Romeo and Juliet

How did I forgot to tell the Internet about my boy cat becoming a girl cat? It's not the kind of thing you're supposed to forget.

While we were in Cape Cod this summer, I got a call from our cat sitter who thought Romeo was acting a little out of character. She came over one day and all of a sudden he wasn't eating, and was curling up next to the litter. She kept an eye on him for a couple hours and then decided to take him to the vet.

Back in May, he had a urinary blockage that prevented him from peeing. He was in a lot of pain and we got him to the hospital before any permanent damage was done. The bill was high but we had pet insurance, and were hopeful it wouldn't happen again. The vet said that if he was blocked again in future, the process would be the same and he'd likely keep getting blocked for the rest of his life. Lots of pain, lots of expense. In that 'unlikely' event, they'd consider surgical options. Well Romeo had been motoring along just fine (once I stopped torturing him by holding him down to force pills into him) but the stress of us leaving again for another vacation was the straw that broke his furry little back. He was blocked again in August but this time they couldn't unblock him, and the previously unlikely surgery was now necessary.

So while away in the Cape, we made arrangements over the phone for him to go straight into surgery. That surgery was very expensive but was very effective and worth it. He's now the happiest cat in the world, back to his old self, and peeing up a storm. He's so happy to be home, and we're happy he's back.

The surgery itself is something that no one hears about, but can't be that uncommon for male cats. Since he was never going to be able to lead a normal urinating life like his brother, they had to remove his boy parts and give him a girl part. That's right, Romeo is now Juliet.