Thursday, June 11, 2009

Roo Post-Op

Roo's First Adventure

So this past Friday I drove up to Bishkek, the capital, cat in tow – to get her spayed. I was going to fly but the travel agency where I usually buy my plane tickets told me I’d need to buy a special crate, obtain special documents from Bishkek, and pay a ridiculous price to take my cat on board. So I took a taxi instead.

The first two hours of the 12-hour ride I doubted myself and my decision to travel to the capital at all. Roo was freaking out – clawing at the inside of her carrying case, trying to get out. She cried for 2 hours straight. By the third hour I think she wore herself out and gave into lying still and quiet. By the time we got to Bishkek, I think I was more restless than she was. We spent the night with a local friend who was very welcoming to the both of us.

Saturday morning my friend came with me to translate. I held Roo while the vet gave her a shot to put her to sleep and she went limp in my arms. It was strange because her eyes never closed. My friend and I waited outside and 30 minutes later the operation was finished. The vet gave me instructions on how to care for Roo for the next 10 days. I had to go to the pharmacy and buy some antibiotic stuff to put on her stitches. And I was instructed to change her white cotton suit every few days.

Saturday afternoon I headed out to Krasnaya Rechka to spend some time with my first host family. They told me it was fine if I brought my cat. Though I don’t think they were expecting her state. Roo was just waking up from the anesthesia when we got there and as soon as I opened her carrier, she swaggered out and fell on her side. She kept taking a few swaying steps and falling over and over until I picked her up. She was acting “drunk” the whole day. By Sunday she was walking all right but still refused to eat or drink. I think the surgery, the new environment, and the amount of people running around all day long traumatized her. She hid under the table in the corner the whole day.

On Monday we went back into Bishkek to see the vet again. The vet made sure everything was healing okay, and implanted Roo’s identification chip – which is mandatory for taking cats out of Kyrgyzstan. She also wrote up Roo’s International Passport and gave me 2 viles of vaccines and a needle and an injection schedule to bring back with me (since it would have been too much to give her the vaccines at that time).

I took Roo to the PC office, while I met with PC staff to figure out final costs of Bride Kidnapping Toolkits I’ve been developing. And then back to the village.

On Tuesday we spent some time running around Bishkek doing errands and more time at the PC office. I bought a plane ticket and strode into the airport with Roo like a person who transports animals all the time. I acted confident and no body even asked to see any of her documents. There were absolutely no problems flying with her. In fact, Roo slept the whole time through check-in and throughout the entire flight, while babies and toddlers were screaming and crying all around us. Even though the flight was short – it gave me hope for the final trip home in September.
Roo and I were both excited to be back in my apartment Tuesday night. Though it was only a 4-day trip, and everyone was extremely hospitable to us, it was still stressful and I was exhausted. We both slept all day Wednesday to recuperate. The only other thing I need to do before coming home is get a bill of health form signed and stamped from the Health and Sanitation Department in Bishkek 3 days before leaving the country. I’m glad everything else has been taken care of!


Cat Costs in Kyrgyzstan:
Sterilization – 300com = $7
Vaccines (2) – 600com = $14
ID Chip – 1,000com = $23
International Passport – 100com = $2

Taxi to Bishkek – 900com = $21
Flight back from Bishkek – 2,000com = $47

Roo’s companionship = Priceless