Trip To The Vet

Today we took the cats to see the Vet.  It has been, probably 2 or 3 years since we took them.  I think we stopped just because it was hard to get them up to West Bend to see him.  It was the vet that we had been going to since 1993 when Kris and I got our first cat when we were living in West Bend. And since we have never been able to find one around the Falls that we liked as much as Dr. Schneider, we just kept going to him.  But as our cats got older and we started having problems getting them up there, we just figured they were fine since they were 100% indoor cats and we never really ran into any other problems with them “health-wise”

First of all, it was a chore getting the cats into their carrier.  Kris got one of them in, and then as she opened the door to put the other one in, the first one ran out.  It was just a horror show trying to track them down.  And I couldn’t help because I was at work.  I left work a little early and we had things timed so that as soon as I got home, we would put the carrier in the car and go, with about 5 minutes to spare before their appointment.  Well we managed to make it on time, but what an ordeal!

Phoebe cried the whole way there.  And when I say “cried” it was really more like a howl.  Something akin to alley cats in the middle of the night.  Then when we made it there and went to take them out, we discovered that Phoebe was so traumatized that she peed all over the inside of the carrier, and she was covered with urine, and consequently, Samson as well.  We spent the first five minutes or so there cleaning them up and wiping out the inside of the carrier.  I don’t know how Kris would have managed if I wasn’t there.

Then… once they started the exam, the tech got their weights, and other vital stuff before the doctor came in.  I question whether the weight she took was actually accurate, but since they were squirming around on the scale, I guess it was the best we could do.  Then the vet actually came in.  Now this is not the “normal” vet that we had seen for years.  He retired last year, and based on what he looked like the last time we saw him, that was probably a good thing.  He just didn’t look well, so he must have sold his practice to his associates.  That being said, the guy who looked at Phoebe and Samson was rather timid I thought.  And of course, like they always do, they try to get us to do the unconscious teeth cleaning for them, which always runs in the neighborhood of $500-$700.  Sorry.  But we also had the situation where Samson has a couple of large moles on his back.  When he is brushed, if you aren’t careful, the brush snags them, and cuts them open, so that was something we specifically wanted the vet to look at.  He said if we wanted to, he could take them off, no problem, and he would get us a price for it.  And in fact, if we had his teeth cleaned, he could do it at the same time while he was out.  We almost fainted when we saw the cost of that.  Needless to say we’ll just be careful brushing him.

The cats are “good” for another year, though the vet did say they were a little overweight.  Samson was about 21 pounds and Phoebe was around 15.  Phoebe was more toward an ideal weight than Samson, but if you ask me, I’d say they are both at a pretty good weight.  But we’ll cut back a little bit on their food and see if we can’t knock them down a pound or two.