In those beautiful eyes of yours...: Anko got spayed!

Finally, the day came.

I was already nervous yesterday because of the timeline.
Getting two kids ready for school and driving them there separately as their classes start at different times, while taking Anko to the spaying clinic 20 mins away from home between 8:00 and 8:30, takes a well-thought-out plan.

When I took Millaii there 4 weeks ago, my neighbor came and helped me with watching the dogs and giving directions to the clinic. This time I was going to do it by myself as Ginger can wait for us at home so I can only take Anko with me.
I wasn't worried about the spaying procedure or how to get there at all. I was nervous about the timeline and if I could get everybody to where they were supposed to be on time, which, had turned out it worked out OK...

At the clinic, there seemed to be about the same number of dogs and owners as last time, and most of the dogs looked nervous....just like last time.
Anko was quiet and looked scared as well. When we went in to an examining room for a pre-anesthetic shot, she was so scared she was curled up and shaking.
The nurse decided to give her another shot in her butt which would make her really drowsy (thus more relaxed) so she would mostly be asleep for the whole time.
Good! I left the clinic feeling a little easier.

Another very hectic morning had passed and it was already time to go pick up Anko from the clinic.
This time I didn't forget to bring her collar and leash!
I arrived there, the staff told me it would be another $30 as she was in heat, which, I had pretty much figured out was going to be the case so was fine with me.
I was so anxious to see her.

Another staff gave me the post-op instructions before I could go in to see her. Keep the collar on, no walk, no bath, separate from the other animals - all these for the next 2 weeks.
Go them! (in theory anyway)

When I saw her, she looked so tired and weak. She reminded me of Millaii. Anko was even in the same cage as Millaii. Sitting, looking down at the floor, a huge cone collar covering the whole head...the tiny head of Anko.

She looked up and I saw a big relief in her eyes. I even thought she smiled a little.
The assistant showed me her incision, something we didn't do with Millaii, and the cut seemed very nice and clean. Seemed a little longer than Millaii's. Maybe because of being in heat.
Overall, she looked good.
She could walk fine, and she was really happy to jump into our car.

All evening, Anko looked very tired.
Of course. It was still the day of the surgery.
I kept an eye on her the whole time, but I found myself feeling much easier than when I had Millaii spayed.
I was sure it was because I had been there'n done it before, and I had learned from Millaii how fast the dogs could recover from it.
I would just have to keep a close eye on her until she really healed.

It's a real good feeling though to think that Anko will never have to deal with heat and heat-associated nuisances, and more than anything, she will never have babies.
It sounds in a way sad to think a girl cannot have her babies as it is against how animals are designed, but when you look at all those dogs and cats at the shelters, so many of them crammed into a cage, barking and crying for help, you would get a chill from even imagining a litter of puppies being born into this world.

The world that's so ugly it doesn't even know how to take care of its own animals.

Take it easy, Anko. You'll feel much better in a couple of days.

Anko - 1 day after the surgery