One year ago this month, we took both cats to our veterinary to have their yearly shots. At that point we had had Sassy one year and Sadie five months. Sassy was her usual placid self, she doesn't like the carrier and struggled when we put her in it. Sadie, screeched, and was all legs.
At the office, Sassy didn't like the exam and shots but didn't make a fuss. Our vet, Dr. McFarland is amazing. Always willing to listen to your cat tales, she takes the time to show you she actually loves the cats and has said that Sassy is one of the most beautiful cats she's ever seen (any wonder we love her?).
Sadie, on the other hand, was a completely different kettle of fish. When Dr. McFarland reached into her carrier to grab her, Sadie tensed up and started to yowl, screeched actually. Dr. McFarland called in an assistant and between the two of them pulled her out of her carrier, gave her both shots and shoved her back in. Sadie hissed, spit and yowled and earned a big red "CAUTION" on her file and even had to be weighed in her carrier.
Naturally, yesterday we were apprehensive. Sadie is on Kitty Prozac, 1/2 a tablet every other day which calms the marking she does when seeing feral cats outside. Carl gave her an extra pill the morning of the appointment in the hopes it would calm her. The appointment was in the early afternoon so about fifteen minutes before we were due to leave, I picked up Sadie without a struggle and put in her the carrier. Easy peasy. Sassy was harder to get in than Sadie was.
In the car, Sadie meowed several times and then was quiet. We took both carriers into the examining room and I suggested we take Sadie first before she could get really worked up. We pulled the blanket out of the carrier with Sadie on it, I held her and talked to her while Dr. McFarland gave her both shots, I lifted her onto the scale to be weighed and then put her into the carrier. Easy peasy. All the anxiety was for nothing. After Sadie was securely back in the carrier, the assistant tried to talk to her and she lunged at the side of the carrier at the assistant and screeched. The assistant jumped back. And Sadie was back to being Sadie again.
After I paid the bill, I said that Sadie had been so good that next time they could handle her on their own. Dr. McFarland has a wonderful laugh - she laughed and laughed - and I'm guessing that they won't be handling Sadie on their own for some time yet. On the way home, we joked that Sadie would probably kill us in our sleep, but she just went to the bedroom and went to sleep. She's been fine since. And that's the story of the 2014 Vet Visit.
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