Our little beloved, acrobatic, flight-approved Burmese, Rangoon- is now at the vet....being 'fixed'.
Last week, when I made the appointment, Tom and I agreed that we needed to prep Logan for the reality that Goonie would be in the big crate for a day or two to recover- as he has a tendancy to jump......sometimes 3-4 feet in distance and 4-5 feet in height- and we needed to contain the little bugger to allow his sutures to heal- and we wanted to prep Logan for the fact that Goonie would be contained and complaining (as only a Burmese can) for a day or so....
Our conversation that day:
Mom: "We have to take Goonie to get fixed next week..."
Logan: "Oh, we're going to have his ear fixed?"
(he did get a scratch/bite that bled on one ear a few weeks ago)
Mom; "Uh, no- that doesn't need to be fixed. That healed on it's own. Fixed....well, fixed means that he is going to have a little operation so he can't have baby kitties."
Logan: "I thought the girl kitties had the babies?" (oh, brother.)
Mom; "Well, she does- but she can't do that by herself...."
Logan; "Ok, so the boy kitty carries the baby kitties too...??!?"
Mom; "No. Do you know what a mammal is?"
Logan; "uhhhh...."
Mom: "Mammals are a kind of animal- mammals have hair and are warm-blooded and give birth to live babies and the moms make milk for the babies..."
Logan; "Ohhhhhh. Ok."
(long pause)
Mom; "So the cats are mammals."
(Logan looks confused)
Mom; "With mammals- it takes a boy and a girl together to make a baby."
Logan; "So...who has the babies?"
(groan)
Mom; "Ok, if you want a baby horse, there has to be a boy horse and a girl horse and the girl horse carries the baby horse in her tummy. Got it? Same with dogs, cats, all the mammals."
Logan: "OK, I got it now."
Mom; "So we're having Goonie fixed so he can't MAKE babies with a girl kitty."
Logan; "Ahhhhh. Ok. How do they fix him?"
Mom; "It's called neutering."
(Logan has a blank stare- I can tell that didn't make a dent.)
"He has to have his little nuts cut off."
She now looks a bit shocked, but seems to be pondering this answer. I figured, since we hadn't gotten into HOW the baby gets in the girl's tummy...I was going to drop this line of conversation. Now. Period.
We have had issues with Logan retaining information and instructions- or being able to reiterate what she's been told or learned. We have been practicing telling her stories or events and asking her a couple days later to repeat or re-tell the story or event to see how she's doing on retention and her ability to recount how things happen or what she was told.
This morning, during breakfast, Tom was talking to Logan to remind her that tonight Goonie would be locked up in the big crate, and that he wouldn't be able to play until Wednesday. Their conversation went something like this :
Tom; "So you know where Goonie is going today?"
Logan; "Yeah, he's gonna get his nuts cut off."
(Tom both feels a small twinge of pain and resists the urge to laugh at this)
Tom: "Well, uh, yeah, kindof. Do you know why?"
Logan: "So he can't make baby kitties. If we had a boy kitty and a girl kitty we could have baby kitties. "
Tom: "Yeah....pretty much. We don't want Goonie to make babies so he's getting fixed."
At this point we're fairly proud of her for remembering what, who, and why....however, in typical third-grader fashion....the 'story' of this situation is about to take a slight detour from reality;
Logan; "If we had a girl kitty we'd have to get her nuts cut off too...."
(Tom resists the desire to do a head smack)
Logan; "When I grow up I'll have to get my nuts cut off..."
Tom: "Ok...lets talk about something else...."
Last week, when I made the appointment, Tom and I agreed that we needed to prep Logan for the reality that Goonie would be in the big crate for a day or two to recover- as he has a tendancy to jump......sometimes 3-4 feet in distance and 4-5 feet in height- and we needed to contain the little bugger to allow his sutures to heal- and we wanted to prep Logan for the fact that Goonie would be contained and complaining (as only a Burmese can) for a day or so....
Our conversation that day:
Mom: "We have to take Goonie to get fixed next week..."
Logan: "Oh, we're going to have his ear fixed?"
(he did get a scratch/bite that bled on one ear a few weeks ago)
Mom; "Uh, no- that doesn't need to be fixed. That healed on it's own. Fixed....well, fixed means that he is going to have a little operation so he can't have baby kitties."
Logan: "I thought the girl kitties had the babies?" (oh, brother.)
Mom; "Well, she does- but she can't do that by herself...."
Logan; "Ok, so the boy kitty carries the baby kitties too...??!?"
Mom; "No. Do you know what a mammal is?"
Logan; "uhhhh...."
Mom: "Mammals are a kind of animal- mammals have hair and are warm-blooded and give birth to live babies and the moms make milk for the babies..."
Logan; "Ohhhhhh. Ok."
(long pause)
Mom; "So the cats are mammals."
(Logan looks confused)
Mom; "With mammals- it takes a boy and a girl together to make a baby."
Logan; "So...who has the babies?"
(groan)
Mom; "Ok, if you want a baby horse, there has to be a boy horse and a girl horse and the girl horse carries the baby horse in her tummy. Got it? Same with dogs, cats, all the mammals."
Logan: "OK, I got it now."
Mom; "So we're having Goonie fixed so he can't MAKE babies with a girl kitty."
Logan; "Ahhhhh. Ok. How do they fix him?"
Mom; "It's called neutering."
(Logan has a blank stare- I can tell that didn't make a dent.)
"He has to have his little nuts cut off."
She now looks a bit shocked, but seems to be pondering this answer. I figured, since we hadn't gotten into HOW the baby gets in the girl's tummy...I was going to drop this line of conversation. Now. Period.
We have had issues with Logan retaining information and instructions- or being able to reiterate what she's been told or learned. We have been practicing telling her stories or events and asking her a couple days later to repeat or re-tell the story or event to see how she's doing on retention and her ability to recount how things happen or what she was told.
This morning, during breakfast, Tom was talking to Logan to remind her that tonight Goonie would be locked up in the big crate, and that he wouldn't be able to play until Wednesday. Their conversation went something like this :
Tom; "So you know where Goonie is going today?"
Logan; "Yeah, he's gonna get his nuts cut off."
(Tom both feels a small twinge of pain and resists the urge to laugh at this)
Tom: "Well, uh, yeah, kindof. Do you know why?"
Logan: "So he can't make baby kitties. If we had a boy kitty and a girl kitty we could have baby kitties. "
Tom: "Yeah....pretty much. We don't want Goonie to make babies so he's getting fixed."
At this point we're fairly proud of her for remembering what, who, and why....however, in typical third-grader fashion....the 'story' of this situation is about to take a slight detour from reality;
Logan; "If we had a girl kitty we'd have to get her nuts cut off too...."
(Tom resists the desire to do a head smack)
Logan; "When I grow up I'll have to get my nuts cut off..."
Tom: "Ok...lets talk about something else...."
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