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The boycat, Tommy, has been successfully neutered!
And he shows no inclination to lick his wounds, so I've gone and taken his cone off. It was actually a great day. Because I've now gotten several cats fixed at the van, I qualify as an old hand and an expert, and was able to engage in one of my favorite pastimes - giving barely solicited advice to strangers! Two of those strangers didn't make this session, but were convinced to go to the next one, and here is the advice I gave:
1. Get 7am out of your head entirely. People start lining up for the van at about 4. Which is insane, yes, but you still need to be there by 5:30 or 6 to be guaranteed a spot. If you mosey up at 7 there's no way. Any later and even if they miraculously have room they won't let you in.
2. There will be a sign-up sheet if anybody else has done this before. When you show up, find out who has it and put your name on it. If nobody has it, start it yourself and put your name on first. That happened to somebody this week, she didn't know about the list and somehow the person running it didn't see her enter the parking lot, so she waited a long time for nothing.
3. There is no point bringing an animal that hasn't been fixed. They don't give shots without the operation.
4. There is a $120 discount if you're on any form of benefits, including Medicaid and food stamps. They don't care whose card you use, so if you're lucky enough not to need assistance you can borrow a neighbor's. (Everybody I say this to says they use food stamps. Damn, this is a poor area! Even if you consider that of course people with tons of money don't use the ASPCA vans.)
Now that he's been to the vet, I can start, finally, with acclimating the other cats to him.
The girlcat has been wary of attention ever since Ana, thinking she was Tommy, ran up and gave her a big hug and got her in the stomach. I've seen glimpses of her, but she's avoiding most people right now. After we deal with Tommy I may end up borrowing a trap. Better line somebody up first to take her, I think. She seems to have recovered, anyway.
1. Get 7am out of your head entirely. People start lining up for the van at about 4. Which is insane, yes, but you still need to be there by 5:30 or 6 to be guaranteed a spot. If you mosey up at 7 there's no way. Any later and even if they miraculously have room they won't let you in.
2. There will be a sign-up sheet if anybody else has done this before. When you show up, find out who has it and put your name on it. If nobody has it, start it yourself and put your name on first. That happened to somebody this week, she didn't know about the list and somehow the person running it didn't see her enter the parking lot, so she waited a long time for nothing.
3. There is no point bringing an animal that hasn't been fixed. They don't give shots without the operation.
4. There is a $120 discount if you're on any form of benefits, including Medicaid and food stamps. They don't care whose card you use, so if you're lucky enough not to need assistance you can borrow a neighbor's. (Everybody I say this to says they use food stamps. Damn, this is a poor area! Even if you consider that of course people with tons of money don't use the ASPCA vans.)
Now that he's been to the vet, I can start, finally, with acclimating the other cats to him.
The girlcat has been wary of attention ever since Ana, thinking she was Tommy, ran up and gave her a big hug and got her in the stomach. I've seen glimpses of her, but she's avoiding most people right now. After we deal with Tommy I may end up borrowing a trap. Better line somebody up first to take her, I think. She seems to have recovered, anyway.