Our Little Friday the 13th Drama

It was annual physical day for my little fur family. Its also Friday the 13th. That should have told me how it would go. The never ending fur drama thanks to  Balboa. No getting around it. They have to see the Vet. In an effort to relieve stress for the little guys I use a mobile vet who comes to our home. Dr. Ross is wonderful. She is a soft spoken, gentle woman as good with stressed out owners (me) as she is with the little fur babies.

 

The Check up Last Year

We should learn from experience right? Last year Balboa ran and hid. It took all of us to round him up. With that in mind Dr. Ross suggested that I put him in a carrier before she arrived.  The appointment was for 11:45. I started to try to put Balboa in his carrier at 11:30. I figured it would be easy. Boy was I wrong! It took all of that 15 minutes and then some. Once I finally got him in the carrier I put it on the floor. I figured he’d scrunch down and calm down. I went outside to wait for Dr. Ross so she wouldn’t have to ring the doorbell and set them off again. We were back inside within 5 minutes but poor Balboa had managed to roll the whole carrier across the room and was upside down with the floor cushion on top of him. He wasn’t a happy camper.

Balboa

Since Balboa was so stressed we decided to give him his check up first. I let Dr. Ross extract him from the carrier so if he got away it would be her fault- not mine. She expertly moved him from carrier to a grooming blanket making a kitty burrito. He growled and hissed the whole time. This got Banner all wound up. My usually friendly Banner started to growl and hiss too. He didn’t run or back away. If anything he appeared to be planning to come to Balboa’s rescue. 

With Balboa secure in the grooming bag he got his shots and nail trim and was soon ready to be released. Of course he was off like a shot to hide. Now it was Banner’s turn. 

Banner

Banner is usually friendly and into everything but Balboa had him all worked up too. We didn’t need the grooming bag but his check up wasn’t without resistance either.  He hissed 3 times! very unusual. But finally we got him weighed and nails trimmed. He didn’t even notice the shot he got. Snuck that one right by him!

The Results

In the end Banner kept his weight right where it was last year. In fact he may have lost an ounce or two. He was 15.10 lbs. last year and this year he weighed in at  15.07 lbs. We’re very pleased. He was back to his calm, normal self as soon as Dr. Ross let him go.

Balboa also maintained. He was 11.02 lbs. last year and this year he weighed in at 11.04. And here’s the thing- after all that kitty drama he was out of hiding and exploring his carrier almost before Dr. Ross was out the door.  She hadn’t even gotten to her car! The big faker wouldn’t have come out so quick if he’d even been half as traumatized as he let on. Dr. Ross said his heart rate was not as high as she expected for the tantrum he was throwing! 

 

At least that’s done for another year. See you in 2024, Dr, Ross