Another Visit To The Vet
Yes. Another visit. For the last few days, one of Kitty’s eyes has been kinda runny and a little swollen in the inside corner.
Then yesterday, there was a nasty looking discharge. So I made an appointment, and took her in this morning.
By the way, I’ve figured out why Kitty likes Harland better than me.
“Hey Harland, would you like to take Kitty to the vet this time?”
“Uh, no. I’ve got, uhh, some things I need to get done around here.”
“Hmmm….Yeah. Right.”
So at 10am this morning, BIG BAD SUZANNE took comfortable content Kitty off the warm drier
and stuck her into the pet carrier for her trip to the vet.
Remember how pleased I was on that visit to the vet about a year ago? Well, I was not so pleased this time.
Our visit started badly, and then got worse.
When I carried her into the front door, there was a couple who where dropping off their dog, a sheltie, to leave there for a week. Our vet boards pets too. Kitty took one look at the dog and started making very unpleasant noises at it. The dog ignored Kitty. The dog’s owners were telling the staff about how much food their dog gets every day, and how often, and they brought special food, and a special blankie…. and this was all taking place just inside the door so I had nowhere to take Kitty where she couldn’t see the dog. Finally, one of the staff came over and stood between the dog and Kitty, blocking Kitty’s view. Finally the dog’s owners left, the dog was taken into the next room, and it was our turn to see the vet.
Dr. Calvin is a kindly middle aged man with a comforting voice. He took us back into the exam room where I sat Kitty’s carrier down onto the exam table. I opened the carrier door, and then Dr. Calvin made a mistake –
He reached into the carrier to remove Kitty, a BIG no-no in her book.
“Ow! I didn’t think she’d bite me.”
I could have crawled under the table with embarrassment. I apologized. This is not the first time Kitty has done this to a vet and I should have seen it coming and prevented it.
I tipped Kitty’s carrier up on end and she slid out onto the table. Exposed with nowhere to hide, Kitty’s defensive resolve evaporated. While the nurse had a firm grip on Kitty, Dr. Calvin carefully examined both eyes, inside her mouth, and finally decided she had a little conjunctivitis. He left to get some medicine while I held Kitty close to me trying to comfort her. At one point I put Kitty down on the table because she looked like she wanted to explore a little which usually calms her down, getting more familiar with her surroundings. The nurse reached out to pet Kitty and as I started to say, “I wouldn’t do that – ” Kitty let loose with a nasty loud “HISSSS” towards the nurse.
More apologies from me, and I picked Kitty up again and held her close determined she wasn’t going to be nasty to anyone else. Then Dr. Calvin came back into the room and Kitty let loose with another loud “HISSSSSSS” in his direction. Dr. Calvin’s eyebrows went up and he smiled.
“Boy, she really doesn’t like me does she?”
More embarrassment for me, and more apologies.
He had brought back a little bottle of eyedrops and explained that we needed to give her a drop in her eye each day for 5 days. I was ready to grab the bottle and run for the door at this point, but then Dr. Calvin said he was going to put a drop in her eye right now.
“Oh great,” I thought. “More opportunity for Kitty to commit a bloodletting.” But when I put her on the table, he gripped her head firmly and put one drop into her eye without incident. Relieved, I put Kitty back into her carrier and went back out to the front desk again to pay the bill. I apologized some more and assured the secretary and nurse that Kitty was really a very nice cat and her demeanor was much improved over what it had been when we first got her. I blathered on and on, and they smiled politely and said it was ok. But I just know as I left they marked Kitty down as the nastiest meanest cat they’d seen all week, maybe all month, or year. Oh dear.
When I got her home and let her out of her carrier,
she was the very model of a loving friendly cat.
She purred. She swiped our ankles. She was overjoyed to be in our company, and couldn’t express adequately just how much she loved us.
Sigh….
I should know better by now…..
I know she was scared, and felt justified in “defending” herself.
She has accepted us and enjoys our company. The rest of the world? Not so much.
But we love her anyway.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Oh, we know all about those vet visits. I wound up with a bite completely into the soft part of my hand between thumb and fingers. Had to take antibiotics. And, the vet tech had to take the top off the carrier and use leather gloves to handle my Tiger kitty every time he went to the vet.
Glad Kitty is okay and hope the drops clear things up soon. Keep her warm, you and Harlan too.
“The rest of the world? Not so much.
But we love her anyway.”
wE LOVE YOU TOO kITTY. mERRY CHRISTMAS tO yOU aND yOUR hUMANS!
Merry Christmas Kitty! Thanks for being Kitty of the year in my book 🙂
I had a cat named Wilhelmina who hated (and I mean hated) everyone except my husband and I. When I took her to the vet she was so nasty they had to gas her to knock her out before they could even look at her. When her appt. was over they would have me sit with her in the waiting room until she woke up to make sure she was OK. When she woke up she would throw a tantrum in her carrier. People would back away! It was kind of funny. My dear Willie cat, she lived to 13, we had many years of this. Merry Christmas to you, Harland and Kitty!!
Poor Kitty! Long before I got her, someone had declawed my Tatum on all four feet; as a result, she has uber sharp teeth – like in razor sharp. It takes her less than a heartbeat to leave a nasty gash on a person. She, too, is only friendly with “her people”. One of my daughter’s cats bit a vet tech and ended up quarantined for 10 days; needless to say, he was very difficult to get to the vet after that! Do you have a humidifier for the house? All the dry we drought stricken places have had will contribute to her eye problem. The best to all of you!
HA ! I got you all beat. We have a vicious little beast that goes by the name of Rascal. Only my wife loves that cat( the rest of us just try to keep out his way) and the cat just tolerates my wife. Rascal enjoys roughhousing with our two large dogs. The one dog is terrified of him, the other tolerates him but won’t let him get behind him ( except for when they are chasing each other in play, at least I think its play) I REFUSE ( I can’t put enough emphasis on REFUSE) to goto the vet with that cat since last year when we took him and our Malamute to get their shots. We had already finished with the dog and I was sitting with him out in the waiting room while my wife was in with Rascal with the vet. The waiting room was filled with people with their dogs and cats all happy and excited til the exact moment they opened the pet carrier in the examination room . The air was split by a loud scream/growl/roar heard only on the plains of Africa. All the other dogs in the waiting room put their tail between their legs and I swear some of them turned white. The cats in their carriers backed to very back of their enclosures while eyeing the latch to make sure it was locked. Micah ( our dog ) put his head down and covered his eyes with his paws. Then their was a lot of yelling and pounding noises interspaced with loud hissing and cat growls coming from the examination room. One of the vet aids ran out all bloodied and wide eyed muttering to herself she should have listened to Dad about becoming a welder. Then it got quiet again and I knew the little beast was back in his cage. To show his displeasure when we got home he savaged my truck. Sometimes he will just walk up and bite me making me wonder if he is rabid but I guess in the end this is just his way of showing how much he cares for us…at least thats what I keep telling myself.
Aw…..poor Kitty. She was just “out of her element”. Hope she heals quickly (without a subsequent vet visit!) Merry Christmas, Suzanne, to you and yours!
OMG, does any cat like a trip to the vet?
And I swear no matter how sneaky I am they always KNOW and hide! Then they howl the whole way in the car.
Luckily, mine become very submissive at the vet, after a few hisses to see if that will work!
LOL! I sympathize with you and Kitty!
I did have a cat once that bit the vet, and I was SO embarrassed, even though it wasn’t really my fault.
Here’s hoping Kitty’s eye heals up quickly, and you don’t have to return anytime in the foreseeable future!
bob, I was really laughing at your story about Rascal! What a hoot!
Sounds like a virus that I had last winter and had to put antibiotic drops in my eyes. She looks better. “Keep getting well, Kitty. You have a really caring mama.”