The four boys were taken in this morning to get neutered. When I picked them up, I was told there had been no problems and all went well. I did not use my regular vet for the procedure because they had a full schedule of spays this month, I used another clinic. A mistake I will not repeat.

I peeked in at the kittens, they were all awake, but a big groggy. So off I went for home (about an hour away). When we got home, I took them upstairs, opened up the carriers, they all stepped out wobbling a bit with the exception of Charlie. He took one step outside the carrier and fell flat on the carpet. I scooped him up he was breathing shallow, his mouth was open and he was as limp as a ragdoll in my arms! I’ve been working with kittens being neutered a long time and never had this type of reaction. Then, he suddenly woke up, stretched his mouth in a huge yawn- grabbed the inside of his mouth with his front paws and made a retching noise. Then he crashed again. His ears were ice cold, his paws were cold. Scared he might be bleeding out, I checked his mouth and the pads of his feet. I saw happy pink color (thank God) not stark white. I tucked him under my shirt, grabbed the phone and called the place that neutered him to find out what they used to anesthetize him.

When I told them what he was doing, they wanted me to bring him back, but I knew the trip was to long for an emergency visit, so I called a local clinic. Two hours later, Charlie had been given a reversal shot, warming fluids and a lot of stimulation. He was now home, still wobbly and I wrapped him in a warming blanket and just held him for the longest time.

He is upstairs now, it is close to midnight and sleep isn’t on the menu tonight for me. He isn’t Charlie yet, and I just pray the drugs didn’t do permanent damage to him. I will never cut corners on spay and neuters again and use a low-cost clinic no matter what. I went in on another rescuer’s ticket in order to get the boys done who were trying to get panic and shimmer pregnant. I tried to get them into my regular clinic, but they were full up. Dammit, I should have waited. Time will tell if Charlie will be right again. I pray he is-