How I Survived Taking 3 Cats To The Vet

The only real challenge was getting the three cats into carriers. I knew Lucy was going to be the hardest. I considered putting her in a carrier as a first step, but then I figured that her wailing would scare the kittens. Since Lucy was napping in the computer room, I closed that room off. In the kitchen, Gypsy was calmly looking out the back door. I picked her up and put her in Carrier A, which was nearby. In the bedroom, Ginny was snuggled up in a difficult-to-reach spot in the corner of the room. I crinkled a bag of cat treats. When she came out, I picked her up and carried her into the kitchen to join Gypsy in Carrier A. Ginny didn't put up much resistance.

Lucy was a bit more troublesome--she knows all about trips to the vet and wants no part of them. With some difficulty, I was able to get her into Carrier B. She immediately started yowling and continued all the way to the vet.

I'd gotten to the vet's office early. We were shown to an examination room and all three cats were weighed. Once out of their carriers, Gypsy and Ginny were mostly at ease. They even rassled with each other for a bit. Lucy felt helpless and scared, but she did all right.

As I'd anticipated, the only problem was Ginny's weight: 15 lbs. 2 oz. at 18 months of age. I'm going to have to find a way to try to keep her weight down without depriving the other two of needed nutriment.

So... all over for another year.

Cats (::Sigh::)

My two new kittens, Ginny and Gypsy, are Manx cats, meaning that they have a genetic mutation that gave them short tails. Actually, Ginny is a "stumpy" with a small nub of a tail and Gypsy is a "rumpy" with no tail at all. The mutation is a dominant trait and two Manx cats should never be allowed to mate because the offspring would be likely to die.

As it turns out, Gypsy has a very slight problem with fecal incontinence. I understand this is not uncommon among completely tailless cats. I'm very lucky that she doesn't have a serious problem due to her shortened spine. She's happy, energetic, and extremely intelligent. Now that I know she has the incontinence problem, I'll take her to the vet next week to have her condition assessed and see if she can be helped in any way.

 Gypsy - The Sweetie Pie

Meanwhile, Ginny is turning into a little brick. She feels like she weighs 15 or 16 pounds already. She's very loving but doesn't understand how powerful she is. Ginny sees featherweight Gypsy jump onto my shoulder and she decides to give it a try herself. This usually results in a near miss and her digging her claws into my back to keep from falling. Oh, the pain, the pain!

My other cat, Lucy, has developed an unusual phobia. In the evenings while I'm playing World of Warcraft, I keep the door closed because the kittens climb all over the monitor trying to interact with the game. Lucy is allowed to stay if she wishes since she's much more calm. She usually steals my good chair and either sleeps or asks for cat treats. If I give her crunchy cat treats, she'll eat 'em up. If I try to give her a soft cat treat, she leaps off the chair and asks to be let out of the room.

 Lucy - The Nervous Cat

The reason for Lucy's reaction is the kittens' obsession with the soft treats. They're indifferent to the crunchy treats but gobble up the soft ones with barely a chew. I ran out of crunchy treats a few days ago so I tried to give Lucy one of the soft ones. Ginny leapt onto the chair and snapped up the treat. So now, even if Lucy is the only cat in the room, she associates the soft treats with being "assaulted" by a kitten.

Gypsy and Ginny Get "Fixed"

Yesterday morning, I took the kittens to the animal hospital to be spayed. I hate doing this to a young cat, but I know from prior experience that an intact female cat has a pretty miserable time when in heat. I've read that, if a kitten is spayed before going into heat for the first time, they're more likely to retain a kittenish outlook on life going forward.

In addition to the spaying, they were to have their ears cleaned, receive a second treatment for ear mites, be tested for ringworm, and Gypsy had an inflamed left eye. The ear cleaning went well and all of the ear mites had been killed by their first treatment and by the one treatment I gave them here at home. The animal shelter had had their kitten room quarantined for ringworm by my kittens were there. Just to be sure they were fungus-free, I had them tested. I may not know the results until sometime next week.

Gypsy's left eye was red, watering, and squinty when I returned home from the St. Louis Cinematic Titanic show. I was afraid that Lucy had scratched the eye. One of my first cats, TCAM, lost sight in one of her eyes as the result of an indoor cat scuffle. I'd hate to see that happen to Gypsy, especially at such a young age. As it turned out, she had a herpes-type virus infection. The vet told me that this may be a permanent condition--one that flares up occasionally all throughout her life. I'm giving her a medicinal paste, eye drops, and a liquid anti-biotic. The eye looks a little better, but it's by no means cleared up yet.

The vet also gave me some pain meds for the kittens to be given "as needed". When Ginny got home and out of the carrier, she was zipping around and playing as if nothing had happened. Gypsy was more subdued, but I didn't give her a pain pill yesterday. I did give her one this evening. That was probably a good move because a half hour later she was climbing my chest, purring, and asking for pets.

Overall, they came through very well. I was worried that they might just hide behind furniture and suffer in isolation. Next step will be removal of the stitches in about a week.

Gypsy and Ginny Visit The Vet

My new kittehs, Gypsy and Ginny, had their first visit with the vet this morning. Turns out it's very difficult to take a Manx cat's temperature. Usually, you can lift the cat by the tail and insert the thermometer. With a Manx cat, there's nothing to hold onto!

All was normal with the girls, but they did have a lot of gunk in their ears plus ear mites. The vet cleaned their ears as well as he could, but I'm going to have to do two more cleanings at home and apply anti-mite drops once. Then they'll be due back at the vet for a checkup. In all probability, this will coincide with their appointment to be spayed. I really hate putting the girls through this, but it has to be done.

Meanwhile, Lucy has walked from the living room to the bedroom on her own volition! Once in the bedroom, she snuck under a blanket and napped. Unfortunately, Ginny pounced on the covered-up Lucy (which, let's face it, is what cats do in those circumstances).

No answer on Gypsy's persistent cough. Since she's not exhibiting any other cold-like symptoms and since her appetite is quite good, the vet advised me to take no action for the next couple of weeks.

I love my girls--all three of them--very much.

The Adoption: Moonlight and Marabella

When my ex-girlfriend moved out in 2005, she left me with the three cats she had acquired for us: Sara, Lucy, and Petra. Since that time, Petra has died of complications from diabetes and Sara has died from a rare cancer of a blood vessel. Lucy, bless her heart, is about 17 years old now and is in very good health. Since she'd been terrorized by Petra for most of her life, she has a skittish personality. Although she loves being cuddled at times, she is rather aloof. I guess I'd been spoiled by my dear Sara, who needed to be with me every waking and sleeping moment of the day.

I started toying with the idea of adopting another pair of cats. I say "pair" because I believe cats are happiest if they are living with a comfortable companion--a littermates would be ideal. I knew that Lucy appreciated having my full attention, but I also know she's exhibited a desire to cuddle with Sara and Petra, but she'd always been rejected. I thought she might adjust to the presence of a pair of tiny, non-aggressive kittens.

There is a no-kill animal shelter less than 1/4 mile from my house: Animal Care Society. My ex-girlfriend worked there for a while. Actually, Lucy was found shivering in the rain on the land near Animal Care. People frequently abandoned unwanted pets near Animal Care, assuming someone would rescue them.

The first time I stopped by Animal Care, they were not allowing visits with kittens because they'd had an outbreak of ringworm. They let me browse through a binder with listings of cats that people were offering for adoption. I leafed through it, but I really wanted to adopt directly from Animal Care. I knew they would be rigorous in performing veterinary tests and procedures for their animals. With an unknown 3rd party, I could not be sure about anything.

The lady at Animal Care told me to watch their web site for news about the re-opening of the kitten room. Yeah, right. They're good people, but they do not keep their web site up-to-date! I just dropped back by after a couple of weeks and was allowed to walk into the kitten room. I knelt down in the middle of the floor and was instantly swarmed by sweet, needy kittehs!

The kitten they called "Moonlight" jumped on my back and licked my neck and ears. The one they called "Marabella" sniffed me and accepted pets but then backed off and observed. Now that they've been with me for a few weeks, I can confirm that this was a very good indication of how they'd behave with me on an ongoing basis.

After seeing the kittens, I filled out an adoption form, which was not to be processed until I'd called them back to give them the go-ahead. I was a bit taken aback by the quantity and nature of the questions on the form. Most notably was the requirement to provide them with three personal references, one of which needed to be a family member. Great. I am happily estranged from my family, but I reluctantly gave them my father's name and telephone number. I somehow convinced myself that they would only actually call my vet. I was wrong. Apparently, they called everyone. Thankfully, they did approve my adoption request. One of my references, my boss, wrote me that he told them I was their "wet dream" of an adopter. Funny! And apparently effective!

I went to Animal Care the following Saturday with two cleaned-up carriers to pick up my new family members. From the get-go, the adoption was a comedy of errors. The woman ("handler"?) who processed my case was apparently a higher-up in the organization. Higher-ups are never as savvy about business operations as the "menials". There followed re-printing of medical forms and various signings. After 45 minutes of confusion and delay, I was ushered into the kitten room with my two carriers.

The handler shoved two cats into my carriers. I asked if she could tell me which cat was "Moonlight" and which was "Marabella". "Oh, you can name them anything you like," she said, but I insisted. She didn't know the cats by sight, but both had been micro-chipped (apparently a standard policy for cats about to be adopted). It's a very good thing I insisted, because she was trying to give me one of the kittens and the mother! Next, she tried to shove a long-tailed cat into the carrier the mother had been in. I was adopting two Manx kittens, so I questioned this. She re-scanned the long-tailed cat a
nd left the room to look up the ID. No, this was a different cat. Finally both of the Manx kittens were in my carriers and I exited the kitten room. As I exited, one of the "menials" took a close look at the two kittens and confirmed that I did, indeed, have "Moonlight" and "Marabella".

Here are the two kittehs in the back of my car as I'm about to leave Animal Care.


I've tentatively renamed "Moonlight" as Ginny and "Marabella" as Gypsy. They seem to be hugely content in their new home. Lucy has been hiding out in the living room ever since they arrived. She is doing less hissing and spitting now. Just today she allowed a quiet nose-touch with Ginny. I feel her pain, but I think this could be a plus for her in the long run. She's never had a housemate with whom she could cuddle. Once she realizes how non-threatening these two little girls are, she may actually have nap partners for those long, lazy afternoons.