A Tale of Two Pities

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."
Last week, we had two members of this household recovering from surgical procedures--our daughter, Stephanie, had her wisdom teeth removed the same day our kitten, Mimzy, went to the vet to be spayed. Stephie was admonished to rest, drink fluids, take prescribed pain meds on schedule, alternately ice and heat her swollen cheeks, and gently rinse with salt water. On Mimzy's discharge papers, we were instructed to, "Limit your pet's activity" and "discourage licking of the incision site." Who do you think followed the doctor's instructions? And who was feeling better sooner? Based on my observations of the past week, I have concluded that the real key to healing lies in bounding around the living room--repeatedly jumping from the coffee table to the sofa, chasing everything that moves--including your own tail, drinking out of the sink, batting at the icon on the computer screen...and a whole lot of cat spit.