Three Healthy Cats

We survived V-Day! That would be Vet Day, the most hated day of the year for our cats. DH's state employee furlough day was Monday, so he had the "honor" of taking them in. Even though it is a hassle (and expensive!), it is always easier to take all three of them at the same time. Assuming you can get them in the cages, of course. I took that upon myself to try and assist DH, and I have the scratches to show for it. Bengal was easy, Cleo left claw marks in my right forearm (not bleeding, but red for a couple of days; I swear she grows 8 extra legs), and I left Tigger to DH!

Once they were all boxed up, Cleo began expressing her displeasure, yowling in her best "my kitty soul has been condemned to darkness forever" tone. Luke was terribly upset by it. DH was getting dressed, and I left Luke alone in the den while I went to change, and when I came back 2-3 minutes later, he was crying. "But she doesn't like being in the cage!" Well, I know, sweetie, but it is for her own good. It protects her in the car and at the vet, since people bring in their dogs on leashes, and we don't want them to get in a fight or for her to run away. "But she doesn't like the doctor!" Yeah, well, neither do you, and for the same reasons! But we take you and let them check you out and give you shots because it is good for you, and we do the same for the kitties. He wanted to go with DH, but there isn't room in the car for 3 cat carriers and a car seat, and I really had to work, so he went to school. He was still upset about it when he got there, but his teacher said he did fine once they started playing (school is out, so it was just fun stuff).

It is the first time we've been back since the end of the Tigger incident from last summer. Dr. Hochel, who treated Tigger, finally got to meet the rest of the gang, and I hear she was suitably impressed, particularly with Bengal. "Look at those paws. They're huge!" They most certainly are. She was amazed to hear he and Tigger are related, but DH was there when they were born, so we're pretty sure! LOL She also thought Cleo's ear was interesting. "Looks like you're trying to grow another ear there." Yeah, well, we love her anyway.

Everyone checked out fine. Tigger is now up almost a pound from her heaviest *before* the liver thing, but Dr. Hochel understands our hesitance to alter her diet after what happened. We are picking up the food after it's been out for a little bit, so maybe that will help, since I think she is our worst "snacker." Bengal's heart murmur is still around, but it hasn't gotten any worse, and his weight is the same (actually down a couple of ounces), so that's good. Cleo also weighs the same as last time, but she is showing signs of gingivitis. So far, all three have excellent teeth for their ages (all turned 11 in the spring), and though they were showing a little plaque, only Cleo is showing gum issues. "You might want to bring her in to have her teeth cleaned." Yeah, the one who is hardest to get in the cage? We'll have to see if it's worth it, once we recover financially from the senior cat blood panels they ran on everyone.

We got the blood work results back today, and I figured all was well when it was a tech who called and not the doctor. "Dr. Hochel reviewed the test results, and amazingly, everything came back perfectly normal. That is very unusual in cats this age for all three of them to come back fine, but they did." I bet they were expecting diabetes or pre-diabetic indicators, but everything looks great. We'll take it and run! I know they're all getting up there in years, and my manager lost his cat this week, so we truly are not taking this excellent news for granted. We're hoping to have many more good healthy years with our favorite fur-babies.

Currently feeling: happy to have healthy kitties