Tuesday 10 May 2016

for their own good

Poor little cats.  They were taken today for their jabs against feline leukemia and cat flu (part one) and are now looking very seedy.  One of them has been sick, and another has a dodgy tummy, and we feel desperately mean because this morning they were so happy and bouncing with energy.  But it is for their own good in the long term to be vaccinated.

They were a big hit with all the staff on reception at the vets, and the vet herself, who by coincidence was the same partner who vaccinated the Main Coones seventeen years ago.  That thought made all of us feel rather old.  To our surprise the three kittens weighed almost exactly the same, though one looks so much bigger and another slightly smaller than the one we would have said was in the middle.  They were extraordinarily well behaved, maintaining their composure in the waiting room when surrounded by rather noisy dogs, and toddling placidly around the examination table instead of trying to disappear under the furniture.  I hope that by tomorrow they don't hold their experiences against us.

Our Ginger was not pleased to see them return to the house, and sulked furiously.  We are trying a plug-in diffuser recommended by the vet which sprays cat happy hormones about the house. Synthetic pheromones mimic the scent cats leave when they rub their faces on the furniture or your legs, said to be scientifically proved to reduce stress in kittens and adult cats and help them adjust to new surroundings or a new pet.  Well, that's what it says on the box.  I'd never heard of it, but it turns out the Systems Administrator had read about it on internet forums.  I wouldn't take those as gospel, but we've known the vet for a long time and on the strength of her advice we were prepared to give it a go.  Our Ginger is now asleep and snoring, an improvement on awake and sulking.  It can't have helped that it rained all day, so he was stuck in the house and reminded of the horrible rug rats in the next room, instead of being able to patrol around the garden.

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