The Life of a Feline Mama

Sometimes life is all about self-fulfilling prophesies.  Yesterday was one such event, it was cat vaccination day.  Every year I dread it more and more and this year was no exception.  The cats were due their yearly shots (the feline leukemia vaccination is only good for one year) and they both needed a rabies shot as well.  Their year was up in April but I had been putting it off.  I finally called about a month ago and asked the receptionist if I could get some kind of sedative to give them beforehand and she was going to talk to the doctor and get back to me.  She never did and I was more than happy to procrastinate.  Finally I decided with the warm weather and them being outside so much more than usual that they really needed their vaccinations so I called again and got an appointment for the next day.  I have a vet whose practice is making house calls and he was going to drop off the sedatives the night before.  He never did.

So yesterday I started calling them about 9 AM and all morning all I got was the busy signal.  Then for a while the phone would ring and ring and no one would answer and even later I would get an answering machine  so I left a message but no one called me.  By the time the day was over and it was time for him to arrive I was thoroughly annoyed.  I had told the receptionist I wasn’t sure who needed the sedative more, ME or the cats.  They get so traumatized by strangers and it has gotten worse over the years.  While having a visiting vet is wonderful in many ways, they now associate the door bell ringing and strangers in the house with a vet visit and always hide, sometimes for days if we have houseguests.   I managed to sequester one in the bathroom and the other in the dog kennel.

Tim is a scrappy little thing who is half feral, I swear.  I’ve never had a cat that is so skittish or neurotic, whatever the case may be.  He can be  very loving and sits on my lap almost every time I sit down but he wants affection on HIS terms only in contrast to Piper who can’t get enough lovin’, ever!  If you are able pick Tim up (he is very quick and usually darts out of reach if he guesses your intention), he will let out the MOST unhappy yowl expressing his objections.  He’s a small animal, only about 8 pounds but what he lacks in size he makes up for in attitude. 

We started with him, the vet said he’d just go in the bathroom by himself.  I paced around in the living room and listened to what sounded like an epic bar fight ...crash, boom, bang, thump…punctuated with blood curdling screams.  I wasn’t sure there would be anything left in one piece in the bathroom, it sounded AWFUL.  Pretty soon the vet emerges, all digits and epidermis in place.  He never had actually caught him but while Tim was wedged behind some baskets under the sink he was able to slap the vaccinations in his exposed hind end.  He ended up saying he didn’t know if he could be Tim’s vet anymore.  Took everything I had in me not to voice some sarcastic remark about lack of sedatives.  He even had the gall to suggest that I give him his shots in the future. NOT gonna happen.

Piper was just as freaked out but he isn’t so wild.  The vet was able to shave some hairballs off in addition to his shots.  He had to put a muzzle on him and in the indignity was almost too much for (both of us) Piper to bear. He has such fine hair, while it makes it very soft and cuddly it is also hard to groom.  I was seriously hyperventilating during this entire process….my heart rate was through the roof and my stomach was in knots.   

Much to my surprise after the vet departed Piper emerged immediately.  Tim was another story, he stayed in his safe place under the sink in the bathroom until late into the evening and then ran under the bed.  When Chris got out of the shower this morning, he was up on the bed as though it was all forgotten.  Until he saw me that is, and then he ran for the quickest hiding spot.  I guess I am now the perpetuator of evil in his eyes.  Such is the life of a feline mama.

Veterinary Trauma

Yesterday the vet was due to arrive at the house for shots.  In preparation for this traumatic event, I had shut all the bedroom doors so no one could find refuge under a bed or in a closet.  The only doors left open were to the office (where the litter box is) and a bathroom (where they can safely hide under the sink).  Things did not go smoothly…the vet knocked softly at the door which started Oscar thinking we were under attack and he had best alert the entire city and borough.  He is such a drama queen.  It is over with as soon as knocking people enter, but it certainly set the tone for the cats.  Thinking their world as they know it just imploded, they both went scurrying down the hallway at breakneck speed.  I wasn’t worried though, because I knew where I could find them. 

It took the vet about 10 minutes to get all set up and be ready for the first uncooperative feline.  I found Piper right where I knew he would be…under the sink in the bathroom.  Then it was Timmy’s turn.  I looked under the sink for him as well but nope…..he wasn’t there.  I looked in the bathtub.  I looked behind the shower curtain.  Okay, well that left only one other room.  The office doesn’t really have any hiding places but I looked in the bookshelves.  I looked in the desk drawers! Heck, I look at the ceiling and then I looked in the same places two or three different times.  I looked for bumps in the carpet.  I looked for holes in the wall!  I could not find this 10 pound, stark white cat with glowing eyes ANYWHERE.  The vet assured me this was not the first time this had happened and we rescheduled Timmy’s shot for another day.  Then Chris came home and we both looked high and low. In every room and cupboard, behind every door, up, down and sideways we looked.  He was gone.  I started getting really worried then although I knew he HAD to be there.  Finally a couple hours later, the missing little Timmers jumped up on my lap wanting reassurance from his scary afternoon in hiding. I still have no idea where he got to.  And this afternoon we get to do it all over again.  Hopefully I will have Oscar out in the garage and Timmy in a kennel before the vet arrives.