Trips to the Vet Can Be Very Noisy

OH why do I always try to forget the yearly visit to the vet?  And why oh why am I doing this in January?  It's always cold cold cold and trying to carry 2 cats is very entertaining for the vet's office.  I just hope it's not entertaining for the people driving on Greenville Ave!  Some years, the cat's visits have been an hour apart so I only deal with one at a time, but I actually think that is more difficult for all 3 of us.

The night before the visit to the vet is when the cat cages come out of their hiding places and I put them up in the living room.  Sam likes to snoop around - Millie does but she's more clandistine about it.  So I wasn't surprised when I saw Sam in Millie's cage the morning of their dreaded visit to the vets.  But I was startled to see that he went to sleep in it.  So I made an executive decision to zip up the cage and let Millie use Sam's cage.  Millie was sleeping under the desk in the office so it was easier to get her in the cage.  I said easier not easy.  

Sam testing out Millie's cage

The vet was a different one this time; usually we see Diane and she talks to the cats.  This vet was very nice and pleasant,  and he even took time to show me Millie's bottom teeth (very very tiny and very very sharp) because I wasn't sure she had teeth between the fangs.  Believe me when I say I wasn't going to look by myself - I like all my fingers.

Sam, as usual, talked the whole way to the vet.  Millie, once she got settled in the car, was in her normal 'well, let's get this thing over with NOW' mood.  We didn't wait long in the reception area - that's a good thing because neither Millie nor Sam like Stumpy the office cat.  Stumpy likes to nap in one of the reception windows and his hair is longer but it looks like he put his paw in an electrical socket.  Usually, he greets all the pets but he was napping this morning.

Once in the exam room, Sam usually starts being loud.  A few years agao, he was so loud that he could be heard out in the reception area - and that time, he made the loudest noises while he was still in his cage.  It was funny to see him howl  because he actually lifted up his head like a coyote! 

But this time wasn't bad at all.  They were both quiet when we first put them on the exam table.  Millie was evening purring for a while.  She went first and even though she didn't want to get out of the cage, she purred until the vet used his stethoscope ( I guess vets don't warm them either) and then the howling began.  She set record speeds getting back into the cage - and I mean back into the back of the cage - and then she was quiet.  She gained a pound and a half. 

Millie & Sam behaving for a minute ....

Sam was much better this year.  He did growl and whine but not as loudly.  I wonder if the cage switch helped?  I'll have to try it again next year. 

Stumpy was still napping in the window while I checked out.  Good thing as Millie and Sam were both beginning to talk; but not loudly. 

Now back in the car and here goes Sam again.  I'd sure like to know what he is saying.  Millie gets a word in edgewise every now and again.  Once in the garage,  I rush to get them back in the house so they can escape their cages.  LOL  and boy do they take off to go hide for a while. 

I didn't see them for several hours so I left their treats in their favorite spots because I had to leave to take my dad to one of his doctors.  By the time I got home later in the afternoon, they weren't mad at me anymore.  Both climbed up on the couch to sit by me for a while. 

Moral of the Story:  Everyone needs to get their annual checkups - like it or not!