Cat-urday

Thankfully, Mike was willing and able to go along again this year to give me a hand. Driving alone with two screaming cats, then carrying both and dealing with two at a time in the vet's office is pretty stressful. Especially since Tasha is a first-class diva-devil.

When we arrived, the office staff was awaiting the arrival of an "emergency kitty". Thankfully, that wasn't us. This time. ;)

I took Tasha into the exam room first while Mike sat with Ripley in the waiting area. We weighed Tasha (16lbs!) and took her blood pressure successfully. Last year, she screamed like we were killing her when they tried to take her blood pressure. It involves a blood pressure cuff on her tail. Not wildly popular. But this year, she buried her head in my armpit and barely protested at all.

Then we had to wait for a bit while the dr and his staff "stapled emergency kitty back together". I guess the kitty jumped a fence and ripped her poor belly apart. Tasha waited pretty patiently other than hissing under the door at one of the office kitties and begging to go back in her cage (see pic). Finally, the nice doctor man came in and examined her. Other than being fat and having bad teeth (Rx. diet and a sedation teeth cleaning), she's in good shape. She even cooperated for her two shots minus the obligatory hissing and growling.

While we waited, Mike took Ripley back for his weighing. 13.5lbs. Funny - Tasha's the fat one though it seems Ripley pigs down most of the crunchies. Once the doc was done with Tasha, I traded cats with Mike and the vet checked out Ripley. His main issue is some yuck in his ears, likely caused by some kind of allergies.

Finally we paid, put the kitties back in the spaceship and headed home.

The biggest issue is going to be Tasha's diet. The vet recommended feeding them twice a day, smaller portions, and lock them in individual rooms for 30 minutes then take away whatever they don't eat. After a first try, it's not going over so well with Ripley. He's more of a grazer. And I feel bad because he's not the one that's requiring the diet yet he's having the toughest time dealing with the new situation.

So another year over. Both kitties were pretty good and Tasha didn't draw blood. Success!

Time spent with cats is never wasted.