I Heard Him Murmur

So, we took the cats to the vet.  I'm kind of dumb.  The past several years, we've been buying fancy prescription food for Stinksy at the vet.  So, every once in a while, I would ask if I should bring the cats in for vaccinations.  The receptionist would ask, are they still indoor kitties?  I would say yes.  The receptionist would reply that she thought they didn't need vaccines if they stayed inside.  I never thought to ask if they needed a checkup, because vaccines and a checkup go hand in hand to me.  No one ever told me that they thought I should bring the cats in, and nothing seemed wrong with them, so I never took them in.

So, since we are headed on a long road trip and disturbing move to a different climate, I thought I would take them in for vaccinations and to get microchipped.  We had to buy another carrier, and the only ones at the store were too big or too small, so we went with the small one for The Fuzz.  I got the old pet taxi ready in the bathroom, and I put the new soft one on the bed.  The FP grabbed Stinksy and shoved him in the pet taxi, no problem.  But as soon as I grabbed The Fuzz and walked her by the bathroom, she sensed something disturbing about to happen to her.  She did a good job of resisting going into the carrier, so finally the FP had to help me back her into it.  Then the meowing began.  Fuzz is pretty loud and she just let loose.  Stinksy was mortified, and he was just softly mewing.   The Fuzz cried for most of the 10 minute journey to the vet, while Stinksy quieted down.

We got into the clinic, and The Fuzz still kept meowing for several minutes.  Then she started meowing only when one of us made eye contact.  We went into the examining room and The Fuzz got checked out first.  She was quieter as she got poked and prodded.  She got a clean bill of health, and she got her back nails clipped.

Stinksy was next.  He was a little skittish and uncooperative, but not bad.  But then the doctor informed us that he had a heart murmur.  Every several beats his heart would skip one.  So, since he hadn't been in for a checkup in several years, she couldn't tell if he'd had it for a while or not.  She said this could be a sign of congestive heart failure or hyperthyroid.  So, she thought he should have a blood test.  They were going to work up an estimate and then let us decide.  In the meantime, they went to microchip the cats.  They took one, then the other.  We were given some forms to fill out, but we weren't sure if we were supposed to go into the waiting room or not.  So we did go into the waiting room, since we needed to fill out the forms.  We started filling them out, then a receptionist came and asked to see the forms.  She was telling us to fill them out (which we were doing) and she told us to keep this portion, give them that portion, and to keep the stickers.  Right then, the assistant came out with The Fuzz and her carrier - not The Fuzz in the carrier.  So he needed help getting her back in.  After a bit of hassle, to the audience of 2 or 3 big dogs, we got her in.  But then the assistant realized he needed to clip her front claws, so he had to take her back.  When he brought her back, in the carrier,     we told him to go ahead and draw Stinksy's blood.  No use of bringing him home and then bringing him back just for that - either way it would still cost the same.  So we have to wait to hear results tomorrow.  Fingers crossed.

So, Stinksy was brought back, and we went to check out, and another receptionist helped us.  Of course she couldn't find our account.  She asked for our microchip slips that we were supposed to keep.  I wondered why she couldn't look at the portion that I had just given the other receptionist a couple minutes before.  Anyway, she found our account and I paid the rather large bill.  Now we have to wait for a call from the vet tomorrow to see the results.  Hopefully, it's just nothing, right?

So, we went home, and Stinksy snapped out of the terrified mode within an hour,

but for The Fuzz it took a lot more time.  That's her hiding under the nightstand.

Finally, when she decided to sit on the futon between us, the FP noticed that there was like a goober on one of The Fuzz's eye.  I'm sure she was kind of dried out from the terror of the day.  So, I had to find the Hypo Tears and put some drops in her eye.  Of course we burned her trust and she ran back into the bedroom to cower.  Even now, hours later, she's still wary and tense.  Although, boy will she let her guard down a bit to get treats!  Meanwhile, Stinksy is lounged out on the futon with the FP, both of them already fast asleep at 8:31pm.....