Luxe is leaping not-so-gracefully into his adolescence. With that comes the desire to mark his territory. Cats mark their territory by scratching, since they have small scent/sweat glands near their toes. The bigger problem, though, is him spraying noxious urine in corners of the house. It's a thing male cats normally do but it is also provoked by the presence of my senior cat. She doesn't pose a threat. She's been spayed long ago but for some reason, Luxe sees her as a great adversary.
When Luxe sees the black and white cat, he immediately freezes and begins to stare ominously. This, of course, makes her nervous so she tries to dash under the couch or out of the room. It's a little annoying because if she wouldn't run, then he wouldn't give chase. Sometimes I think they're making progress when he slowly and almost innocently approaches her. Soon after, he begins to whack her violently on the head. She hisses and sometimes tries to scratch him. I know this because I once found a bit of claw embedded into his forehead.
I thought a good neutering would calm his nerves. His aggression can get a little frightening. Sometimes, if I would tell him to stop doing something bad, he would turn on me and attack. You know they're not playing when their ears are all the way back and they growl. I thought that by giving him plenty of toys and playtime that I could avoid him having a costly surgery altogether.
Luxe had this habit of peeing right by the door. Not just spraying a little bit but leaving a full puddle there. I was hard to discourage this. He would just do it again and again. When I caught him doing it once, he ran away slipping and sliding with a trail in his wake. Disgusting. If I couldn't discourage this behavior, the only thing left to do was encourage it. So I placed a small litter box right at the site. Problem solved!
The bigger problem of his spraying was not solved, however. Eventually I caved and called the vet to make the necessary appointments. They had to perform bloodwork first to see if he was healthy enough for the operation. He passed, of course but then came the day when we had to leave him there for about five hours. When we picked him up, he was still nervous and freaking out in his carrier since the cone was restricting his ability to turn around. Once at home, he squirmed out of his cone three times before we were able to secure it more tightly. Luxe absolutely hated it but it was necessary for him not to lick, which would cause an infection.
I caught a glance of his wound and it looked painful. It even made me cry a bit. I went back and read the papers and precautions that the vet gave me and I was shocked. For this type of operation, there was no suture. This means they did not close up the incision with stitches, staples, glue, or what have you! They sliced him open, scooped them out, and then apparently just left it like that! Female cats get stitches since their ovaries are internal. I remember when my other cat and her daughter were taken. I thought Luxe's package would just shrivel up since it's empty now but, luckily for him, the fur is starting to grow back.
Only two days after Luxe's operation I was due for my own. Before you ask, no, I'm not getting the same exact operation done! I needed hernia repair. Basically, there was a hole in my muscle wall and my guts were trying to spill out of it. It's done now and I'm in pain but it's nothing compared to before. Also, this pain will only be temporary. I'm very relieved after living with that for over a year. Hernias don't get any better by themselves. So now both me and the cat are hobbling around, slowly and awkwardly. He will definitely have a full recovery before I do. Hopefully soon because he can't clean himself so he is getting greasy. Luxe is young and full of vigor. He'll be fine. I'm worried about returning to work and having the same thing happen to me again. However, I do miss riding my bike and we've had so many nice days lately. What a waste!
I couldn't help editing this picture. It looks like his head is served on a platter. Mmmm, double Luxemburger with cheese! Night night, sunshine.
Anyways, here's to a speedy recovery for both of us!
