leaving him on the operation table, with no clear thought except that the faster we leave, the faster we can get him back. As I came out of the clinic, my biggest regret was not having a single damn tissue on me. The rest I didnt want to think about.

We spent the time in a nearby supermarket, shopping for general household stuff. Back to the clinic, as we entered, they had finished. Our baby was awake! He even wagged his tail a bit on seeing me. Surely its not possible for a heart to explode from too much emotion, but mine was doing a highly credible attempt. The doc then started speaking of making dustbins to collars and post operative medicines (antibiotics and anti-inflammatory), helping focus on the situation and preventing a full emotional meltdown. He was awake but groggy. He managed to get up on his own and walk a bit. We carried him down the stairs into the car park and put him into the car. Then we decided, what the heck, lets try again looking for that damn collar.

We went to 5 different shops looking for the collar, and parallely though about various alternatives, plastic dustbin, plastic buckets, cardboards, lampshades, plastic electrical wire holders (my mom's suggestion), moulded plastic stationary folders (my hubby's idea). Finally we decided to buy a couple of the real stuff, albeit in the smaller size. After all if we were indeed to cut, paste, tape and otherwise modify materials, why not do it with the real stuff!!
So we went back to our pet shop, got 3 collars at size 3 and finally went back home. Nero managed to walk a bit and walked from the lift back to the door at our floor. Once in we settled him onto his mattress covered him with his blanket and after a bit of shuffling around he went to sleep.

We've hovered around him since then with oodles of love and cuddles. Making a place for him on the bed with a thick sheet when he wanted to come up, covering him with his blanket as he slept on the ground. I even held up his bowl to make him take a few sips, his mouth was soo dry! Once he had slept a while, he kept whining and trying to reach his stitches. So we tried to make him walk around a little using his favourite biscuits. He wouldnt walk much, sitting down after a couple of steps and refusing to move. With a combination of biscuits of lots of encouragment, we made him walk up and down his normal fetch route - dining room to drawing room, and then took him out to the balcony to see if he wanted to pee. Did he ever! He went reluctantly, but once there peed a river! Later, he hungrily ate a bowl of liquidy khichdi (rice and pulses cooked together into a watery consistence) and is now sleeping again, having somehow manouvered his bulky collar under the low bed.

Now that the operation is through, all I'm focussed on is ensuring he recovers as fast as possible and that he's as comfortable as he can be. I have no regrets on the operation. Maybe someday I'll look back to today with different eyes. Maybe never. But for now, my baby is well, is home and healthy, and thats enough for me for now.