Today was one of the most stressful days in my life. I'm taking the mother of the puppies to get spayed. The veterinary hospital is almost 2 hours away from Shilha village, and I will have to carry her through the trails. She should be fasting for at least 12 hours before. She is not trained to even put on a collar and a leash, I don't have a muzzle for her… the reasons were endless.
So, you might already know about my puppies by now, 
At the same time, she's a stray in human standards. When she came to me, she looked like she was being abused so badly, she was always scared, she had a weird posture and made a feeble noise every time she was here.
Finally, she trusted me enough to bring her puppies to me, and I couldn't think of letting them die in the snow just because I didn't give them the space to live. So, that is how the story started, and from then on, it was mostly Foxy and me co-parenting them at my place.
Sad to say, my story got pretty bad after I decided to keep them. The owner of the land kept calling me and asking me to get rid of them. The villagers changed their faces when they saw me, even though they were pretty happy with me otherwise. I was told many times to throw the puppies away near the waterfall. And, the stories goes on.
Needless to say, it was pretty hectic and nothing less than a heartbreak and many meltdowns after I let them live here. Foxy comes to my place to sleep. She doesn't eat from here or live here all the time. In fact, I always felt she thought I stole her kids from her.
It was always there in my mind to get her spayed before the next season. And, I had no idea that dogs get into their heat cycle more than once a year. From the moment I got to know that there are multiple mating seasons for them, I started to panic and think about when I could get her surgery done. If she brings more kids to this place, I can't even handle that.
Plus, I'm warned multiple times that it would be difficult to make her leave the place if I let her in, about her bringing more puppies here and more. Every time I have to deal with these conversations, even though I handle it well with others, I get stressed out for days.
And finally, I felt it was time to get this done and got an appointment for the 16th morning.
Usually, she's in her bed box by 7 or 8 pm. But yesterday, I fed her at 5, and she left the place at 7. I felt so guilty for not locking her inside the room. She usually doesn't eat from me. But yesterday she did.
She is also not used to staying inside a locked room. So, I thought it would be stressful for her if I did that at this time. But, I regretted not locking her in after she left and started roaming around after 7. My attempts to catch her were great failures.
The amount of tension I went through this time is infinite. She came back by 9, and I immediately locked the door. By now, I had learned the hardest lesson about parenting, that you need to be strict sometimes for the greater good and not fall for the tricks these kids throw at you.
I was a bit relieved that she was still sleeping inside the room in the morning. I went to take a bath and get ready in the morning around 7 in the morning. The cab was booked for 8.30 am. When I was back, I couldn't believe what I saw. She had escaped the room through the window. I mean, she needs to be pretty smart to figure that out.
I almost collapsed then and there.
Then I saw her coming to my place later around 8, and I was relieved. I made a DIY muzzle for her, and I had the collar and the leash of the puppies, which fit her well. Once the muzzle was on, she calmed down. Well, she wasn't calm, she was scared. She was shivering in fear.
I could easily lift her when she was wearing the muzzle. That was something I didn't expect to do while going for the surgery. But, she didn't move a bit. It is a muddy trail with snow gone from most parts, plus around 30 long, concreted stairs to reach the parking.
She was pretty heavy for me to lift and walk, but I was determined to take her today. So, I made a lot of stops and reached the parking in time. I had another girl join with her cats to get them castrated and vaccinated.
Once we were inside the car, Foxy was still in surprise and fear. I feel this would be her first and last road trip in a car unless she gets adopted or I get to buy a car while I'm here. Well, she changed her position, looked out of the window, sat with me most of the time, try to sleep in the seat. And, we reached the vet clinic pretty late.
It took us almost 3 hours to reach the clinic, and as soon as we reached, we got a slot. Foxy was shaved and given some injections first. She slowly fell asleep after that. Then they gave her more injections. And then shifted to the operating table.
They asked me to be with her in the first section when she was given anaesthesia and prepped for the surgery. The moments after she was kept on the drugs her breathing became very slow and I started to panic.
It felt like she was almost not breathing, and then somebody at the table took a pair of scissors and kept her tongue out. Then she started breathing better. They kept something on her teeth as well to keep the mouth open. Then after more injections I was asked to go outside and wait.
After seeing the first part and feeling the sense of hurry for everyone there, I started to panic more. Since everyone took her for a stray, I was so concerned about whether they would be serious about the surgery or not. I just stress walked outside for a while, but then I was busy taking care of the two cats who came with us.
The surgery finished in 15-20 minutes, and after some observation, Foxy was taken outside and waited for her to regain reflexes and given fluids. The post-op care was pretty much in the open, directly under the sun. I felt bad for her, but more than that i was pretty scared. I kept asking if the surgery went well, how long it would take her to be conscious and more.
They said it'll all depend dog to dog, and mostly depends on their immunity. We waited there for a while. I kept checking her breathing and eyes. Finally, she started to regain a bit of life in her. And the fluids were completed. All medicines were in check and I kept her in the seat with her head in my lap. She was restless and trying to scratch out the incision and tape around it.
We quickly got the e-collar, but she even removed that with her hands. I heard the dogs will be sleeping for at least a few hours after the surgery. But, she was jumping in the car to get the collar and tapes out. It was nothing less than a scary situation where I was scared that she would tear the stitches.
We reached back around 7 pm, and it was already dark. I was trying to carry her, but she was so heavy, and I couldn't even see the trail. I was taking a different trail this time and was alone. I could literally not see anything in front of me since she was in the front. I made so many stops and was breaking down inside.
Then I got some help from a kid in the village who carried the light in front of me and came with me. Another kid helped me with keeping all the puppies inside a room before I reached. I even fell once in the trail while crossing a rock. Thankfully, Foxy was fine, and I didn't hurt myself much either. I had a muscle strain in my hand which started to hurt on the way as well.
All in all, it was pretty messy, but at the same time, we made it to the clinic, got the surgery done and made it back home.
After coming back, Foxy was just trying to run away, take the stairs and do all the things she is not supposed to do. The stress episodes didn't even finish yet. I tried to take her out, but she wanted to roam around.
Finally, at 2.30 AM, I carried her outside for the 3rd time, mocked digging mud and then she peed. I think that was the reason for her discomfort, and she is not used to being in confined spaces. After that, we went to sleep at 3 AM. Well, at least she slept well, and we crossed the first day of surgery somewhat successfully.
Then I saw the notification from the calendar about Foxy's surgery, and I ticked "completed". Here's to Foxy—may you roam freely and have a happy life ahead 🥂