I don’t take much time off and I hope the following two part series will help to illustrate why.
I work up this morning at about the same time I do on a regular day – except I didn’t feel regular. I felt like a facehugger had made out with me in my sleep and an alien was going to burst through some part of my body.
Anticipating trouble, I went downstairs only long enough to get a candle and a lighter. I figured the candle on it’s own would be useful since I don’t have a fan in the bathroom and if this was demonic indigestion, well, the candle might help there too.
What follows is so unspeakable that I won’t speak about it. I will, however, say that Thunder(cat) wandered in and then quickly ran back out. There are some things even my little furry warrior can’t handle.
When I was as stable as I expected to get, I took some pepto and got dressed for the day.
I pulled the car out of the garage and eyed the driveway as it warmed up. I have a front wheel drive car and last night’s snowmageddon (yes, it’s a real word) had covered the drive in several inches of doom.
I got Thunder into his cat carrier, covered up the front with a towel, and loaded him into the car. The vet is only a few minutes away from my house, but I had trouble just getting off my street. A neighbor helped shovel out my tires when I got stuck and Thunder and I were on our way.
Thunder(cat) didn’t seem to mind the carrier – but he hates car rides. He let out a series of plaintive wailing meows the entire way there and there was no consoling him. I got him in the vets office where he settled down a bit – though he did hiss at one of the cats that lived there and got too close to the carrier.
When we got him in the exam room, he didn’t want to come out of the carrier. The vet and I took the carrier apart and Thunder got an exam – and his teeth checked.
My cat has gingivitis.
While we talked about getting him in for a cleaning, the assistant came in to trim his claws.
When I say that “he didn’t care for that”, it would be in much the same way that Ohio State fans don’t care for Michigan.
Still, the vet praised him for being such a good cat. I held Thunder while the vet went to get the shots and then administered them. Thunder was reasonably calm about that – but it may be that he was just too stressed out to care. I got the carrier back together and paid the bill.
Just before I left I asked the vet if there was anything to the “pets sense when owners are hurt and try to help”. He implied that there was and I felt at once better about Thunder – and guilty because he had dental problems.
I got Thunder home and got stuck in the driveway. I got him inside and proceeded to Part Two of the day.