It was an excellent day at the clinic; 76 cats speutered (two of which were mine). Unfortunately, Billie Jean was lactating, so I'll have to start hunting for kittens soon. Found out why the Black was acting "mean", as they said; he had a big abcess behind each ear! No wonder he was grumpy; I would be too. Grubby ears as well, so we dug 'em out and evacuated the abcesses. They may puff up again briefly, but at least we took the pressure off so he can be aware of something besides his head hurtin', and pretty soon they'll burst and heal up anyway. It may have worked; two days later the Black was hiding under a nearby vehicle while I fed the "first wave" crew and he watched us interact for a bit. Didn't come up himself but I saw him start heading that way as I drove off. Just as well, I'd rather he and Big John give each other a wide berth till the hormones wear off. But I'm glad he's hanging about rather than hiding; hopefully he'll learn from the others and be a little more casual.
The 'first wave' crew is the first batch of cats to hit the food bowl; usually Bonita, YellowFellow, Big John and Little Joe. The second wave I discovered by accident, when I lingered on a Sunday morning (no one was around to see us) and the second wave consisted of the Black, Flame, Fancy's brother, and Billie Jean (though BJ is elbowing her way onto the first wave; too hungry to wait, I guess, what with kittens to feed).
The vet tech mentioned that BJ and the Black were dehydrated too; I'll hunt up a bigger water bowl for the usual hiding place and see about placing some others if I can find good hiding spots.
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