For months I put off scheduling vet appointments for Pekoe and Jasmine. “It’s too much trauma for all involved,” I said. “A cat doesn’t need a check up,” I said. “It is too much money,” I said. We went earlier today, and dude, it was worth the trouble.
Packing the cats into small cages, placing them in a fast moving vehicle, and bringing them to a strange place that reeks of other cats is a traumatic experience for sure. But it wasn’t ‘too traumatic’ to be worth the effort as I originally thought. The experience was a jolt for Megan, Pekoe, Jasmine, and myself. It made us feel alert, and it put us in the strange position where we held both the power of jailer and comforter. We’re the ones responsible for their imprisonment, and yet they needed hear our soothing voices on the drive to the Cat Doctor.
We learned solid information about our beloved cats while there. We need to clean their food bowl daily. That may seem elementary, but we never thought it was necessary. It is the reason Jasmine gets chin acne. We learned how to clean the plaque of their teeth, and how to clip their nails. We learned that our outdoor cats need tape worm pills at least once a year, and yearly rabies shots. We learned that flea and tick season runs from June, as you’d expect, but it goes into December, later than you’d expect. And we learned all this from a responsible grown man who loves and understands cats better than anyone I’ve ever met.
It was expensive and slightly traumatic, and we will one day have to make that final drive to the vets. Think about it, but don’t dwell on it. A trip to the vet is family bonding, it is the only way to learn how to best care for your furry buddies, it is a meditation on death, and it always worth the trouble.
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